Swim Drafting - What's the trick...

Being able to stay straight and not swerve around.  That seems to be my biggest issue.

That, and you have to trust that the person you are drafting off of is actually going straight themselves!

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Edited by JeepFleeb 2009-07-09 1:16 PM

There are a couple of places you can steal a draft. Directly behind them and in their hip pocket.

Stay in these pockets as long as possible. Make sure you're still working though. You don't want to get in the habit of just sitting on someones feet that is signficantly slower. It should be a solid effort to stay on their feet. If possible don't tap their feet - you want be a drafting ninja as some folks will start kicking hard to shake you....

realize the when you are drafting it's a big difference effort wise..   At first I would be drafting then since my effort level dropped, I thought the person slowed down a lot.. until I went to pass them out of the draft zone.  So you might want to Try to draft off someone faster than you.

if you can swim in a pool with someone to (or lake) so you can both go straight , this way you can see the effect drafting has

to the side is better than at their feet.  better draft and you wont get kicked in the face.

sight every 8 stokes to make sure they know where they doing....

when your in the stream, you can feel it...so look for that feeling and dont lose it....also, try and draft off someone who is slightly faster than you....