Do you have "runners kick" ? - Triathlon Week

08-21-2006, 11:02 PM

Can you point your toes and straighten out your feet? When you kick on your
back, do you tend to go very slow, stay in one place, or even go backwards?
Do you have a tough time with swimming drills because your kick is not
propelling you forward fast enough? Do you wear fins in workouts just to
"keep up"? Did you start out as a runner and pick up swimming later to
become a Triathlete?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you may have Runner's Kick! Have
no fear, there are things you can do. Even the worst of kickers can develop
an adequate kick for freestyle, which is all you need for a triathlon swim.

please visit : [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
for the remainder of this article and many more free articles at
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].

Regards
Richard - PBWebmaster

08-21-2006, 11:02 PM

PBWebmaster wrote:
> Can you point your toes and straighten out your feet? When you kick on your
> back, do you tend to go very slow, stay in one place, or even go backwards?
> Do you have a tough time with swimming drills because your kick is not
> propelling you forward fast enough? Do you wear fins in workouts just to
> "keep up"? Did you start out as a runner and pick up swimming later to
> become a Triathlete?
>
> If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you may have Runner's Kick! Have
> no fear, there are things you can do. Even the worst of kickers can develop
> an adequate kick for freestyle, which is all you need for a triathlon swim.
>
> please visit : [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
> for the remainder of this article and many more free articles at
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].
>
> Regards
> Richard - PBWebmaster

Sorry, it's not my kick that needs work, it's my stroke frequency and
my dive.

08-21-2006, 11:02 PM

>> Can you point your toes and straighten out your feet? When you kick on
>> your
>> back, do you tend to go very slow, stay in one place, or even go
>> backwards?
>> Do you have a tough time with swimming drills because your kick is not
>> propelling you forward fast enough? Do you wear fins in workouts just to
>> "keep up"? Did you start out as a runner and pick up swimming later to
>> become a Triathlete?
>>
>> If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you may have Runner's Kick!
>> Have
>> no fear, there are things you can do. Even the worst of kickers can
>> develop
>> an adequate kick for freestyle, which is all you need for a triathlon
>> swim.
>>
>> please visit :
>> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>> for the remainder of this article and many more free articles at
>> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].
>>
>> Regards
>> Richard - PBWebmaster
>
> Sorry, it's not my kick that needs work, it's my stroke frequency and
> my dive.
>

try this one on Stroke counting then (you will have to join as a basic
member - which is free to read this article):
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

regards
Richard

PBWebmaster

08-24-2006, 10:52 AM

PBWebmaster wrote:
> Can you point your toes and straighten out your feet? When you kick on your
> back, do you tend to go very slow, stay in one place, or even go backwards?
> Do you have a tough time with swimming drills because your kick is not
> propelling you forward fast enough? Do you wear fins in workouts just to
> "keep up"? Did you start out as a runner and pick up swimming later to
> become a Triathlete?
>
> If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you may have Runner's Kick! Have
> no fear, there are things you can do. Even the worst of kickers can develop
> an adequate kick for freestyle, which is all you need for a triathlon swim.
>
> please visit : [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
> for the remainder of this article and many more free articles at
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].
>
> Regards
> Richard - PBWebmaster
>
>

I started out in swimming and moved to triathlon. I think it's unlikely
that Triathletes are going to suffer from a bad kick given that we used
to annihilate the masters in the next lane when using kick boards, it's
the cycling you see.....
Good point though, but I think it might refer to runners looking to
cross-train rather than triathletes.

08-25-2006, 11:09 PM

> I started out in swimming and moved to triathlon. I think it's unlikely
> that Triathletes are going to suffer from a bad kick given that we used
> to annihilate the masters in the next lane when using kick boards, it's
> the cycling you see.....

No way did a bunch of triathletes ever outkick the masters
in the next lane. Runners and bicyclists are notorious
terrible kickers. They're feet are attached to their ankles
like metal ells. No big quad is going to get you through
the water like the loose floppy feet of a swimmer. Which is
why triathletes love those big black flotation devices they
wear even in 80 degree water.

rtk

08-25-2006, 11:09 PM

You mean can I outsprint people in the final 400 meters of a running
race? Sure.

--Harold Buck

"Hubris always wins in the end. The Greeks taught us that."

-Homer J. Simpson

08-27-2006, 11:35 PM

"rtk" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:ecmq7o$1ad0$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].psu.edu...
>
>> I started out in swimming and moved to triathlon. I think it's
>> unlikely that Triathletes are going to suffer from a bad kick given
>> that we used to annihilate the masters in the next lane when using
>> kick boards, it's the cycling you see.....
>
> No way did a bunch of triathletes ever outkick the masters in the next
> lane. Runners and bicyclists are notorious terrible kickers. -snip-

[raises hand, nods head] - when I first started swimming as an adult,
I'd already been running for a number of years. My kick was so bad that
most of the time, it barely moved me forward in the water, and even then
only with tremendous effort. It was not uncommon for me to stay in the
same spot or even move backwards slightly. IOW, I had an absolutely
awful kick.

Years later, and with much more flexible ankles, I now have an
acceptable, if not great, kick. I found that, at the beginning, I used
to work really hard at pointing my toes, but lately I have learned to
try and achieve the same thing through relaxation instead of effort and,
overall, it works out better, although it's still not uncommon for the
muscles in the bottom of my feet to cramp up.

-S-