straight-arm swimming?? (Page 2)

x2. Regardless of how you advance your arm over water it will always be faster than the one underwater. I'd suggest you take focus from above water, do whatever you feel comfortable, and focus under water, be it straight, bent or some combination. 

Another thing you can do, have a friend help you record your swim. This is the drill: 

Swim say 200-400 warmup, and have your friend follow you along the side - this is as much warmup for your friend. It can be difficult to follow with a camera and holding it steady. 

Swim 10x50, alternating each style, the one you've been taught and the one you feel comfortable, and keeping a steady pace. It's important to alternate the styles so fatigue affects each style equally. Have your friend follow you back and forth as you swim. After each 50, talk to the camera, grade your swim in how hard it was and how you felt it. 

Home again, review the video, count strokes per length and get the time for each 50. Compare with your perceived experience. See if you can reach any conclusion as to what is your best style.

Maybe take this data with you and if possible the video too and review with your coach. 

Cheers, Erik

Limited time at the moment, but....

I have asked her about it. She swears I'm much more efficient and I'm pulling so much more water now, than when I swam with a bent-elbow catch and pull. (I don't disagree with this, it's the shoulder-killing recovery that I take issue with.) I told her it's more tiring but she says I'm making up for it with efficiency. However, I don't think that's what my swim times are telling me.

She also says I'm actually NOT swimming with a straight arm, it just feels that way. I'm sure it's not perfectly straight the whole time because that's biomechanically impossible, but I know I'm either minimally bending my elbow or not at all. She says I'm doing it the right way now, but I don't FEEL like the rest of the masters swimmers LOOK when they swim.

I will reiterate that the alternative is me swimming laps on my own with NO feedback, and I was getting really burned out on that. So yes, this is better than no coach at all.

OK, that really sounds like you need to see yourself swimming. Maybe your coach is right but you just don't feel that because you can't see it? I'm a bit confused now.

How long have you had that coach? It may take some time to get used to different techniques, and the also, if you change style that begin to work other muscles you'll need time to build strength and endurance in those muscles.

Cheers, Erik

Oh, that's me talking, not the coach. I'm not actively trying to get faster, if that makes sense. I mean, that would be nice, but my goal #1 is to be able to survive and IM swim unscathed (and under the cutoff, but I think even with my lack of speed right now I could get that done.) It's not like swimming is the one thing keeping me from a podium or anything like that. I'd like to swim as well as I can, but maybe this is it FOR RIGHT NOW.

OK, so, the coach wasn't there last night either. We had a sub, who coaches the kids' swim team. I asked him for some pointers and he made a face when I told him I'd been told to swim with straight arms. He had me spend the entire practice working on a higher-elbow catch.

He was able to explain it to me in a way that finally made sense to me. I appreciate all the pointers I get here, but when it comes down to it, I don't have much luck at all with translating the written word into movement. I've tried fingertip drill in the past and I drop my elbow anyway. I think I caught on a bit more as far as proper form/position. Today my back is sore but it feels more like that's what's supposed to be sore.

I still am grumbly about swimming. Every time I fix something, something else goes awry. I've been stuck at the speed I'm at for a while now (for longer distances) so....we'll see.

I don't think I'll return to this masters group after the season is over in July. Too many coach subs, not enough triathletes, and I'm about the slowest one there. I may end up sucking it up and going to the 5:30 AM masters group near me; just reluctant because I work until at least 7 pm some nights and that will really put a wrench in my schedule.

Yeah ... I know that's you talking. A good coach instills far more confidence. It's a shame to hear you talk like that about yourself.

If you like the sub, why don't you ask if he wants to coach you?- or join the kids 

Ask him for one hour weekly say, and that he prepare another one-hour workout you do on your own. And tell him that you highly appreciate the continuity of having just one coach. 

I don't know if he is allowed to work in public pool hours or how conditions are at your pool, but it seems you've found a coach you like.

Good luck

Erik

Yeah, right. The kids practice before and/or during we do and they can all swim circles around me!! LOL. Actually, my friend's son is on the kids' special olympics team and HE swims way faster than I do...with one leg. (He has one leg. Not me.)

I can't say that I like him enough to ask him (and pay) for one-on-one coaching from him. He gave me one thing to do that was helpful but he didn't have too much time to devote to just helping me during the practice. He checked in on me once or twice but that's about it, so I didn't get to really know him as a coach so well.

I also don't know if I can afford one hour a week of private coaching. Eep. Maybe if I had a goal of getting way faster and/or improving the swim would get me elite status or a podium finish then....maybe it would be worth investing that much money. But I'm a mediocre cyclist and runner at this point, and frankly, I'm more concerned with improving them than improving my swim. Masters is just an extra motivation to get my butt in the water and work a little harder than I'd do on my own, and at $100 for three months, a bargain compared to private coaching!