Optimizing Kick Outs: The Key to Faster Swimming
The Importance of Walls and Streamlines
The significance of walls and streamlines in swimming cannot be overstated. A mere hundredth of a second can determine whether a swimmer advances to finals or wins a race. Many swimmers overlook the advantage of maintaining tight streamlines and executing explosive kick outs, which can provide the crucial edge needed to finish strong and out-touch the competition.
In the our Competitive group, we focus on improving our walls and maximizing distance off each wall. The key skills we emphasize include:
- Proper Streamline Technique: Wrapping the top thumb around the bottom hand and squeezing the back of the ears with the shoulders to maintain a tight streamline.
- Dolphin Kicks: Executing powerful butterfly kick outs in fly, back, and free, and blending butterfly kicks into flutter kicks while in streamline for freestyle and backstroke.
- Head Position: Keeping the head down for at least two strokes off the wall in freestyle and butterfly.
- Breaststroke Pullouts: Maintaining a tight streamline while achieving a good glide on breaststroke pullouts.
These skills can be challenging to perform when fatigued during practice or at the end of a 200 freestyle in competition. However, with discipline and hard work, they become easier to execute correctly, much like learning to walk or tie shoes through practice.
Over the past 25 years, swimming rules have evolved to limit kick outs to 15 meters off each wall. Breaking the surface beyond 15 meters in fly, back, or free results in disqualification.
Historically, US Olympian David Berkoff exploited the lack of this rule by performing underwater dolphin kicks well past 15 meters, setting a world record in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. This led to the creation of the 15-meter rule in backstroke. Similarly, Olympic champion Misty Hyman used extended kick outs in butterfly to gain a significant advantage, prompting the rule's extension to butterfly and freestyle after her gold medal win in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
The message to all RIO swimmers: Utilize those streamline kick outs up to 15 meters!
