Find out why you need to strengthen your ankles and how to do it.
A swimmer’s ankles are extremely important for a very simple reason: they connect your legs to your feet. A swimmer’s leg kick is completed by their feet, but without good ankles the entire movement is basically wasted.
For an ankle to be strong it must be flexible.
In other words, if we assume that your foot forms an “L”-shape with your shin when it is in its normal position (a right angle between your foot and lower leg), then if you have good ankles you should be able to extend your foot so that it forms an “l” shape with your leg (foot extended).
The freestyle, backstroke and butterfly leg kicks are all based on the assumption that you can extend your foot as far as possible. Take two people who are exactly alike except for their ankles: one person’s ankles are more flexible than the other’s. It goes without saying that if these two swimmers sprint using their legs only, the swimmer who can extend his/her ankles more effectively will be able to apply more power.
A flexible ankle is also less likely to suffer one of the most common injuries: a twist.
Here are some exercises to help you increase the flexibility and strength of this specific joint.
Foot circles
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