We've got an awesome lake in the background
Today was a very very critical day, it's actually the hardest thing to teach
in a swimming, in my opinion, is the
breaststroke kick, the whip kick. So we got on that today
and we saw a lot of progress and the kids got the basic motions down
and that's HUGE. We've got coach Stephen, Jordan and Parker
Why do you never see
hippopotamuses hiding in trees?
Why is that?
Because they're really good at it. Parker: They're really good at
hiding
that's why you never see them Jordan: I don't get it
it's not funny if you have to explain it. Stephen: I get it
Parker: They're so good at hiding you can never see them in the trees
Stephen: They're too big to get up in the trees Jordan
Parker: No, they're too hard to see
The reason that the whip kick is so
complicated is because it's got a lot of fine muscle coordination that goes into it
and it takes a little bit of strength around
the joints and with younger
athletes they usually don't have that yet. Some kids pick it up naturally
but most of them seven or eight years old they actually
struggle with it. We started off at the very
beginning and the very beginning
is the legs straight and toes pointed--it's gotta be identified as part of the kick
it's very important because the stroke begins and ends
with the legs together and the toes pointed
after that the load. The load is where you pull the heels
up to you bottom and when you pull your heels up to the bottom
you want to make sure that you are not pulling your knees up your chest.
that's a big common error
that developing swimmers will make with the whip kick-- is that they will
pull their
knees up to their chest and
when they do that it sets them up to do the wrong kick
it's an improper kick in it is by far less powerful
the next part is a turn out. That's with your
heels pulled up your bottom and the next part is
turning your feet outward
dancers a lot of times find this very easy to do, this is an easy skill for
them
because ballet dancers, they work with turnout
the ballet positions you know 1,2,3,4,5 as they go through the different positions
they have a natural turnout with their feet anyways. So it's very
easy for them to pick this up. But for breaststrokers, breaststrokers need
a big turnout as well. That needs to be an easy motion to turn your
feet out
Once you become comfortable with this motion I would highly recommend
this motion heals up with the turnout next
before you do it all as one motion
the more advanced breaststrokers they do it all-at-once
Once they start the motion
they end up with the turnout. So that's
the more advanced. You can try that if you want to. But I would
highly recommend when
you're starting to go here and then here until you actually get it down
Once you're in this position with the loaded position, then the next motion is
bringing your feet around and you whip your feet around, you don't
pop your knees out and allow it to go around. That's a huge turtle out there
I'll show you guys in a second
Sometimes from the loaded position will allow their knees
to pop out wide and that's setting them up for a froggy kick
and a froggy kick is bad news. After the very powerful kick
that's when you want to snap those legs around and want to make sure that you finish
with the legs together
and the toes pointed straight behind. It's very very important that you finish
in that same position. So the kids did very well today
it's one of those skills that it's really hard to develop
especially for the younger athletes seven & eight year-olds they have a big problem with it
by the time they get to be about 10
everything just falls in-line. So you gotta make sure that you learn the
basic mechanics
early so you're able to progress the way you need to
So when you get to be 9,10
everything's already in place and you're able to do it. So if you're 5,6,7,8
and you're having trouble with the whip kick-- don't get too frustrated with it
everybody does at your age but in a couple of years it'll
all work out I promise. Now here's something I'm going to tell
swimmers/parents...it's not really a secret
but the whip kick, when you start learning how to do the whip kick
it's actually bad for your knees because is kind of a wrenching motion to your knees
if you were to do this with your arm
those you that are old enough, like Arsenio Hall, you know-- the Dawg Pound
this motion right here is actually what you're doing with your knee during
the whip kick
you're bringing it and you're actually wrenching it around
and it's a difficult motion
now when you're first learning how to do it
if you're doing it too much then it can be pretty stressful and it can be a little
bit painful
but you have to go through that phase in order to build up
the strength
to be able to do it for extended periods of time
so if you are brand new to whip kick.......... it's OK
if you have a little bit of tenderness in your knees then it's okay, that's natural
and that's normal. But it's one thing you have to go through in order to become a
strong breaststroker
Once you get through that awkward phase then everything gets stronger and
everything's good to go
Alright guys that was it for today. The whip kick was a big deal
and see you guys tomorrow. If you got any questions or comments leave those below
and if you have a joke
you want me to try on the other coaches then leave that as well and I'll give it a
shot
Hope you guys have a great day
and I will catch you guys on the flippity floppity...BYE
Alright guys, that's it
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