Why You’re Not Getting Faster Swimming and 5 Things You Can Do About It. How triathletes can improve their swim technique through video and coaching to change their swim stroke and improve their swim time.
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I was always taught to cup my hands, because it helps you move water more efficiently. I am getting back into swimming and training for my first Tri. Is the hand cup not the best practice anymore?
Have you noticed if your arm position varies depending on which side you breathe? Looks like you changed from right side to left between the two shoots.
Good Pointers Taren. One observation i made watching the video of your before and after is your breathing sides. I’m wondering whether you are a dominant ‘left’ breather, so you have already have dominant muscle awareness of your catch at the correct angle. You claim the spa mirrors have helped, i would also indicate you changing breathing to the same side has also aided your higher elbow. I did a lot of work on bi-lateral breathing when i had a similar symmetry catch issue. I didn’t have the luxury of a camera’s, coach or spa mirrors – but found bilateral breathing helped stabilise the core, while aiding head and arm placing.
Private swim coach here (BTW, if anyone wants to send me footage of them swimming, I’d GLADLY look it over for very low cost, ok, cheap plug over) but some pools, like university pools, have mirrors that you can put in a pool on the bottom, so you don’t need a swim spa, but it’s not as instantaneous. Instead of throwing down hundreds of dollars on a bone conducting headphone set, get a coach that will get in the water with you. Just as good, hundreds of dollars cheaper. Also, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND “dry swimming” to correct technique issues like this. If you can do it on land, you can do it in the pool. Just stand straight up and down and mimic the pull path of the stroke you want, and just Mister Myagi it all day long and then you’ll develop the muscle memory that should help in the pool.
Also, Taren, I’d suggest for your next big technique item to tackle is looking into rotating more every stroke. I notice your shoulders are flat and if you get more of a rotation in per stroke, you engage your core muscles more helping the overall power of the stroke with minimal extra power used in the arms. I completely understand that open water swimmers “I guess” don’t like to do full blown rotation due to reasons I don’t really understand since my background is in pool swimming, but if you also rotate your legs as a whole, you will get way more power and should drop a few seconds per 100 without more training.
When you say… 1:45 per 100 mts… do you mean average per the entire session ? Or do you mean to be able to swim 1:45 per 100 mts ?
Anti Paddles.
Effortless swimming actually had a nice video on this issue on how to “get that feel” that might work as well for some people. The “feeling in water” you mention is indeed a devil to be controlled. This one helped me a lot to the point of I do this nearly EVERY time I swim. All the other stuff “being wiggly, kick, etc” can be felt pretty easier IMO…but that @#$#$ catch…ugh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpko4K1EIBk
Well, that didn’t help at all lol
Dear Santa.
Wish list 2019:
1. Swim spa
2. Big mirror
3. Medium mirror
Sorted!
I believe the major difference on arm position is because you have changed the side of your breathing from the first to the second video.