铁三们，打腿不是为了推进力
Here at SwimSmooth we have a different viewpoint on kicking for amateur swimmers and triathletes.
对业余和铁三的打腿，我们有不同的看法。
This may comeas a surprise, but you’re not looking to get much or any propulsion from yourleg kick. Elite freestyle swimmers with world class kicks only get a smallfraction of their propulsion from their legs (about 10-15%). Most triathletesand amateur swimmers get next to no propulsion from their kick.
你可能会感到奇怪，但是事实上你的打腿不会产生什么推进力。顶级选手打腿产生的推进力也只占10-15%。绝大部分铁三和业余选手打腿是不产生推力的。
Kick from thehip with a relatively straight leg.
从髋部开始打腿，腿部保持相对较直。
Ourconclusion is that you shouldn’t be looking to get propulsion from your kick.For most triathletes it’s simply not realistic.
我们的结论是，你不应该把关注点放在推进力上，对绝大多数人来说那是不现实的。
so, i ignoremy kick?
No, far from it. You still need to work on yourkick technique. That’s because there’s more to kicking than propulsion, youstill need an ‘effective’ kick. What does ‘effective kick’ mean? :
那么，我要忽视打腿吗？
当然不是，你仍然需要提高你的打腿技术。因为除了产生推进力外，有效的打腿有更重要的意义：
– Your kickshould lift your legs up to give you a good body position.
– Your kick should be low drag.
– Your kick timing should drive your rotation,not hinder it.
– Your kick should be low effort so it minimisesenergy use.
-打腿帮助你抬高身体
-打腿让你阻力减小
-打腿能帮助你转动身体
-打腿要节省能量
Mosttriathletes don’t have effective kick technique. Making your kick more effectivewill reduce the effort required to swim and boost your speed by reducing yourdrag.
大多数人没有有效的打腿。让你的打腿更有效率会让你减少能量损耗，速度大大提高。
what willgive me an effective kick? there are 4 key technique elements:
1. Kick from the hip
Many swimmers bend their knees too much whilstkicking – we call this kicking from the knee. This creates large amounts ofdrag and is probably the number one reason for a swimmer’s legs to sink low inthe water. Instead of kicking from the knee you should kick from the hip with arelatively straight leg. See the animated clips:
怎样才能有有效的打腿，有4个要素
1、从髋部开始打腿
很多人在打腿时膝盖弯曲太大，我们叫这从膝盖开始打水。这会产生很大的阻力，而且是导致你腿部下沉的重要原因。你应该从髋部开始打水，保持较直的腿部。
Triathletes can have a real problem here.Cycling and running involve developing power from the knee and it’s easy tocarry this habit across into the water. As soon as you bend your knee youpresent your thigh as a blunt object to the water and you push the wateragainst the flow.
铁三们在打腿上有很大的困难，自行车和跑步需要很多膝盖的运动，因此他们也会把这个习惯带到水里。但只要你一弯曲膝盖，就会在水里产生很大的阻力。
With good kicking technique, you can bendyour knee a little on the down stroke but this shouldn’t be a ‘driven’movement, it’s just a slight movement from a relaxed knee. As described in thetips below it’s best not to think about bending your knee at all, instead thinkabout kicking from the hip with a straight leg – a very slight knee bend willhappen naturally.
好的打腿技术，在你下压的时候膝盖稍微有些弯曲，但是并不大，那只是膝盖放松的后果。最好的方法是根本不去考虑弯曲膝盖，而是想象从髋部发力，保持腿部直线，膝盖很小的弯曲会自然发生。
2. Plantar flexed feet (Pointing Your Toes)
Plantar flexion is technical jargon for pointing your toes. When you swim youshould always have your toes pointed, this presents a much lower profile to thewater. Not pointing your toes will push water forwards when you kick, slowingyou dramatically.
2.保持脚趾朝后
当你游泳的时候，你要时刻保持脚趾朝后，这会大大减少阻力。不然，在打腿的时候，你的脚掌就会朝前推水，让你速度大大下降。
3. AnkleFlexibility
A flexible foot that can bend beyond straight.Great for kicking with. Mmmmm.
Many triathletes have poor ankle flexibilitylimiting how much they can point their toes. In an ideal world you want to beable to flex your feet beyond straight.
3.脚踝的柔韧性
一个柔韧的脚踝能让你伸直超过180度，对打腿来说是好消息。但是很多人脚踝柔韧性都很差，最多只能勉强伸直。
If you have a background in cycling orrunning (especially running) then you’re likely to have stiff ankles such thatyou can’t achieve a straight foot. This will be hurting your kick technique andslowing you down when you swim. See our tips below to develop a bit moreflexibility in your feet.
如果你经常骑自行车或者跑步，你的脚踝就会比较坚硬。这会伤害你的打腿，让你速度下降，看看我们的建议。
Becoming as flexible as Charles is notadvisable for triathletes as it reduces ankle stability which can lead torunning injuries. However, improving your ankle flexibility a little so you canpoint your foot straight is achievable. It’s very desirable because it willreduce your drag and you’ll slip through the water much faster.
脚踝变得如此柔软对跑步来说是危险的，但是，稍微提高脚踝的柔韧性是可行的，它可以减少你的阻力，让你在水里更快地穿过。
4. Timing
The timing of the kick is something that we don’t normally think about much asswimmers. We have a variety of kicking speeds open to us as we’ll describebelow – 2, 4 or 6 beats. The key to good timing is that when the hand entersthe water at the front of the stroke, the opposite leg should kick. In 2 beatkick this is the only kick, in 4 and 6 beats there are other kicks in betweenbut the kick on opposite hand entry is the important one for timing.
4.时机
一般人游泳时不会考虑打腿的时机。打腿分为2 4 6 次，好的打腿时机是你的手入水的时候，另一侧腿打水。在二次腿时这是唯一的一次打腿，但4 6次时中间还有其它的打腿，但是手入水时打异侧腿是很重要的时机。
If your timing is wrong you won’t behelping your body rotation with your kick – you could even be counteracting it.For more information on this important swimming technique, see the AdvancedLevel Mr Smooth Presentation.
如果你的打腿时机不对的话，那不会帮助你身体的转动，相反是帮倒忙。
Most swimmers kick with the correct timingnaturally, unless you know you have a problem don’t be too concerned abouttiming – focus instead on pointing your toes and kicking from the hip, this ismuch more likely to be holding you back.
大多数人自然就有正确的打腿时机，因此不用把注意力太多放在打腿时机上，除非你确实有着方面的问题。要把注意力放在脚趾朝后，从髋部开始打腿，这可能是你的问题所在。
more about kicking – 2, 4 or 6 beats?
In 2-beat, you kick twice for every cycle (a cycle is 2 arms strokes countingboth arms). This is a slow kick speed that many distance swimmers and skilledtriathletes use.
2 4 6次腿？
二次腿你每个周期打两次腿。这是很多铁三选手和长距离选手采用的方式。
A 6-beat kick is 6 kicks per cycle. This isa traditional flutter kick technique that most swimmers use. The power in thekick can be varied dramatically, you can use a very light flutter to distanceswim economically or increase the power dramatically to sprint.
6次腿是每个周期打腿6次，这是大多数选手使用的传统打腿。你可以根据不同的情况来采用不同的力度，长距离时放松，短距离时用力。
The 4 beatkick is a hybrid that some swimmers employ. It tends to happen naturally forsome swimmers doing ‘just what feels right for them’.
4次腿是一种混合的方式，对有些人来说这种方式比较自然。
Which kick technique should you use? Fornovices and most intermediates we suggest you do whatever comes naturally andnot be too concerned with the kick speed. For you it’s more productive to focuson kicking from the hip and pointing your toes than worrying about timing andhow many beats you are using. Don’t try and change your natural kick speeduntil you are sure you a kicking from the hip and pointing your toes.
你该用什么样的打腿方式呢？对初学者来说，我建议哪种自然就用哪种，不要关注打腿的速度。更应该关注的是从髋部开始打腿和脚趾朝后。
For strong intermediates and advanced swimmersyou can experiment with different timing to see what suits you best. Fordistance swimming and triathlon a 2 beat kick is the most energy efficient oncethe frantic swim start has died down. However, a 2 beat kick is not foreveryone, many women and shorter men find it hard to make a 2 beat kicktechnique work for them – it just feels too slow. If a 2 beat kick doesn’t feelright for you, don’t try and change to one.
对中高级选手来说，你可以多尝试，看哪种最适合你。对长距离来说二次腿最节省能量。但是二次腿并不适合于任何人，很多女选手和个子矮的男人会觉得二次腿很难掌握，感觉速度太慢。如果二次腿不适合你，应该尝试其它的方法。
scissor kicks
Scissor kicks, cut them out and you’ll go a *hole* lot faster. (Taxi for SS!)
A scissor kick is a very large opening of the legs, normally when a swimmergoes to take a breath.
