Triathlon Swimming   •   January, 2019

Following up on the last post, PERNADAS – PARTE 1, we move on with the topic of kicking for freestyle but with a main focus on the 2 BEAT KICK (2BK) – 2 leg kicks / stroke cycle – and also a drill for you to include in your next workout.

If you read the post or saw the video (Youtube Video), you probably got that there are multiple options or variations on the number of leg kicks you can do per stroke. Of all those options, Long Distance swimmers very much prefer the 2BK.

2 BEAT KICK – WHY

Reasoning for the 2BK is fairly simple and intuitive: less kicking, in theory, means less effort. But because numbers go a long way in giving meaning and a sense of scale, let’s do some quick math.

Between a 6BK and a 2BK you get to do four leg kicks less. For an Half Ironman, 750 stroke cycles, which is 1.500 single strokes, you end up doing 3.000 leg kicks less!!!

2 BK v1.5 – THE ADJUSTMENT

1^st thing to fully grasp and incorporate is that there are very few people who actually manage to do a 2BK in its original and true meaning. In the video it’s possible to see that, although maybe not impossible, its actually very hard to do continuous 2 beat kicks per stroke cycle, where the legs have zero stoppage time waiting for the right moment to kick.

In order to do a continuous 2BK and get it coordinated with the strokes, its necessary that there aren’t any stoppages or interruptions in the stoke, which naturally means there is no time for gliding. Strokes will become short and will therefore tend to be very high in frequency in an attempt to maintain the whole leg and arm synchronicity.

What people do then is to stop the legs midway after the rotational kick, meeting them in the center ad waiting for the moment to kick again and rotate to the other side.

2BK SLOW MOTION VIDEO

The end result is doing always 1 and half leg kick (or two, depending on how you count it) each time there is a stroke. So, that’s one kick to rotate the body, then recover the leg at the center joining with the other leg, then recover the leg some more to prepare for the next leg kick. Depending on whether we count this last recovering of the leg for setting up the next kick or not, we end up with one and a half leg kick or two leg kicks.

HOW TO DO A 2BK – DRILL

Well, one of the best ways to practice the 2BK is to use a pull-buoy. Its one of those pool gears that I don’t usually endorse that much for a whole set of reasons, but in this case its actually one of the best.

In order to have an efficient 2BK (v1.5) you “just” need to make sure you get two rights. First one is that you initiate body roll / rotation with the leg that you’re supposed to (go check this video). The 2^nd is that you join the legs in the center while you’re not kicking so that you don’t suffer too much resistance from your legs being spread apart.

The pull-buoy will handle the job of getting your legs together (its his job…) and at the same time will be a truly precious help in maintaining the legs and body in an horizontal balanced position. This will “free” your legs to kick just when they’re supposed to, withdrawing all problems that come from trying to count the in-between leg kicks.

This way its possible to be solely focused on kicking at the right time. This drill is not intended to help you train strength or power but only the timing. A last and final little tip: its possible to have a powerful and effective body rotation with a low amplitude and low power kick, as long as it is done at the right time!