newbie questions

Wei censored (weiwang1) said:

I am very "amature" with regard to the professionals in this newsgroup. Currently I have some
questions while swimming freestyle and butterfly, and I hope some kind people can give me
some help.

1. Is there a coordination between hands and feet in freestyle ? What's the principle for kick
timing ? I have not grasped the 6-beat kicking yet, which seems pretty complicated to me. I was
told once that hands and feet movements are totally indepedent. But somehow, I feel that there
should be some coordination.

There is coordination, but it is a subconscious, natural coordination based on balance. Some people
find the 6-beat kick impossible to maintain (I am one of those people), because it throws the
armstroke off balance. If you can "learn" the 6-beat kick, it will probably be because you actually
have a good kick. That is, if you can kick fast with a kickboard, you are a good candidate for using
the 6-beat kick while swimming. If you can't kick fast with a kickboard, you will probably be better
off sticking with the two-beat kick, which is, basically, kicking for balance rather than speed.

Quoted message said:

2. While swimming butterfly, after my hand entering the water, I have to pause for a moment to
make the overall movement in syncronization. But I see people talking about no-pause is the way
to swim faster. Trying no-pause makes my movement out of sync. Are there some recommendations
on changing to no-pause bufferfly ?

I have always had the same problem, and I am not a good butterfly swimmer. Flexibility in the spine
and hips is important here, as is abdomen and back muscle strength. You have to swim a lot of
butterfly to become good at it.

Quoted message said:

3. How is the ankle angle measured ? When talking about ankle flexibility, people saying 80
degrees, 90 degrees. I don't know what these angles mean. I see a few pictures from
zoomers.netnew thekick.htmOpen ↗, but still don't get it.

I don't know. I've never heard any actual angle numbers. Basically, the more flexible your ankles
are (ie the more you can make your foot look like a balarina) the more likely you will have a good
kick that contributes to your speed.

martin

--
Martin Smith email: [email hidden] Vollsveien 9 tel. : +47 6783 1188
P.O. Box 482 mob. : +47 932 48 303 1327 Lysaker, Norway

I've noticed many inexperienced swimmers have difficuly coordinating when trying to let the tail wag
the dog. If I suggest not kicking at all, they continue to kick without being aware of it, the kick
then usually serving the purpose of compensating for irregularities in the stroke elsewhere. A
really nasty wide kick often starts with a nasty wide head motion while breathing. So, it's futile
to correct the kick; it's actually helping get a body back in line.

I've heard and read often two different approaches to coordinating arms and legs in butterfly. One
is to get the kick right and then fit in the arms and the other is arms first and fit in the kick.
When I've tried to help anyone I've had two suggestions: one, swim arms only and let the two kicks
find their own timing before putting any energy into it; the other is my favorite drill - arms at
sides, use head to get a body wave going, not really kicking, just body waving with some speed
increasing as the body wave goes toward the feet.

Ruth Kazez

Wei censored (weiwang1) said:

I am very "amature" with regard to the professionals in this newsgroup. Currently I have some
questions while swimming freestyle and butterfly, and I hope some kind people can give me
some help.

1. Is there a coordination between hands and feet in freestyle ? What's the principle for kick
timing ? I have not grasped the 6-beat kicking yet, which seems pretty complicated to me. I was
told once that hands and feet movements are totally indepedent. But somehow, I feel that there
should be some coordination.

2. While swimming butterfly, after my hand entering the water, I have to pause for a moment to
make the overall movement in syncronization. But I see people talking about no-pause is the way
to swim faster. Trying no-pause makes my movement out of sync. Are there some recommendations
on changing to no-pause bufferfly ?

3. How is the ankle angle measured ? When talking about ankle flexibility, people saying 80
degrees, 90 degrees. I don't know what these angles mean. I see a few pictures from
zoomers.netnew thekick.htmOpen ↗, but still don't get it.

Replies will be appreciated.

Wei