Faster with a pull buoy (Page 2)

Funny...I asked my master's swim coach this AM at the pool what one thing about my swim do you see that needs the most work. He said "Your stroke looks good, you've got a good catch and pull, your head position is fine...all that is great but your legs are sinking...you need to work on your kick."

When i first started swimming, I was putting my stroke together from TI's videos from the internet. He talks about using a 2 beat kick...he promotes the philophosy of less work, more efficient swimming; which is good for long distance swimmers. However, my master's coach is telling me that I should probably think about incorporating more of a 3 or 4 beat kick into my stroke and maybe not with every stroke either depending on the distance. He thinks a little more kick will help elevate my hips and legs in the water. So, I'm gonna be focusing on this for the next several swims. I tried it today during my last 50m but I had already swam 1900m and was pretty much toast at that point, so hoping to try again on Friday.

Yes, i think it's basically the same feeling.

Let's not forget about a HUGE benefit of a pull buoy that most people conveniently forget....and this goes for wetsuits as well...and that is energy savings. 

The reason you are faster with your sustained pace is because the buoy is doing two things...1. improving body position and 2. shutting down your legs and "core" (ie stabilizer muscles) that keeps your body position horizontal. It basically allows the lower 1/2 to 2/3 of your body to rest while your arms/shoulders/lats do all the work. The muscles it supports are HUGE muscles and take a lot of oxygen to operate. When you shut those muscles down while simultaneously supporting their function, you are going to have a ton more energy for stroking. This is the exact reason why your breathing becomes far less labored while using a pull buoy at the same pace as without.

Then as you continue to swim and become fatigued, the buoy supports your body position...where as your body position would start to deteriorate if it wasn't there. This is why athletes instinctively reach for the buoy when they get tired and why some call it a crutch if used for this reason.

Having a pull buoy does not allow you to stop using your core. Your core is used to keep you straight and in a streamline body position, especially as you role to your side. If you did not engage your core, you would look like a worm going through the water. Your core also aids in your pull and gives you more power through the pull itself; when there is proper technique.

A lot of runners and triathletes have the same low hip issues, which leads to a poor body position. While there are many ways to fix this, (kicking is not the only one), you have to find what works for you.

In freestyle your balance is more in your upper body and your head is leading your stroke. If you are balanced too far back ie low hips, then you have to get a feel for how the balance switched from your legs to your upper body.

Another great way to use your pull buoy is to put it between your ankles. This will force you to not kick, some people still kick with the buoy, and concentrate on the angle of your hips. If you are dropping your hips and your feet are at the surface you will know. You will also know if you are leaning on your legs too much or can't maintain a streamline position as your turn. You may also need to drop your chin down more to look at the bottom of pool. Without seeing you swim, this is the most generic advice given.

Kicking only accounts for about 12% of your force driving you forward. Fixing your technique, body position and possibly the kick itself will allow you to swim more efficiently.

When you swim without the pull buoy, try to think about having some part of your suit exposed at the surface (bottom for women). This will make your hips higher in the water. Streamline kicking with flippers may also need to be done in order to get the feel of your body position without your arms. Many people can rotate using their arms as a driving force, but many can't roll staying in streamline (not using your arms and just kicking)

Many ways to improve swimming overall to even out your stroke and body position. Don't get caught up in using equipment, it doesn't improve your stroke if you can't apply the same principles without it.

Good luck! Message me if you would like some more tips!

You're telling me that you can't use a pull buoy to help you stay more streamline? That's complete nonsense. The effect of the buoyant properties of the buoy are going to lift your body to the surface....without you doing anything. Keeping you more perpendicular to your direction of motion.

BTW, I didn't say you could go completely limp...I said it will aid your muscles and let you relax. Yes, a great test is to put the buoy at your ankles and see if your hips sink....that means the buoy was helping keep your hips up...something your muscles would be doing if it wasn't there.

I was not pointing out how to use a buoy....I was pointing out why they swim faster with a buoy...one of those reasons is because it allows a good portion of your body that contains large muscles to relax....giving you more energy to devote to your pull.

I am always faster with a buoy.  Always.  It's not unusual.  It picks your legs up and gets them out of drag completely.  I feel like im flying when i use one of those.. 

A well respected triathlete i know maintains you should be kicking very little because of the nature of what you are trying to do.  Do you look at Total Immersion?  Those folks kick VERY little... In my training I do something similar.  For every arm stroke I have ONE corresponding leg kick.  I find that it helps me keep fatigue down, especially when I go to exit the water and head to the bike rack..

I'm a slow swimmer but am going to put the effort in this season to get faster and my wife told me last year when watching me from a bridge that I don't really kick much.  Maybe I'll youtube some help videos tonight after my workouts.

Looks to me your misreading what she wrote. She is not saying that a buoy will not help to make you more streamlined but to your reference that you shut down your core.

While a pull buoy does aid you in having a better body position, it sometime hinders as well. Some people swim with a pull buoy and still drag it under water or lack a body roll and swim flat.

The pull buoy does help with body position, but most people who think they 'need' it, push down on the pull buoy, fighting the pull buoys natural buoyancy. It's easy to maintain a streamline body position with a pull buoy, even if you are heavy in your legs, because you now have something to push down on and it pushes back on you. When you don't have the pull buoy, you are still pushing down, but there is no opposing force.

Next time try and simply push off the wall in streamline and see if you can get the feel of where the pull buoy is pushing your legs and upper body. Instead of swimming and paying no attention to the upward force the buoy is providing. Learn to relax and allow your hips to open up more without your arm stroke. Once you get the feeling, then start swimming slow. Do you become heavy in your legs and push the pull buoy underwater? If so, slow down and let your legs float to the surface with the aid of the pull buoy. As you get a better feel of how to keep your body in streamline with the buoy, move it down your legs farther than where it usual sits. It will be challenging, but the farther down you move it, the more you have to use your own body to stay in streamline. Eventually you will be able to get your hips up without the aid of pull buoy by shifting your weight to upper body and learning your head is leading you now. It just takes practice and awareness of what you body is doing!