by
Olivier Poirier-Leroy
Looking to add some flavor to your kick sets and workouts? Here are some kickboard drills swimmers can use for faster swimming.
The standard kickboard is a simple tool that isolates the kicking motion and legs so that swimmers can focus on building a stronger kick. Made of EVA foam, the shape and function of the kickboard are straightforward.
Get better at kicking. Simple.
But there are plenty of ways you can get creative with kickboards outside of kicking up and down the length of the pool with one.
In this collection of kickboard drills, we will look at some ways to power up your kick and even improve kicking technique.
Let’s get to kicking.
Drills swimmers can do on a kickboard for faster kicking and swimming include:
Next, we’ll take a closer look at each and offer some sample sets and swim workouts to get you started.
Tombstone kicking is a power development kick drill swimmers can do with their kickboard. Swimmers push off, flip the kickboard so that the top is facing the other end of the pool, generating tons of drag.
Tombstone kicking is a form of resisted swimming, forcing athletes to overcome the increased frontal drag with more thrust. It’s an alternative to other resistance training tools like drag chutes and resistance tubing for increasing drag and power.
Tombstone kicking is best used as an activation drill early in the workout to “wake up” all the muscle fibers in the legs responsible for kicking or as a standalone power development set.
Another option is to pair with regular kicking to create a post-activation potentiation boost.
Workout A:
Workout B:
One leg kicking is a kickboard drill swimmers can use to learn better body control and improve the upkick phase in the flutter and dolphin kicks.
On your kickboard, keep one leg extended and still while using the other leg for propulsion. The challenge is to maintain consistent speeds by utilizing both phases of the kick equally.
One-leg kicking is also a great core and stability drill as the unilateral aspect will force you to work overtime to
keep the body stable and keep you swimming (kicking) straight in the pool. All round good times!
Workout A:
The backstroke kick, the inverted brother-from-another of freestyle kick, helps power fast backstroke swimming. Swimmers can use a kickboard to improve backstroke kick power and technique by kicking with the board extended above them.
The biggest speed impediment to a fast backstroke kick is excessive knee bend. When swimmers “pogo stick” the kick with an excessive knee bend, they hit the brakes on propulsion. The thighs create more wave drag and the ankles are cranked at wider angles to try and generate thrust.
Arms extended with a board backstroke kick increases the vertical forces (similar to vertical kicking forces swimmers to kick hard and fast to keep the head above water) and push swimmers to kick using a tight amplitude in order to maintain body position.
Swimmers can adjust difficulty with this kickboard drill by the amount of arm extension. Beginners can hold the kickboard several inches away from the chest. More experienced swimmers should see how well they can kick with the kickboard fully extended.
Using a set of swim fins is also a great option for swimmers getting started with this kickboard drill. Fins increase the power development aspect, too.
Workout A:
Workout B:
The benefits of training the kick extend far beyond how fast you can kick with a kickboard. The legs control hip rotation, promote more efficient body position, and keep your technique together when fatigue shows up at your doorstep, whether it’s in the twilight meters of a race or during a particularly challenging main set.
The more you train the kick, the more they will be there for you in your swimming.
The truth is that every time you are taking a stroke in the water, you are training the kick in some degree. Dedicated training sets that incorporate kickboard drills are an excellent way to further bolster your kick prowess.
The best kickboards for swimmers are the Speedo Team Kickboard and the FINIS Alignment Board.
The Speedo Team Kickboard is your standard high-density foam board that provides buoyancy and comfort during those long kick sets. Speedo offers it in a range of colors and the foam construction will last forever.
The FINIS Alignment Board, which I reviewed exhaustively here, is a specialty kickboard that swimmers can use in a wide range of ways to improve body position and swim-specific kick conditioning.
One of the drawbacks of kickboards is that the hips are in a fixed position, reducing transfer to regular swimming. The FINIS Alignment Board offers swimmers different position choices that more accurately reflect hip position when swimming.
Olivier Poirier-Leroy Olivier Poirier-Leroy is the founder of YourSwimLog.com. He is an author, former national level swimmer, two-time Olympic Trials qualifier, and swim coach.
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