Katy Ledecky Kickbeat Variations

This video of K.L is interesting because it shows her doing what is really just a 1 beat kick at a certain stage in her longish pool swim.

At other points in the race she uses 4 beat and 6 beat kicking.

Going back to the 1 beat action, she is using this to kick down hard on the left leg whilst spearing in with the right arm and always breathing to the right. This is a loping style. The right leg just remains streamlined and immobile.

https://youtu.be/gfnCcFQaWdU

I have been trying this as a means of rotating the body so that the pull works in the Adam Ocean Walker style.

I looked at the clip and thought "Hmm! - that's the sort of irregular kicking I do now - more often just 1 kick/stroke".  Am really going "backwards" in my swim capability, despite 3 sessions/week of about 50mins each.  Don't know how "Sprinter" can keep on with his 1 hour of flutter kicking - such determination/dedication!  Maybe it's just old age "galloping on" in my case.  Although pool conditions are not ideal - it's too busy most of the time.  there are basically 3 lanes in the Nuffield 25m pool I am reduced to using now, with each lane about 7ft wide. With bods going clock-wise (or if just 2, keeping to a chosen half-lane - there aint room for any wide-arm strokes (fly efforts, or the old English backstroke)

Most of us are very disappointed by the fact that our local DW gym/pool closed (due to financial collapse in the pandemic).  It was "up for sale" but  an American firm ("True Fitness", makers of gym equioment) although interested -  decided not to go ahead.  The latest is that a "B & M" discount store, next to the old gym.pool are planning to purchase it, to expand into bigger floor space - but - Oh Sacrilege!!! we understand that they have already "filled in" the pool!!! That just leaves the Nuffield gym/pool a few yards away from the old DW one, and of course that is almost "heaving" now with "refugee ex-DW members".


 Am getting the knack (at long last) of snatching a quick inhalation when breathing to the side in my fly stroke (necessitated by  "old-age spinal forward "bent -over" stoop",  preventing inhalation to the front) - but only for a couple of strokes before it all goes wrong and the toes touch the shallow bottom when kicking.  The answer in my case is to push the head down momentarily below the level of thr outstrehed arms at the start of each stroke.  That  elevates the legs, bringing the feet/ankles above the surface before doing the double arm "scoop".

Think I have forgotten about a small feature of the arm pull phase that might help me to do a little better - that is the angling of the wrist so that the palm faces backwards until the arm is just about to exit the water.  I know the SS book shows that feature - butI had forgotten it! "Doh!".  Have only recently remembered also, a tip learnt ages ago, and recently put back into practice - i.e. really stretching the whole body and reaching forwards during the extension of a just recovered arm.  It can make a few inches difference on each  arm stroke (the old "reaching for the light bulb" tip, but when horizontal, instead of vertical on dry land! So my arm action is one of reaching ahead with the recovered arm and pushing the palm of the stroking arm as far as possible away from the extending arm. As you can guess from the above, this "oldie" is trying to screw the best movement from his now feeble efforts!