One debate I seem to come across often in regards to triathlon training for the swim is whether triathletes should kick or not. I feel each triathlete will find better overall results if they learn an efficient kick.
Triathletes as a general observation seem to hate to kick (many swimmers do as well). The main reason I hear is because triathletes want to save their legs for the bike and run. By not kicking you are actually not saving your legs more for the bike and run as much as you may think and are hurting your over all performance. Lets explore why.
Creating lift: The kick itself does not normally create enough propulsion to make a swimmer faster, so why kick? What it does do is create lift in the legs, as a result, the swimmer is now swimming higher in the water which creates less drag making the swimmer faster while using less over all energy. If I told you you can get from point A to point B faster while using less energy, wouldn't you find that a benefit. I know some are thinking, "most races are wet suit legal, so the wet suit creates all the lift I need." This brings me to my next point.
Rotation: It is common knowledge that a swimmer who rotates will swim faster by generating more power by using their core to swim and not just their arms and legs. By kicking, this helps the rotation. Almost all athletes use their core to generate power in their respective sports. A pitcher in baseball and a quarterback in football are the best examples when compared to swimming. To help generate power they need an anchoring point. A pitcher uses the mound as leverage, the quarterback uses the ground. If they are lifted off the ground, their power is greatly diminished as they no longer have the anchor. When watching a football game, the announcers may say that the quarterback did not set their feet and as a result did not have a good throw. The quarterback was not able to generate their normal power as a result of not having a good anchor.
The kick for a swimmer acts the same way, it creates an anchor to help the swimmer rotate their body and generate more power from the core. Next time you are in the pool, tie your feet together and swim a length of the pool and have someone video tape you (they are also their to make sure you are safe as you have just tied your feet together). You will probably find that it is harder for you to swim, to rotate your core. Also observe the lower part of your body in the video. As you are not able to engage your core as much your legs as a result are fish tailing behind you. This extra side to side movement is creating additional drag and slowing you down. By not kicking you are using more energy while creating additional drag to slow you down and in turn it is taking you longer to get from point A to point B while using more energy.
Saving the legs: An efficient kick will not tax your legs so much that you will have less of a bike or run. If you are over kicking, yes, you will be more fatigued. Kicking efficiently will not create the muscle fatigue that some triathletes are worried about. If you are over kicking, it will tax your cardiovascular system to the point that it will negatively effect your race. So how do you know? A good way is to have a coach watch you and give you feed back. If you are on your own, your kick should not feel like you have to put extra effort on it. For a triathlete work on keeping a steady beat/rhythm.
What the Pro's do: If none of this convinces you, then there may be nothing I can say that will. But since there are many articles that have the head line, "What the Pro's do" then I will use it as well. Find me one top level triathlete that does not kick. They all utilize their kick, they just don't over kick.
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