I need a swim pep talk... so frustrated!

it WILL get easier....just like everything else..the more we do it the easier it gets....
i feel like i have had the most gains in my swim than the other two disciplines but it is still the hardest of the 3 for me to get out the door and go get my minutes done...

watch some Total Immersion videos and some clips from Kona on YouTube...they will get you motivated
......thats what i do....

good luck to ya!

Jb

I can relate to your frustration chris...It's taken me over a year to really see significant improvement. I'm in better condition and although my technique is improving it is still a work in progress. I'm a regular at our pool at the same time 3X/week. I now have some "pool buddies"...one of them has a daughter who is a swim coach and taught him. He is now giving me some pointers and evaluating my stroke. It has helped me a lot. If you see someone there that you consider a good swimmer don't be afraid to say hi and ask if they would mind pointing out some things you might do better. I had a month of frustration a little while ago. I had to convince myself that I am as good as I am, not as good as I want to be and to just keep working at it. Not that you are, but I suggest you don't compare yourself with anyone else. You might just need a break for a few days or a week. If you are running and biking as well you might consider taking a week or 2 for just swimming so you can concentrate all of your energy on just that one thing. Hope this helps...good luck and don't give up!!!.......Tom

I think sometimes we get so caught up in getting X mileage/yardage in and it can be very frustrating when we don't hit our distance and throw us off. Remember that you are completely new and that swimming is such a technique driven sport. Don't get discouraged, your lessons will be worth every penny. It will get easier the more you do it, just as in anything else. Try going in for an easy swim. Don't have time/distance goals, just get in and swim. Get in relaxed and a feel for the water. Have fun with it, do your favorite drills, take your time. You've got this. Goodluck!

Keep in mind that as a new swimmer, you usually have to work on new technique changes - which will make you significantly slower before getting faster. Same with endurance/speed workouts in the swim - you may have to beat yourself down before gaining ability.

I went through at least 2 incredibly frustrating but necessary technique re-buildling phases last year in refining my technique. My paces became horrendous - in the first case, when I improved my body balance with the pull buoy, it felt like literally learning to swim all over again, and I went from 2:30/100m and comfortable on 12 x 100 intervals with 20sec rest  to 3:30/100m and nearly drowning on every length. That lasted for nearly 4 weeks until I corrected my over-rotation. I then promptly dropped to 2:05/100m and am still going down.

I'm new to swimming (swimming since Sept) and I feel your frustration.  One thing I was told was to remember that swimming is like every other sport, you have good days and you have bad days, sometimes for no explainable reason.  Sometimes the bad days are just another way to strengthen your mental game by learning how to push through and convince yourself that you can do it.  It might not be pretty or a PR, but capitalizing on an opportunity to strengthen your mental game is just as important as getting in shape.  If you're injured, that's a different story.

Keep working hard, it comes and goes, especially in the early stages when it seems like gains just keep coming.  When I hit a setback after all the gains I was bummed.  After talking to my buddy he gave me the previous advice and reminded me you can't improve every time you are in the pool, the body doesn't work that way.  That, and the law of diminishing returns.

Developing swimming technique is like waiting for an orchid to bloom. You can nurture it, but the damned thing won't flower quite as fast as we want. We create the conditions, do a lot of work, but the improvement comes on its own schedule to some degree. This can be frustrating.

Some might get tempted to force it, to do long endurance workouts to improve technique. Obviously that doesn't work it only degrades technique. Once the technique is there, the endurance will follow. I didn't make a big improvement in my swim until I had about a month of technique-only swims, extremely drill-focused workouts with little to no focus on endurance.

You are doing the right thing in getting lessons and asking for help. You might post your workouts in this thread. What drills are you doing? What is specifically going wrong technique-wise? There are lots of people here that know a lot about swimming technique.

Personally I found the one-arm swim drill to work magic on my stroke. What is your "magic drill" for the weakest aspect of your swim technique?


Edited by neuronet 2010-01-16 9:21 AM

If it's frustrating you that much, just wait till you get your lessons.  You are better off training with the proper techniques.

I've been training my swim for about eighteen months now ... and it is just starting to get to the point where I can see results in improved technique and faster times. (As I type this I am actually down in Florida at the National Training Center in Clermont training in Sara McLarty's awesome three day swim camp for triathletes). What has worked for me: Regular long swims, to build confidence (...that I am not going to drown during my next race!); intervals, which after three months are making me a little faster; and technique drills ... but I only spend about 25% of my effort and time on technique and drills because my brain overloads when I try to disconnect my windmilling arms and glide between strokes, rotate, exhale throughout the stroke; keep waterline on my forehead, hold feet high, kick with feet together ... and rememeber to breathe. So yeah ... you will get better. A lot better, since you are smart enough to get some training early before you groove any bad habits (like I did). A few weeks is probably not nearly enough time to switch to golf just yet...

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming swimming, just keep swimming. 

Don't wait until you have your next lesson.  Keep practicing your form.  Don't worry about distance.  Just tell yourself you are going to swim for X amount of time and get in the pool and focus on being efficient in the water.  Long and strong.  It will come.

Let me start by saying, I don't like swimming; I've never really liked swimming; I've always treated it as a necessary evil.

But after a very long break, I'm getting back into a triathlons. 

And this time, I've joined a master's team.  Honestly, it's fantastic.   Joining a "team" might seem like a big, scary step.  But at least the one I found in Oakland is zero pressure and open to everyone.

Having others to swim with is  great motivation.  And, while you won't get the constant personal attention that you would get from a hired lesson, the occasional suggestions and feedback from the team coach can be a big help, at a much more affordable price.

