I need help with my front crawl kicking. I'm pretty new to the swimming thing, but I know I'm using my arms for swimming more than my legs and am prepared to work at it, so any tips would be great.
Swimming good front crawl is not just about kicking. Yes, the legs need to kick but not as much as you think.
Front crawl gets its power and momentum from the arm action, and it gets it efficiency from a flat, streamlined body position.
If you are new to swimming, then your key focus must be to relax and swim slower than you think you need to. It is easy when you first start to try almost too hard, pull and kick too hard and fast and then get completely out of breath.
If you relax into your stroke, focus on long arm pulls and making your body long and streamlined in the water, you can swim a fair distance with surprisingly little effort. But it is the combination of all components of front crawl (leg kicks, arm pulls, breathing and timing) that make this possible.
If you are determined to kick more, grab a kickboard and go for it. Keep your face submerged as much as possible to help keep your body position flat and kick with a relaxed and flowing leg kick. This is achieved by kicking from the hip with a slight knee bend and completely relaxed ankles and feet.
The speed of your leg kicks compared with your arm pulls can vary from 6 kicks to 1 arm cycle (2 arm pulls) to 4 kicks or even 1 kick to 1 arm cycle. It will usually depend on your coordination or your fitness. The faster your legs, the more energy you will use.
My ebook How To Swim Front Crawl contains over 20 separate swimming exercises to help all parts of front crawl, including the leg kick and the timing of the arms and legs. You can download it, print out the parts you need and take them to your pool to try out. Click the link below for more information.
$9.99
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