Bigfuzzydoug's Ten Points to Swimming (Page 2)

I started working on this stuff about 3 weeks ago and went from an all out effort stand alone 250 @ 4:06 to back to back 250's on 1min rest today @ 3:36 & 3:39 w/ very little effort. My "cool down" 250 today was 4:04 at the end of my workout!!!!

The biggest things I took from the post was "getting long" / "climbing the ladder" and doing the "thumb touch" drill. I used to begin my catch/pull phase w/ a straight arm pushing water to the bottom of the pool. Thus.....lifting my upper torso and sinking my legs. By concentrating on beginning my catch/pull phase by bending my elbow and pulling myself past my hand (clear through to the hip) w/out pushing water down, my speed has increased significantly in a very short period of time.

GOOD STUFF! THANKS FOR POSTING!

Many thanks BFD.

Applied two of your principles today and it made a big difference. I'm not good enough to focus on more than 1 or 2 new things at at time.

You da man!

Cool!  You're NOT SUPPOSED TO focus on more than one or two things at a time.  It's usually best to start with one element and work it for a week and then gradually build on it.  The key is when you over-think it or feel your form begin to break down in the drills - STOP!  Compose yourself and start over.  Drill time is for getting the form perfected, not just doing the laps and getting in the distance.  That comes with time.

Keep it up and I look forward to having you pass me in the races to come!

Suh-weeeeeeeeeet! Keep up the good work!

Doug, many thanks for the article, I'm looking forward to starting with step 2 tonight! I'm assuming a fair amount of all this is TI based so that working w/ a TI coach is worthwhile?

Much appreciated!

The entire article is a smattering of TI and other sources as well.  I've never worked with a TI coach specifically so I couldn't recommend or not recommend it.  I will say that working with ANY swimming coach is well worth the investment.  You only have feel and the clock to go by while swimming.  A coach has an outside view from the deck or water and if you're really lucky, underwater video of your swimming to analyze.  They're actually seeing you in motion and can best explain what you're doing compared to how you think it feels.  And for you, there's nothing like actually seeing yourself swim in slo-mo on the screen!

I believe TI to be an excellent program for beginners, novices and those generally seeking better balance and efficiency in the water.  Most fishies sort of "graduate" out of TI at some point and move on to other coaches and techniques to find more pure, raw, speed.

BFD - you are the man! In 1 hour I went from struggler to finally getting what the glide thing is all about.

4 things massivley changed in this 1 hour:

- head position - thought it was down before but obviously it wasn't.

- arm out in front and ear on the shoulder for breathing - changed the timing of WHEN I was breathing and kept my head down. Made me roll the body and I could feel a massive difference to what I was doing

- climbing the ladder - made me glide rather then push up

-  being a front quadrant swimmer - ok I might have taken it a bit too far because I can only swim catchup at the moment but it feels so amazing to glide like that!

I had to change from breathing every 3 strokes to 2 in order to slow down enough for it to all come together.

I'm on such a high at the moment - thank you so much!

Gerrard 

I've been reading tips spread around everywhere about swimming, and I jumped in the pool Friday with three goals in mind:

1. Slow down, stop timing how quickly I can swim 400m, and swim for about half an hour and concentrate on my form.

2. Minimize my leg use.

3. Stretch my body out.

I warmed up, and started evaluating my form. By the end of the session my swim was a 180 from what it was. I started at the same time as the guy next to me on one of my final laps, and I confirmed that I was moving equal distance with much, much less effort; my strokes were about a 1 to 3 compared to random guy next to me. It feels AWESOME.

I achieved bilateral breathing. I also developed a very nice hip roll, and it is combined with a quick scissor of my feet during arm travel. Very limited leg travel; I just finished reading bigfuzzydoug's ten swimming points, and I feel it lends greatly to a good "torpedo" shape. Plus, if my anatomy classes serve me correctly, that uses fast-twitch muscles rather than the slow twitch muscles I will need during the bike and run. Further, I also discovered the benefit of having a very quick catch-up phase during the stroke. If I was propelling, I made sure my arm was fully extended to create a "longboat" effect.

I can't sum it all up, I just know it felt fantastic. I have a long way to go, especially endurance wise, but man it feels good to achieve this level of form. Bigfuzzydoug's ten points puts out the right information.

I'm glad it worked for you to make you faster.  6 seconds off a 50m!  That's quite a boost!  And a PR to boot!  That'll put a smile on your face for the rest of day (mine too in a small way).  Keep up the good work!

Well it's a year ago almost to the day since I posted my tank you message above. I got some immediate benefit from reading anf implemnting the tips, but then I got very focussed on training to a specific plan, and didnt really work enough on my fundamental technique to become a better swimmer.

I remember doing the side balance drills a few times but not really getting it.

After a 3 month lay-off from swimming I got back into the pool today and did nothing but side balance drills for 1/2 an hour. This time I got it and could really feel the difference. Wow what a difference.

So I'm dedicating 5 swims a week for the next 3 weeks to working completely on the basics before even thinking about "swimming" again.

Thanks again BFD - this time I'll see it through properly.

Wow!  You guys get the "Necromancer Award" for bringing this thread back to life!  Ha ha!

But you're welcome.  I'm glad I could help in some way.  Keep practicing and sending me further and further to the back of the swim pack!