I noticed that when I am swimming my propulsion seems to come only from my arms. And I don’t know how to change that. I watched a lot of tutorials about how to improve bad kicking but I don’t know what I am doing wrong. I keep my legs straight, I am definitely not cycling. I kick from the hips, and I think not too wide, keeping my feet extended and so on.
But when I am practicing with the kick board I don’t have any propulsion. I push off from the edge of the pool and kick as good as I can but I don’t move forward, the most embarrassing and discouraging thing is when I kick and kick and kick and then in the middle of the pool, when I have lost all momentum from the push off standing still at the middle of the pool while kicking.
Do you know any resources that helped you to improve your kick (I didn’t find a coach, private coaches seem here not as common as in other regions)
Working on my freestyle kick: point toes, imagine brushing big toes together. Initiate from hips, not just knees, and keep legs relaxed. Experiment with fins to feel propulsion and stretch ankles. Snorkel in “superman” position helps reduce drag and makes kicking easier than using a kickboard. Keep legs near the surface; staying horizontal reduces the force needed to move forward.
When I watch tutorials on kicking I often see that they bend their knees a bit (your point with keep your legs relaxed) I have problems to imitate that movement (I am a very clumsy when it comes to movements below my arms) I cannot get my head around this being relaxed and still applying some force to the water
The first is that, in frontcrawl, the arms do, in fact, dominate propulsion.
The second is to utilize a kickboard and fins and go gently if you want to improve your kick.
You’ll produce momentum and gain a sense of the water.
After you’ve mastered technique, you should never strive to swim faster than you can. Save that for the 50 free. Swimming is a race where one must work with the water, not against it.
I did forget to mention fins. As soon as I put on fins kicking works much better, and becomes more enjoyable. It’s no problem for me doing drills with fins and no arms