login
Small changes in swimming for performance
-
No new posts
 2009-09-01 10:46 PM |
Master 2460   |  Subject: Small changes in swimming for performanceI've been swimming a lot more than I did before (I'm a BBBOP swimmer) and am hoping to make it to the front of the BOP in my next race! I'm still nowhere near the training volume of a good swimmer but I'm working my way there slowly, with 3-4x/wk of swims. I was really surprised in the past 2 weeks at how much time savings these small changes made: - Closing the gap between outstretched arm and head on the reach - about 3sec/100m - Pointing the toes as much as possible - about 4 sec/100m (I'm really inflexible!) I do sets of 16-22 x 100m, and in the past two weeks, went from 1:52/100 to 1:46 with those two changes. There's probably a bit of swim fitness improvement there as well, but I attribute most of my speed boost in the last few swims to my toe pointing. I never thought toe pointing would make such a big difference! I suspect there are other "little things" that make a difference as well, but I'm honestly running out of them. Can you swimming folks recommend other little adjustments that I can experiment with to squeeze a few more seconds out of my times? (I took a swim lesson and the coach said my form was essentially correct, and actually pretty good despite my slower speed. Will try and get a video of myself soon.) |
| 2009-09-02 12:38 AM in reply to: #2384119 |
Champion 5782   Northridge, California | Subject: RE: Small changes in swimming for performance If you're at 1:46/100, you're nowhere near "BBBOP" anymore. If the coach signed off on your form, you probably are doing exactly what you need to do to get faster: Build your volume (just like you have to on the bike and the run) and do just the sort of interval sets you're already doing. As your stamina builds, you'll find that it'll become easier and easier to maintain good form--and speed--deeper into your sets (and into your tri swims). |
| 2009-09-02 12:53 AM in reply to: #2384119 |
| Master 2460 | Subject: RE: Small changes in swimming for performance If I could swim 1:55 in OWS, I'd be ecstatic, but I seem to flail a lot harder with the sighting in OWS. I'm praying that I can stay with the pack this time, which makes sighting MUCH easier, as in practice swims, I do the OWS at a decent pace until the pack pulls away, and then I get "lost" out there, with a huge slowdown in pace as I look around desperately for the buoy. I also mis-wrote the distance - I'm fairly sure my pool is 100 YARDS, so I'm closer to 2:00-2:05/100m. Edited by agarose2000 2009-09-02 12:55 AM |
| 2009-09-02 8:04 AM in reply to: #2384119 |
| Modesto, California | Subject: RE: Small changes in swimming for performance
If you are timing your 100's don't breath after your first pull, you want to continue that acceleration from your pushoff until you get a few strokes in,breathing right away eliminates that acceleration. Work on longer pushoffs from the wall, it does two things,it helps with your streamlining, and it will decrease your time as the resistance is less under water. Edited by nevergivin 2009-09-02 8:10 AM |
| 2009-09-02 8:42 AM in reply to: #2384119 |
Champion 5376 PA | Subject: RE: Small changes in swimming for performance agarose2000 - 2009-09-01 11:46 PM I've been swimming a lot more than I did before (I'm a BBBOP swimmer) and am hoping to make it to the front of the BOP in my next race! I'm still nowhere near the training volume of a good swimmer but I'm working my way there slowly, with 3-4x/wk of swims. I was really surprised in the past 2 weeks at how much time savings these small changes made: - Closing the gap between outstretched arm and head on the reach - about 3sec/100m - Pointing the toes as much as possible - about 4 sec/100m (I'm really inflexible!) Those are good little tips. I read about pointing the toes on the swimsmooth website. I found that I have a bad habit of doing a hand entry but not bending my wrist downward very far when I start my stroke. I've been working on that and I'm finding that I can slow down and focus on that and complete a lap just as fast as when I try a faster stroke rate. I believe that when I try to go faster, I get sloppy with my wrist. I've been looking for a swim coach in the area but I've not found one yet. I'm still new enough to the sport that I can get bigger gains out of getting faster on the bike right now but I enjoy the swim so much I really want to get faster. |
| 2009-09-02 9:36 AM in reply to: #2384119 |
Pro 4360 Baton Rouge area | Subject: RE: Small changes in swimming for performance First, congrats on the improvement. If your doing 2:05/100m your faster than me on distances (first 200m I can do 1:50-2:00/100m but after that it all falls apart and I am a 2:21/100m swimmer). The only tip I can throw in is make sure your neck is extended and your head is down. Saw this on a swim video (trainer for Phelps was talking about this on a YouTube video) and my Masters swim coach is working me on this one. Getting the neck extended and head down farther helps with better body position. I can actually feel my speed increase when I do it but it throws my bi-lat breathing off. Hopefully I can master that. |
