Originally Posted by sirious94

Ok, this is just flat out wrong. I have been swimming my entire life and one of the most important things you can do is kick. The difference between kicking and not kicking is the same difference as riding a hybrid vs riding a Carbon fiber tri bike. Yes, it is important to save your legs for the bike and run, and I don't recommend kicking all that much, but you need a good steady easy kick the whole way. This is for two reasons:
1. Keeping your legs up is way more hydrodynamic. If your legs are down because you are not kicking, then you won't go anywhere, just like the hybrid riding position. You should be kicking just a bit to make a bit of white water with your feet.
2. It DOES add a significant bit of propulsion. I know some people who depend on their kick almost more than their arms (in the swimming world at least). You can use your kick for slight accelerations, or just to make your entire body more efficient.

You can also use kick to get your feet back to the surface after you take a sighting stroke.

I think you just need a bit of practice, and eventually you will get more efficient at it. Definitely kick while you are swimming and while racing. And although you may not want to kick too much in races (especially when you are still building your swimming muscles) eventually you will need to kick to become a better swimmer. Start with just using it to keep your feet up, then gradually make it part of your whole body propulsion system.