FORCE OUTPUT AND HIP MOVEMENT WHILE FLUTTER KICKING WITH VARIATIONS OF KICKBOARD SUPPORT

Abstract

Nine experienced swimmers completed two trials of 30 s of all-out kicking while holding onto one of three types of kickboards or without a board. Kicking force was measured via a force platform and hip roll via kinematic video anaylsis. The findings of the current study indicate that not using a kickboard results in greater kicking force than any of the three kickboards, which did not differ. Hip roll did not differ across the conditions (p>0.05). Based on the results of the present study, when seeking to overload the legs during kicking training, use of a kickboard may not be indicated.