| 2009-09-02 10:51 AM in reply to: #2384119 |
Elite 4048 Gilbert, Az. | Subject: RE: Small changes in swimming for performance agarose2000 - 2009-09-01 8:46 PM I never thought toe pointing would make such a big difference! Toe pointing is huge. Take a look at tjfry's current avatar pic, his extended leg is what you want to strive for. One straight line from knee to toe. John |
| 2009-09-02 10:52 AM in reply to: #2384119 |
| Master 2460 | Subject: RE: Small changes in swimming for performance Next up on my "fix-list" is keeping my fingers closed. If that can give me another 2sec/100m, I'd be thrilled! I also find that sets become much less monotous and actually pretty interesting when you're experimenting with these tiny form fixes and seeing the result on your pace. When I was just doing 12 x 100m a few weeks ago, it hurt, but I was getting pretty bored by #12. However, yesterday, I did 22 x 100m on 15sec rest each, and I was concentrating so much on my ankles and my reach that I didn't even notice that I'd cranked out 20+ of them. I do have to be careful though, as I think I might be ramping up a bit too fast - got a twinge in my left shoulder today that feels like the tendinitis I got when I first started swimming. Back to some slow stuff for awhile. And tkd - I agree that toe pointing is HUGE. I'm actually surprised that my OWS swim champ coach didn't point this out to me at my swim lesson, but then again, she was probably analyzing my main pull and body position for big errors which is top priority. I'm going to see if I can both toe-point and get a smooth 2-beat kick a la TJ Fry or Shinji (youtube) - that's a beautiful motion. Edited by agarose2000 2009-09-02 10:54 AM |
| 2009-09-02 11:34 AM in reply to: #2384119 |
Veteran 155 Virginia | Subject: RE: Small changes in swimming for performance shoulder and ankle flexibility are incredibly important for swimming. those are two things you can also work on outside the pool but will see big differences in your time/ 100m in the long run. also, you can mix in some 200s to your 100s, and do repeats of the set. this helps break up the monotony of swimming while still building endurance. work on pacing your 200 at the same pace as your 100s for example: 4X 1x200 2x100 over time you can up the longer swim to 300, 400, etc. |
| 2009-09-02 11:43 AM in reply to: #2384119 |
Pro 6838 Tejas | Subject: RE: Small changes in swimming for performance Don't try to incorporate to many new things into your stroke at once. Work on these few items until they are ingrained and then work on correcting other flaws. Big two for me were crossing my arm over the centerline of my body before the catch and not bending the wrist down for the catch. I essentially had my arm pointed 15-20 degrees past centerline and was then pushing straight down to stroke. I was able to get a feel for the difference by standing on my knees in the shallow end and trying both strokes with head out of the water, one without cocking my wrist and the other cocking it down. One will just give you dead resistance the other will propel your body forward. I found I was trying to hard to lengthen my vessel as preached in TI and was not catching water. |
| 2009-09-03 8:35 AM in reply to: #2385053 |
Champion 5376 PA | Subject: RE: Small changes in swimming for performance mdg2003 - 2009-09-02 12:43 PM Don't try to incorporate to many new things into your stroke at once. Work on these few items until they are ingrained and then work on correcting other flaws. Big two for me were crossing my arm over the centerline of my body before the catch and not bending the wrist down for the catch. I essentially had my arm pointed 15-20 degrees past centerline and was then pushing straight down to stroke. I was able to get a feel for the difference by standing on my knees in the shallow end and trying both strokes with head out of the water, one without cocking my wrist and the other cocking it down. One will just give you dead resistance the other will propel your body forward. I found I was trying to hard to lengthen my vessel as preached in TI and was not catching water. That's exactly what I was talking about too. I can tell when I do that now because I feel it in my elbow as I have my arm extended and I'm wasting a lot of energy to push straight down. It is so inefficient because it is requires a lot of force and only pushes you upward instead of foreward. I went at a slower stroke rate and concentrated on the hand bend and it was easier but the time was a little better. If I can keep doing that while I pick the stroke rate up, it should definitely help. |
| 2009-09-03 1:17 PM in reply to: #2384119 |
| Veteran 263 | Subject: RE: Small changes in swimming for performance Regarding closing the fingers to increase propulsion, don't do it. The hand should be relaxed, and if that means a slight gap between the fingers, then that's fine. Michael Phelps swims with his fingers slightly apart. The attached article deals with the issue: http://www.posetech.com/training/archives/000715.html |
|
|
|
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK