Triathlon Swimming Q&A: Flutter Kick Improvements

Q: Do you have any simple ideas to improve my flutter kick? Everything about kicking seems so complex!

A: There is one simple thing you can do that will help your kick.  Keep your legs close together.  You want your knees and feet to feel like they are brushing past each other as your legs are pumping up and down.  This creates a scissor-like motion of the water between the legs which helps propel you forward.  If you are kicking with your legs apart, the water between your legs does nothing for you, and you are only left with pushing the water above and below your legs.  The benefit of harnessing a scissor motion in your kick will vary by individual.  This answer does not mean that learning kicking is simple and easy.  There are many other aspects of kicking technique that cannot be harnessed by this answer.
 
Here’s an easy way to practice keeping your legs together.  Take a piece of surgical tubing and tie it into a loop about 5-6 inches in diameter.  Place the loop a little above both of your knees and proceed flutter kicking.  You want to work against the band in an up/down motion.  The band will force your knees to rub against each other while kicking, just like they are supposed to.  Once this becomes comfortable, you should see an improvement to your kicking game.  Hope this helps!  Until next time, happy training.

Click here to view previous questions.