Here's a link to Pacific Masters which includes all of the Masters Swim Teams in Northern California, including a couple in SF.

Pacific Masters.

Good luck!

You are not alone.  I too am really struggling with swimming.  I am a long time runner and fairly new to cycling.  However, this is my first season as a triathlete.  I have always been around water and thought that swimming would come a bit easier than it has. 

As for a pep talk I am probably not the one to give it, but I will say this.  I am not going to give up no matter what!  As far as I see it this sport is all about challenging yourself to do things that are outside your comfort zone.  I think that it is safe to say that there are more out there like us, so lets work hard and I will see you at the finish line.

Wow!  Everyone has said some really helpful and encouraging things!  Thank you all so much.   I've decided to head back to the pool tomorrow for a swim to just focus on technique/drills and to not worry about speed or distance.  When I'm at the pool, I'm going to talk to the swim office about one to one lessons.  Luckily, they're not too expensive.

As of right now, I've worked on kicking drills, single arm drills, catch-up, and a couple others.  After doing about 50 yards of a drill, my next 50 yards of freestyle is always improved!  I need to keep those little successes in mind.

The one thought that gets to me though is that I did have a few good weeks of swimming, that seemed to have escaped me.  Well, I know those good weeks are still in there... I just have to be persistent with finding them again! 

I'll keep you posted.

I think it's normal to have some "backsliding" at the beginning.
One of the reasons why is that nothing is instinct or comes naturally. There are 25 things to think about for each stroke you take.
If you forget one, that can make you noticeably slower.
Once you master one or two things, then those can become habit and you can work on one or two more things.

I think at the beginning, your brain is excited and you can try applying 4-5 new "habits" at once, but then after a week or so, the mental energy just isn't there anymore, and some of those things start slipping away, like you said.

It's OK! It will all come together some day.

Get in the pool and swim. It will come.

I set a PR for 100 meters yesterday while rehabing my knee. Granted it was the first 100 meters of 1000 but it was a PR.

I have gone from 4 min 100 done to 2.24 yesterday. 

Take one or two tips and work on them. If you try to do every tip all at once you cant swim.  I work on touching my thumbs to my thighs to ensure I have a long full stroke and I am still trying to master breathing every second stroke with my right arm.


Swim Swim Swim

Kevin 

By any chance were you PMS'ing this week? Even though I've been swimming since the '60s, my form gets all wiggly and I feel really OFF in the few days before my period starts.

Other than that, I say get back in the pool. We all have bad days. But take your time when you swim, be sure to imprint good muscle memories. The speed and endurance will come with more laps.

Edited by Renee 2010-01-17 1:53 PM

Yikes!

That's what I was going to say. Except for the part about swimming since the 60s, since I don't have nearly that much experience.

I agree.  I'm new at triathlons (have yet to do my first sprint, even) but have a swimming background (personally, I could use a 'running pep talk' ). 

But as a swimmer, I'll tell you that we're pretty nice folks, and if you wait til we finish a set, we're more than happy to offer drill advice, stroke pointers, etc.  I'd say that most people who look like they know what they're doing in the water either swam for a high school, college, or club team -- and can at least pass on the advice that they've received from coaches over the years.

Either way, keep working at it.  I wouldn't give up water time while waiting for lessons to start.  Since you're a beginning swimmer, I would recommend getting in the water and doing some kick board work for 15-20 minutes a few times a week.  You'll want to get the opinion of more seasoned triathletes on this next statement, but I would say, since you're new to swimming, focusing on the kick until you start lessons would be helpful.  It tightens your core and helps with breathing (hold your arms out straight with the board in front of you, so your face is in the water, and practice tilting your head to the side to breath = a good drill.  And you can always pull the board back close to your chest if you get tired). 

I know that tri swimmers try to use the arms more for the swim than 'classic' swimmers do, to save their legs for the bike and run.  But since you're beginning and will soon have lessons to work on stroke work, I'd recommend working on the kick and breathing coordination, instead of getting out of the water altogether. 

I'd be more than happy to offer a few more beginner drills, if you'd like, but do keep in mind that I'm not yet a tri-swimmer.

Good luck

it could be anything not just swim related that affects your times,, other training, nutrition, hydration, sleep, recovery.  I know it's hard to do put don't put a lot of emphasis on your times in anything while training, unless you are doing some time trail work.   Your training is for, well, training. Use your time at races or specific time trail training to monitor your progress.

everyone has good advice.

Everyone goes through slumps and down times when things don't seem to be working out.  There are days I feel like a complete hack out there. 

You will get through it.

I once spent 9 months swimming continuously in the late 60s. It was almost like I could breathe underwater, and then one day POW! It was all over...since then I've had to breathe boring old air. Still trying to get back to that tranquil state.

Could this forum be any more supportive! You guys are all fantastic. Thank you for the great words of advice and encouragement. Update! Good update at that! I went back to the pool today, and got out with a huge grin on my face. I decided to focus on drills. It was great. I swam slowly, focusing on my form, and just felt great in the pool. I'm still going to take at least a few more technique lessons just to have someone help with my stroke in person, but aside from that today was just a huge relief if anything.I think three things played a factor in last week's poor swims:1. I was stuck in the awful 3' deep lane. I hate that lane, and feel like I go nowhere every time in it. Today I was in the 6' deep lane at the other end.2. Both of last week's bad swims were after work when I was exhausted, and more importantly were when the other lanes were filled with kids at swim practice and water aerobicisers. Something about the lack of lap swimming atmosphere irked me.3. Hmmm... there may be something to that whole PMS thing.I'll keep updating, as I still have a long way to go... I'm now confident that I'll get there

Edited by justtrichris 2010-01-18 11:53 PM