剪刀腿
改掉剪刀腿，你将飞速前进。剪刀腿是两腿分开很大，通常是在呼吸的时候。
They hurt you because of the enormousamount of drag they generate – it’s a bit like opening up a parachute behindyou.
它会产生非常大的阻力，就像在你身后打开了降落伞一样。
Scissor kicks normally come about in your stroke technique due to a problemwith your balance in the water. We’re land mammals and it’s instinctive for usto move our legs and feet to keep our balance. We do the same thing in thewater – scissor kicks are a natural unconscious reaction to keep your balancein the water, most of the time swimmers don’t even know they’re doing it.
剪刀腿通常是由于你平衡不好产生的。我们是陆地动物，因此当失去平衡时就本能地靠腿部来调整，很多时候人们自己并没有意识到这一点。
Note. Some Scissor Kicks come about when a swimmer is trying to develop anoverly long stroke.
注意：有些剪刀腿是由于过度拉长滑行距离产生的
An overly long stroke is one that’s too long and slow. Because the swimmer’sstroke rate is so slow there’s a long time between strokes which makes it hardto balance in the water.
过度的滑行是指滑行距离太长频率太慢，导致你很难在水里保持平衡。
This balancing act often causes scissor kicks. For these swimmers, increasingtheir stroke rate (ideally with a Wetronome) often removes the scissor kick –even if they didn’t know they had one!
对这类选手来说，需要提高划水的频率，就可以解决剪刀腿的问题。
our 4 top tips to develop an effective kicktechnique
提高打腿的4条建议
1. Stretch Your Ankles
If you feel you have stiff ankles, you can perform some gentle ankle stretchesto improve your flexibility. Do not force these. Do them little and often andgradually your flexibility will increase.
1 伸展你的脚踝
如果你的脚踝很坚硬，你可以通过一些练习来提高柔韧性。但是别硬来，慢慢地提高。
Perhaps the best way to stretch your anklesis to use fins (flippers) regularly. They force you into using a plantar flexed(pointed toes) position and provide some stretching force to your ankles. Overa period of time they will develop and maintain your ankle flexibility.
也许最好的方式是经常地使用脚蹼。它迫使你伸展你的脚踝。经过一段时间你就可以提高你脚踝的柔韧性了。
You can use fins for kick sets, drills andthe occasional fast swimming set. You don’t want to use them too much butwearing them little and often will improve your kick by stretching your ankles.
你可以靠脚蹼来完成不同的打水练习。你不需要老使用它，只要时不时地用一用就可以了。
If you are buying fins, we recommend youget something mid-length and floppy, e.g. USA, UK, Australia.
我推荐你们购买中等长度的柔软的脚蹼。伸展你的脚踝是个长期的任务，慢慢提高
4. Use the Kick Off The Wall Drill
Use the kick off the wall drill to develop your kick technique.
Use this technique to re-program your kicking action:
Simply perform a torpedo push off from the wall but keep your arms out in frontof you and your face in the water, kicking vigorously for about 15m or untilyou run out of air. Then stop and swim gently back to the wall.
4、蹬壁打腿练习
用蹬壁打腿来练习：
像鱼雷一样蹬壁出发，保持手臂在前面，头埋在水里，用力地打水直到需要吸气为止。然后慢慢地游回来。
When you are kicking off the wall you needto focus on the following things:
1) Point your toes as in tip 2.
2) Kick from the hip as in tip 3. Focus onyour imaginary coin and keep your knees relaxed.
3) Point your toes slightly inwards sothat your big toes almost brush together.
在做这个练习的时候要注意：
1）保持脚趾朝后
2）从髋部开始打腿
3）想象屁股夹着硬币
4）两脚内八字，两个大脚拇指几乎碰到一起
Perform this drill 3 or 4 times in a row,kicking vigorously off the wall focusing on those three things. Then try a lapof steady freestyle swimming – not thinking too much about your kickingtechnique except just tapping your big toes lightly together. You should findthat the kicking action you’ve just tried sticks for a while. Remember, you’renot looking to feel extra propulsion, you’re looking to feel higher in thewater with less drag – a sensation of slipping through the water with lesseffort. If you’re used to kicking hard this will feel very easy.
做这个练习3到4次，用力打水注意刚才说的注意事项。然后试着游一圈，不特别考虑打水，只是注意让大脚拇指靠紧。你会发现会保持住刚才练习的打腿方式一段时间。注意你打腿不是追求推力，而是追求在水中的高位，减少阻力，不费力地在水里穿行的感觉。如果你习惯了用力打腿，这会感觉很容易。
