Just Say No to Kickboards

The main idea of kickboard training is to get your legs in shape for kicking harder. And why would you want to kick harder? (1) Because you feel your legs sinking, (2) to swim faster, or (3) to burn more calories or fat. But (1) balance—taught by TI drills—is what keeps your legs afloat. And (2) the ideal kick for fast, fluent swimming is one that harmonizes seamlessly with overall body movement. Finally, (3) as the next chapter will explain, the best way to burn calories and fat is with easier swimming. The truth about kickboards is they will contribute absolutely nothing to your efforts to improve your freestyle, whether you’re just learning or are training for a national championship. The flutter used on a kickboard—with arms, torso, and hips rigidly locked in place—is so different from the kick you’ll use when swimming that kickboard sets have zero value for developing a kick that helps your body move efficiently through the water. Ditto for “conditioning your legs.”

Because your legs move so differently when kicking on a board than while swimming, the only thing a kickboard really trains you for is kicking with a board. If you ever planned to enter a race that involved pushing a kickboard up and down the pool, then kickboard sets would make sense; otherwise, it’s a total waste of time! If you want your legs to be “in shape” for swimming, the relaxed kicking you do while practicing TI drills conditions your legs to do exactly what they need to do when you race: stay relaxed. You are dispensed from using a kick-board ever again.