How to use a kickboard
How to Use a Kickboard to Improve Your Swimming
What is a kickboard?
A swimming kickboard is a vital training aid for swimmers, offering buoyancy to support the upper body while allowing focused practice on kicking techniques. By using a kickboard, swimmers can improve their leg strength, efficiency, and rhythm, enhancing overall swimming performance. Different shapes and sizes cater to various training needs and skill levels.
How to Use a Kickboard?
How to Swim with a Kickboard?
The swim kickboard supports your arms and upper body, giving them a rest so you can focus your attention and energy on training your leg technique. When you swim normally, the movement of your arms helps keep your upper body afloat. The combined action of your arms and legs keeps your entire body straight, streamlined, and high in the water.
Why do swimmers use kickboards?
If you're still learning to swim, a kickboard swim is a great tool to help you practice leg movements before you move on to full-body swimming. This means you can focus on one thing at a time until you're comfortable using both your arms and legs at the same time.
But kickboards aren't just for beginners - they're also an everyday training aid used by advanced and competitive swimmers.
With a kickboard, you'll be able to:
But kickboards aren't just for beginners - they're also an everyday training aid used by advanced and competitive swimmers.
With a kickboard, you'll be able to:
- Build leg and core strength - make your legs work twice as hard to move the same body weight
- Perfect your kicking technique - focus all your attention on your legs without worrying about arm movements
- Focus on your breathing and posture - by isolating one part of your body, it's easier to focus on other techniques
- And keep training longer - if your upper body usually tires first, you can switch to a kickboard to give it a rest and then continue swimming without having to stop.
How to Use a Kickboard Properly
On the surface, a kickboards swimming is a simple training aid. It supports your upper body while you train your legs.
But there are some details that aren't so obvious. Here's what you need to remember:
But there are some details that aren't so obvious. Here's what you need to remember:
Hold the kickboard near the top
Kickboards work because they are buoyant - they push the water upwards, helping you stay afloat.
When you hold the kickboard near the top, your arms are resting on top of the entire board. This means your arms get more upward force to support them, and your body naturally becomes straighter in the water when you kick.
(If you hold the bottom edge of the board, you only get support at your fingertips - which doesn't do much to help your body stay afloat!)
If you're using a kickboard to practice backstroke kicks, you can hold the board in front of your chest with your arms crossed over it. The buoyancy of the board will pull your upper body higher in the water and help you stay streamlined as you swim.
Press down on the kickboard to raise your hips
If you’re practicing your freestyle kick, you’re only being supported at either end. Your kicks are keeping your legs up, and the board is keeping your arms up.
This can mean that your body sags in the middle (making a V-shape in the water). When your hips sink, you’re no longer streamlined – and this extra drag can make it harder to move forwards.
So to help balance things out and keep your body straight and streamlined, you can push down slightly on the kickboard with your arms. This will naturally help to raise up your hips and avoid any sag.
But don’t push down too hard! You need to apply just enough pressure to keep your body straight –you don’t want to start lifting your hips out of the water.
Keep your body straight (but not too straight)
A straight posture is great for a streamlined swim. But there is such a thing as ‘too straight’ – and it could put unnecessary strain on your shoulders and neck.
If you’re using a kickboard with fully extended arms – where your elbows are locked – this can become uncomfortable over time. So to help you stay relaxed and avoid any strain, try to leave your arms slightly bent at the elbow.
Our own EVA Foam Swimming Kickboard comes with cut-away handles for exactly this purpose. By holding on to the angled holes near the top of the kickboard, your arms will naturally rest at a slight bend, and you’ll be less likely to over-extend them.
Conclusion
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how to use kickboard swimming
