fishtailing while swimming?

[Becky]

My last couple of swims have been more like struggles...the breathing has been off, my heart rate is elevated after just a lap or two, and I generally feel "off".

Last night, a woman commented to me that I am "fishtailing" while I swim. She said that I should focus on "stretching out" in the water and spearing the gliding arm forward, and that this will help coordinate my hip motion with my shoulders, improving body roll. It seemed to help when I tried it.... (I'm really glad that she said something to me....I need all of the help that I can get, and that includes observations of the things that I'm not sensing on my own.)

Does this make sense? What causes fishtailing, and what can I do to work at it? I really need to have a good swim soon in order to keep my motivation up!

Thanks in advance!

[HillSlugger]

What's your kick like? I was told that your kick also helps control the fishtailing. Of course, that could have something with getting the shoulders and hips coordinated, as you were told (since my kick is totally non-propulsive).

[Becky]

Recently, I've started kicking more, as I get better at feeling the rhthym of swimming. It's not terribly propulsive, and I don't think I'm scissor kicking. (Of course, I didn't think that I was fishtailing either ) Strangely enough, my breathing was better when I was kicking less...

Does the kick drives the hip motion and body roll, or is the body roll starting the kick? This whole body unification thing is clearly an area that I need to focus on....once I figure out how...

[HillSlugger]

It's my understanding that the kick drives the roll, so even with a non-propulsive kick it's important to have a kick anyway.

> Strangely enough, my breathing was better when I was kicking less...

What do you mean by "better"? Unfortunately, kicking uses your legs muscles and they will need oxygen, requiring more/better breathing. That's why it's important to find a good balance between kicking enough to drive your roll and not kicking too much. A championship swimmer still only gets about 10% of their propulsion from their kick.

[Becky]

What do you mean by "better"? Unfortunately, kicking uses your legs muscles and they will need oxygen, requiring more/better breathing. That's why it's important to find a good balance between kicking enough to drive your roll and not kicking too much. A championship swimmer still only gets about 10% of their propulsion from their kick.

I mean that I had an easier time finding the right spot to breath and the breathing rhthym.

I definitely get the connection between big leg muscles and needing more air, so I'm trying to find that "sweet spot" with kicking. I'm thinking that I need to kick a little less, and go back to focusing on breath. It's almost like I forget to think about breathing when I focus on other areas of my form (or lack thereof!).

Thanks for the discussion...it's giving me good stuff to think about.

[HillSlugger]

It is SO easy to forget one thing while working on another!

I've heard it said that it takes something like 10,000 strokes for a stroke change to become ingrained, so you have to expect to flounder a bit while you are working on something new.

Make sure to work on ONLY ONE thing at a time.