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Moving into the whip kick. The whip kick is used with breaststroke, it's the only
stroke the whip kick is actually used. A lot of times younger swimmers will have a
very hard time coordinating
getting the fine muscle coordination in order to do a proper whip kick
The instructor or the parent needs to be very patient with the swimmer
the magic number that I have found is about eight years old
as to when they'll be able to coordinate their muscles properly
to have a good, strong whip kick. So have a little bit of patience with the
younger swimmer. Like I said, usually around the age of eight/nine somewhere
in there, all of a sudden it's like magic they're able to get a kick down-if they have the
basics-if they were taught properly in the beginning
then they will have the basic skills to have a
good, strong, powerful whip kick
Now one of the most important parts of the whip kick is the start and the
finishing position and it's actually the same position
It's with the legs together and the toes pointed straight behind
now like I said before, the whip kick is the most powerful so after the very powerful
whip kick you want to really make sure
that the body is as streamlined as possible after the kick
so the swimmer can benefit from all the speed and momentum that's generated from
the kick. So remember, the finishing and starting position of the whip kick
is with the legs together in the toes pointed straight behind
The Load, I cannot put enough emphasis on the load
it is one of the most critical parts of the whip kick
and a lot of times is the one part of the kick that swimmers will
rush through and they set themselves up for failure
Now the load
is when you pull the heels up to the bottom, to the buttocks
You pull them up to that position, you need to make sure that the
position is clear, it's defined
and it actually sets up the rest of the kick
make sure that heels are actually pulled up to the bottom
and you're not pulling your knees
up to your chest
Because that's actually a very bad, poor habit to develop and a lot of times with
younger swimmers
you'll see them pull their knees up to their chest
rather than pulling their heels up to their bottom. Once in this position
'The Load' position
the next move
is actually turning
the feet outward
It's very very important
to make sure that the swimmer
hits this in a clearly-defined manner
in every single kick they do. If they hit a proper load they have
a much much greater chance of success with the whip kick
by pulling their heels up
and a proper turn-out of the feet
the next move is one of the most critical within the whip kick
especially with younger swimmers. Because a lot of times their strength or
coordination doesn't allow them to do the motion like they're trying to do it
or like they want to do it. So, you'll see this- this is common
You'll see them get into a load position, like you're telling them to do, and then the next
move
Their knees will pop outward. This is a bad position
This is a bad habit, they're setting themselves up for a froggy kick
and a lot of times when we start teaching
the whip kick or start to help your little swimmer with the whip kick
They'll say "Oh the froggy kick" and you'll say "No, it's not a froggy kick--it's a whip kick"
So make sure that the feet turn out
and that the feet actually lead the kick out and around
It's very important that the feet
lead the kick
out and around.
They do not want to pop their knees out
Because that is setting them up to do a froggy kick
which is much less powerful, much less effective in the water. So make sure that
they keep their legs
inline
feet turned-out in that their feet lead to kick out and around
The last point of emphasis I'd to add as far as the whip kick is making sure that
you complete every kick
now one of the most common things that you'll see with the whip kick
especially when helping the younger swimmer is that they like to stop the kick early
They'll go through the motion
and then they'll stop it before they complete the kick. Now the whole motion of
the whip kick is for the final whip as the legs come all the way together
so make sure
that they are actually
finishing
their kick. All the way together about fifty percent of the power of the
whip kick
is in the last section of the whip kick, in the last six to eight to ten inches of the
kick
so they're cutting it short
they're cutting out a lot of the power that they've worked so hard for in the kick
So make sure on every single whip kick that you're completing it all the way together
with a nice tight whip
Hi, I'm here with Henry Loong and we're going to go over the basic mechanics of the whip kick
The whip kick is used with breaststroke. It's a little bit difficult for younger swimmers to develop
because of the fine muscle coordination
that goes into it. But with a little bit of practice you get the mechanics down and
make sure that you don't develop a froggy kick or a scissor kick or anything like that
So we're going to go through that real quick
Now
The important thing with the whip kick is that the swimmers need to recognize
something as a part of the kick and that's the streamline with the legs
The legs are straight and the toes are pointed. This is the beginning and end of the kick
So it's very important that the swimmer recognizes this as part of the kick
because it's very important because the kick is so powerful you want the legs to be
streamlined
after the powerful kick so you can maximize distance
so the first part of the kick, once you're in this position with the kick the first
part of the kick is probably the most critical
this is the most critical, he is going to develop a load. which is where he pulls
his heels up to his bottom
and he allows his knees
to actually drop
now what you don't want the swimmer to do is actually pull their knees up to their chest
When they pull their knees up to the chest they're in the wrong starting position
and they'll probably do an improper kick
So the load
is their heels pulled up to their bottom
and it should be flat on top to where you can sit a kick board
or anything else on top
It should be completely flat. Now this is very very important not to skip the load
after that
The feet turn out. This is the next part of the whip kick
now from this position
it's kind of a danger zone as far as the kick. Because the kick can go either way
If the swimmer
keeps everything inline as far as their leg is concerned all the way up
then they'll probably have a proper whip kick
IF the swimmer allows their knees
to pop out wide from this they will probably have a froggy kick
which is less efficient
and in most cases is considered illegal
so you wanna make sure that everything stays in alignment
feet turned out
next motion
is a whip
feet lead the whip
and you are back to the starting position
with the legs straight and toes pointed