Is the KICK Necessary for Efficient Freestyle Swimming?

Is the KICK Necessary for More Efficient Freestyle?
For most swimmers, the kick provides stability - not propulsion. Here are Dave's top tips for making your kick more effective and improving your economy.
Come join my private endurance community, the Dave Scott Tri Club at: club.davescottinc.com
#tritips #triathlon #swimtechnique #davescott

[@ReVoltaire]

"You shouldn't be kicking like you're reading poetry". Priceless 😂😂😂

[@mjchecksfield914]

The man is a living legend and actually a really great coach on top. Nice job the whole freestyle series.

[@robohippy]

Well, I have been pondering this for a few days... To me, the reason to focus on the up kick, is that it reciprocates, as in the up kick helps propel the down kick, which also ties in with the spiral from the shoulders to the feet. This is part of the reason why if you do 2 kicks per arm stroke, the first is the strongest because of the spiral, and the second is weaker because it doesn't have the spiral action. I am not a fan of the longer fins. Main reason is just about every one who uses them, substitutes bad form for the propulsion. You need the toes to be above the heel on the down stroke to get any push. People like Phelps and Ledecky, when they do the down stroke, their ankles hyper extend past the straight line of the shin bone, which gives the push. With the longer fins, as you push down, they flex, and the fin bend gives the backward push. The clip where the young woman is swimming freestyle flutter kick with the fins, the sole of her foot is pointed down. If you do this without the fins, you actually produce backwards thrust. She does have good mechanics without the fins though. I have never been sure about the stability thing. I always thought the stability, which I think means to both of us, the ability to stay parallel to the top of the water rather than low, was due as much to posture than anything else. Posture meaning to keep your head down, in line with your spine rather than up, which puts a huge arch in your back and feet go down. Way too many people do 'overkick' which to me is having the down kick go way past the center line of your body. That and the hooked foot....

[@SanskritSense]

Thanks for the video - going to try it all out right now!

[@danielcercasgarcia3044]

thanks for the advices mister Dave Scot, I will have practice in my next swim practice

[@Wheel333]

Front flutter kick with long fins was a humbling experience. I have worked hard on my kick now and am noticing great benefits.

[@Nick-ye8pf]

Great video mate. Top quality production and audio

[@user-iq7dt4zu9l]

Thanks for the great tip, coach ,from South Korea.

[@markreardon6663]

That is the best description for open water kick l have seen. Thanks Dave.

[@DaveScott]

Appreciated, Mark. Keep training hard... and smart!

[@thanhluong8297]

Thank you Sir ! I did love all your instruction It’s realy help me a lot God bless you Sir ..

[@mjchecksfield914]

One point for the modern world of triathlon is that the wetsuit has kinda made the flutter kick pretty irrelevant, unless the water is 24 C. If you have a 5mm suit on your legs are pretty well pushed to the surface unless your have serious bad form and actively lift the head out of the water. More important in a wetsuit is to think more about the head and go towards downhill swimming idea. The legs and hips will come up all by themselves.

[@edwardhaughney9665]

Impressive presentation. Thanks.

[@saravanan335]

Super video

[@henriki8015]

Hey Dave Scott. Great series, I have watched all episodes! Good explanation and very important tips in all of them. However, I can only find 9 episodes. Is one of them missing, probably eoisode 8? I think it is usually a good idea to put the episode number in the description, makes it much easier to identify (some of them have it already)

[@nikitaw1982]

Sleak swimming is hot!! Ps do u have videos on on kick timing with arm?

[@robohippy]

Well, distance swimmers use a considerably different kicking style than sprinters. Biggest thing that needs correcting for most swimmers with their flutter kicking is they tend to do the down stroke with their foot hooked, just like the catch you do with your arms which works fine for pulling, but creates reverse thrust with the kick which is a push. Part of the efficiency is if you are an Olympic caliber swimmer is when they point their toes, they hyper extend which gives a far more efficient paddle. While not a triathlete, I swim the overarm side stroke. Far more energy efficient than freestyle, especially for those who are not swimmers first. Not quite as fast though...

[@ironmantooltime]

First: Dave six times at Kona champs 👊

[@ironmantooltime]

Hence why my puny hamstrings are holding back my swim stroke 👍 i guess fins would help? Have also started with some strength work.

[@kara1595]

just tried the kicking up, i moved forward faster n less tiring.

[@RedShipsofSpainAgain]

Dave, I didn't hear you mention specifics about the kick. Should we triathletes use a 2-beat kick? A 4-beat kick? Even a 6-beat kick? I would think the 2-beat kick is most appropriate for longer distances to minimize fatigue, but what's your advice?

[@robertbrandywine]

I've watched some of the "quiet" swimmers and they only kick once per arm stroke. It appears to me that the foot has 3 positions, up, down, and neutral. When these people kick, one foot goes from neutral to up and then down. The other foot goes from down to neutral. So the movement is neutral, up, down, neutral, then repeat. Or am I wrong?

[@joeyd1841]

I swim long distance lap swimming and my kick is weak any advice?

[@nicktaylor7247]

I get savage cramps in my inner thighs at about 2.5km so often I'm scared everytime i do a tumble turn (always happens when i push off)... I drink electrolytes, eat bananas and generally fit af... any ideas?

[@jacquelinegonzalez7649]

Magnesium supplements 2 hours before swimming. I get cramps on my calfs and feet, and since I take the supplements daily, they are less intense.

[@mohamedabdel-raouf3476]

I'm still beginner, how long should my legs travel? I see some swimmers feet out of water completely some others I can't see anything. Any recommendations?

[@leomdk939]

Your feet should break the surface of the water regularly, but only a little, otherwise you are kicking a lot of air, which is not helping you move forward (and your knees are bending too much). Splashing at your feet should be small unless you are sprinting.

[@Matt-cp9wh]

@@leomdk939 You shouldnt be breaking the surface with the entire foot, just the heels slightly, otherwise you're not creating propulsion, just kicking air partly.

[@leomdk939]

@@Matt-cp9wh Yes, that is exactly what I meant. Just the heels.

[@warrobotsazuredragon4791]

I am curious why it's not used for propulsion, isnt the legs 3 times a strong as your arms

[@randomnameindeed]

The legs are definitely much stronger, but I think this has got to do with the way freestyle works. Freestyle is based around pulling with the arms. In breaststroke a strong kick is vital for propulsion and contributes to more propulsion than the arms. However, breaststroke is still slower because of the recovery phase and the somewhat steeper angle of the body against the water at the top of the movement. The pulling motion of freestyle means you don't have recovery phases in the same way as you do in breaststroke and butterfly. However, underwater dolphin kicks are the fastest style of swimming there is and here the legs contribute with most of the propoulsion (in addition to the core I assume).

[@aarenmohite5844]

It will you soon. Kicking takes more energy than arms

[@RedShipsofSpainAgain]

Leg muscles are quite large and thus increase your oxygen demand when using the legs. Also most of your propulsion comes not from the legs but from the arms and back muscles. So the leg muscles do not have a great return on investment for your forward propulsion through the water. But what the legs do, as Dave Scott said in this video, is stabilize the rest of your body so that your upper body has a more stable platform to generate force from.

[@udayanmustafi3963]

🏊🏼‍♂️🏊🏻‍♀️

[@phathong5607]

N b