Fins or No Fins??

[dgk2009]

When doing skating drills my right side is very good and I feel very comfortable but my left side is a huge issue,always has been,cant get balanced on my left side,would fins help with this,I just dont want to depend on them too much,I've put them in a box in the basement,would they be ok just for skating drills??

[CoachSuzanne]

Originally Posted by dgk2009

When doing skating drills my right side is very good and I feel very comfortable but my left side is a huge issue,always has been,cant get balanced on my left side,would fins help with this,I just dont want to depend on them too much,I've put them in a box in the basement,would they be ok just for skating drills??

Maybe.

If skating drill is turning into a kicking drill it may give you enough time to sort out skating position.

Fins can help you sort out how to kcik, but they can also cover up bad kicking so it's really hard to say what they will do. Try it and see.

[piyavat]

Originally Posted by CoachSuzanne

Maybe.

If skating drill is turning into a kicking drill it may give you enough time to sort out skating position.

Fins can help you sort out how to kcik, but they can also cover up bad kicking so it's really hard to say what they will do. Try it and see.

Coach Suzanne, my 2nd question for you today!

If I kick the water, my body moves backward. So I told myself, I would need to improve the flexibilty of my ankles. I put on short training fins and kept on kicking. In 5 minutes, my legs got cramped up everytime. I do stretching and consume potassium food daily.

I can swim far-from-perfect TI for about 25 yards with difficulty and hope I can better balance/propel my body with more flexibility of ankles. Of course, I know there are more factors than this to be a better TI swimmer.

Anyhow, could you please advise how to improve the flexibility of my ankles without using fins? Or, do I really need to focus on it?

I do intense exercise an hour a day, 6 days a week. I allocate 20 minutes a day, 4 times a week to practice TI. Note I had not learned how to swim correctly (in theory) until I went to a TI workshop 3 years ago. And, water has never been my friend!

Thanks.
Pete