Swimming Tips

[Lise]

Thanks, Lynne--I just don't know the names for these things. I know my Y has a number of floaty things on the side of the pool. I can ask the life guard which is the pull bouy, the one that goes between your legs.

[Running Mommy]

yep, that's the name alright... There are a couple of different styles, and I think some have mor4e bouyancy than others if I remember correctly.

So one arm drills ehh?? I'm in Lise's boat and was going to do a post about trying to become "BI"
Yesterday I did ok, but I can feel that I lift my head too much and my hips sink like stones, it's not the smooth turn like on my left. I suppose with practice I'll get there, but MAN... I just wanna swim!!!

[LynneK]

Yesterday I did ok, but I can feel that I lift my head too much and my hips sink like stones, it's not the smooth turn like on my left. I suppose with practice I'll get there, but MAN... I just wanna swim!!!

Yep, lifting head and sinking hips are sure-fire triggers for being discouraged with your swimming! I generally think of the body as a set of planes, and I try to apply some general rules to those planes:

-head rotates on neck, so ears only move on that plane/wire going through them
-hip bones stay in a plane (roughly), facing the bottom of the pool; they NEVER rotate with the head; one drill that can help with this is using a pull buoy but not kicking, so your legs are deadweight, and focus on pulling and breathing while twisting from your core and not your hips
-I think of there being two planes, one on either side of my body in the water (like big panes of glass), and my arms never go outside of those planes; they also never cross the plane that goes down the center line of the body when you are pulling
-shoulders are on an independent plane that rotates in the direction that you're breathing on the strokes on which you are breathing, but are always rotating around the plane down the midline of the body. But the rotation starts in the core, not the hips.

I'm a mathematically-spatially-visually inclined person, so this geometric visual works for me; your mileage may vary. But thinking through this has even improved my swimming: I just got back from a 1500-yd swim in 29:40 that was the longest/fastest swim I've done in eons!

LK

[DebW]

Is the alternate breathing supposed to help you go straighter or help you see where you're going or just equalize the effort? I've always been a left-only breather but can swim pretty straight regardless. For open water swims, is it considered proper form to occassionally look forward to see where you're going?

[Lise]

Is the alternate breathing supposed to help you go straighter or help you see where you're going or just equalize the effort? I've always been a left-only breather but can swim pretty straight regardless. For open water swims, is it considered proper form to occassionally look forward to see where you're going?

My swim was in a triangle. Ideally, I was to swim between the rafts with lifeguards and the 4 or 5 orange bouys. I am a notoriously crooked swimmer. I always *feel* like I'm swimming straight; I almost never am. So I need to look up pretty often and check my bearings. I was supposed to keep the bouys on my right. As a left breather, this meant I was never looking at them when I came up for air. I had to breast stroke to see the bouys. The longest leg of the swim was directly into the rising sun. It was hard to see the bouys at all; I just aimed for the rafts. If I'd been comfortable freestyle swimming and breathing bilaterally, it would've been easier. Oh, the things you learn in triathlon!

In the Int'l tri I've done before, they have tons of bouys, held together with a rope. I can just swim from bouy to bouy and stay on course. Much harder to do yesterday. Fewer bouys, no rope.

[DebW]

I am a notoriously crooked swimmer. I always *feel* like I'm swimming straight; I almost never am.

My dh was doing a triathlon once about 20 years ago, and he swims so crooked that he got turned around 180 degrees, and when he stopped to look up, all the other swimmers were coming straight towards him! He had a fairly short triathlon career. I can usually manage to breathe left and then every so often swing my head forward, eyes just above the water, to stay on course. This works for our usual across-the-lake swim with a kayak leading the way (to ward off power boats). It could be alot tougher in a triathlon.

[Lise]

My dh was doing a triathlon once about 20 years ago, and he swims so crooked that he got turned around 180 degrees, and when he stopped to look up, all the other swimmers were coming straight towards him! He had a fairly short triathlon career.

OMG. Well, that gives me another thing for which to be grateful! I didn't turn all the way around and swim back! I imagine he would have soon moved onto something that didn't involve open water swims!