Excessive and constant kicking is a symptom of poor balance and stability in the water. You feel like you\u2019re hips and feet are sinking, and as a result, you kick to keep the hips and feet up in the water.<\/p>\n

Sinking legs are a threat to your survival. Your brain knows that if the hips start to sink, the head could start to sink, and if the head sinks, you\u2019re going to be in a whole lot of trouble.<\/p>\n

As a result, you\u2019ll do whatever you need to do to keep the hips up. Unless you\u2019re skilled at managing your position in the water, kicking is the default strategy for doing so.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the correct head position in front crawl?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
How to improve your swim kick efficiency<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
How to stop your legs sinking in the swim<\/u><\/b><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
How can you\u00a0reduce excessive kicking in the swim?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
To put an end to your excessive kicking, you need to learn to use your lungs. As long as they have air in them, your lungs will cause your body to remain at the surface of the water. If you can learn to leverage them, you can use their support to keep the hips up. Try these two exercises to learn how to do exactly that.<\/p>\n
Ball Float<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn shallow water, get into a tight ball, as if you were trying to perform a cannonball (see an example here<\/a><\/strong>). Then just hang out and feel the water support you. You\u2019ll feel your lungs hold you up at the surface.<\/p>\n
If you have a partner, they can bounce you like a basketball<\/strong><\/a>, and you\u2019ll really feel the lungs supporting you. With that sensation in mind, all you have to do is \u2018lean\u2019 into that support when you swim, and you\u2019ll find you will feel a lot lighter.<\/p>\n
Elevator Swim<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Once you\u2019ve learned to feel the support your lungs can provide you, it\u2019s time to learn how to leverage that support to improve your position in the water.<\/p>\n
To perform the exercise (watch it here<\/a><\/strong>), you\u2019ll start swimming freestyle with your head and chest really high, then gradually lower them by pressing into the water, ultimately to the point where they\u2019re completely submerged. Over the course of the progression, you\u2019ll find that the hips pop right up to the surface. That\u2019s the body position you want to use.<\/p>\n
Everyone has different limb length, bone densities, body fat distribution, muscle sizes, lung size, etc. As a result, we all have slightly different natural positions in the water, and we\u2019ll have to use different strategies to maintain position in the water. The key is to find the solution that works best for you. Use these two tools to figure it out!<\/p>\n
\n
How to warm up for a swim<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
How much swimming should triathletes do?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
How to build a solid swim foundation<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
Image credit:<\/strong> Erik Isakson\/Getty Images<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
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By Andrew Sheaff Published: Friday, 11 March 2022 at 12:00 am A strong kick can be a powerful tool for a faster freestyle over short distances, especially when you can use this weapon at your disposal. However, while you want to be able to use a strong kick, you don\u2019t need to use a strong […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":10197,"template":"","categories":[1,23],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/03\/how-to-reduce-excessive-kicking-when-swimming.jpg",2000,1160,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/03\/how-to-reduce-excessive-kicking-when-swimming-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/03\/how-to-reduce-excessive-kicking-when-swimming-300x174.jpg",300,174,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/03\/how-to-reduce-excessive-kicking-when-swimming-768x445.jpg",768,445,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/03\/how-to-reduce-excessive-kicking-when-swimming-1024x594.jpg",800,464,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/03\/how-to-reduce-excessive-kicking-when-swimming-1536x891.jpg",1536,891,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2022\/03\/how-to-reduce-excessive-kicking-when-swimming.jpg",2000,1160,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Andrew Sheaff Published: Friday, 11 March 2022 at 12:00 am A strong kick can be a powerful tool for a faster freestyle over short distances, especially when you can use this weapon at your disposal. However, while you want to be able to use a strong kick, you don\u2019t need to use a strong…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/10196"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}