Any drill for learning 2b kick

[arnaud_gand]

Hello,

I have learned free style swimming from DVD "Easy Freestyle: 21st Century Techniques for Beginners to Advanced Swimmers" with 2b kick very economic for long distance swimming.

I now learn backstroke with DVD "Backstroke for Every Body". I would like to swimm with 2b kick also but I did not find any drill on DVD to learn and practise this step.

Could somebody help me regarding this point ?
Is there any simple exercise to practise ?

Thanks

[tri-inghard]

Arnaud,

My understanding is that the 2 beat kick is not used for the back stroke. It is typically a 6 beat kick. Rather than ever using a kick board, I often go from sweet spot left on my back to sweet spot right on my back. I use this as a drill to practice balance in the water in general and for the back stroke and also as active rest during more aerobic paced swimming. Hope this helps.

Tri-inghard

[CoachBobM]

Originally Posted by tri-inghard

My understanding is that the 2 beat kick is not used for the back stroke. It is typically a 6 beat kick. Rather than ever using a kick board, I often go from sweet spot left on my back to sweet spot right on my back. I use this as a drill to practice balance in the water in general and for the back stroke and also as active rest during more aerobic paced swimming. Hope this helps.

Like tri-inghard, I've never heard of a backstroker using a 2-beat kick.

One clarification on the drill tri-inghard describes:
In the drill (which is called "Active Balance Looking Up") you rotate between your head-lead sweet spots on your left and right. The fact that you're not using your arms lets you focus on balance, core body rotation, and kicking. This will allow you to experiment with what kind of kick moves you fastest and/or most efficiently when your body is in a fairly streamlined position.

You may also find it useful to start by doing vertical kicking (go to the deep end, fold your arms across your chest, and keep your head above water by kicking) and then let yourself "fall back" onto your back while continuing to kick.


Bob

[tri-inghard]

Arnaud and Coach Bob,

Coach Bob, thank you for the clarification of the drill I was describing (i.e. Active Balance Looking Up). I practice it quite a bit.

Vertical kicking is a fantastic drill for a person's kick. Unfortunately, the pool I usually swim in is shallow so I can not do it. I would like to give Arnaud the heads up to expect a leg burn in 30 seconds or so of unaided vertical kicking especially if you swim, vertical kick 30 seconds and then swim again. Unlike, active balance looking up which I find fun and relaxing, I groan at the thought of vertical kicking which is probably why it is so good for you!

Tri-inghard

[sasquatch]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cslxxJU-A5U

This is some pretty smooth backstroke and uses a 2bk. Watch for it in the underwater shots of Irie (going in and out of turns). I think this record was disallowed because the leg skins he wore didn't meet the FINA requirements (even before the recent suit restrictions went into effect) but he is still one of the fastest backstrokers in the world because of his form. Notice how small/skinny he looks next to the other competitors.

Here is another highlighting his "unique" kick style

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Notw...eature=related

These videos are a great argument for the "form over force" argument.

[arnaud_gand]

Thanks to all

I will try to practise a 2bk (thanks to sasquatch) using an exercice from the video 2nd video.

I intend to settle something like lifting arm and opposite leg then kicking other leg while stroking opposite arm.

[splashingpat]

Originally Posted by sasquatch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cslxxJU-A5U

This is some pretty smooth backstroke and uses a 2bk. Watch for it in the underwater shots of Irie (going in and out of turns). I think this record was disallowed because the leg skins he wore didn't meet the FINA requirements (even before the recent suit restrictions went into effect) but he is still one of the fastest backstrokers in the world because of his form. Notice how small/skinny he looks next to the other competitors.

Here is another highlighting his "unique" kick style


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Notw...eature=related

These videos are a great argument for the "form over force" argument.

why is this Not as popular as the crawl? ever wonder? like i do
I am surprise NOT to see the streamline (-)but a (v)effect!any body else?

[daveblt]

[quote=splashingpat;11839]why is this Not as popular as the crawl?
ever wonder?
like i do?


Hey, I like backstroke, it's popular with me !


[i do Not like it because you can't see the wall]


Aw it ain't so bad just keep your eye on the backstroke flag !



BUT
[ i should get over that!]


Why sure you can !



Dave

[Richardsk]

Our pool hardly ever has backstroke flags up but it is quite feasible to count strokes and know when you are approaching the wall. Also there is often some mark on the ceiling or out to the side of the pool that will help.

Nevertheless, in a crowded pool the danger of hitting another swimmer is always present. I still like backstroke and swim it whenever I can, although it is extremely slow.

[madvet]

I often do a 2-beat kick during backstroke. I have a very reliable 2-beat kick in freestyle. In backstroke I don't try to coordinate the kick with anything, I just kind of go with the flow. Doing this, I can get 13-15 strokes per length, which approximates my freestyle SPL. But to get decent speed (velocity) on backstroke, it seems like I need the 6-beat kick.

This topic has come up before, and when the question of why doesn't anybody do a 2-beat kick competitively in backstroke, the answer was "nobody has done it before." Which seemed like kind of a lame answer, but actually it is a pretty good answer also.

What struck me about the Japanese swimmer was how hard and how far he kicks DOWN (literally, towards the bottom of the pool). The conventional wisdom of excellent backstrokers is to kick UP (towards the surface). I think he has that bent-at-the-waist position to get more leverage on his downward kick. An amateur backstroker lets his whole body sink in the water, having the legs go deep in the water, or he/she has an "armchair" sort of posture. This is neither. His upper body tilts up, in a "hydroplaning" position, and his legs are actually horizontal in the water.
I enjoy backstroke, and I have found that it helps greatly in teaching me streamlining.