The Top 20 Rules for Faster Triathlon Swimming (Page 4)

Yes, I agree and that is a good way to put it.  I know I do not do as much work as I need to do to get better results. Which is probably pretty typical of a triathlete.

It's funny, about the only time I actually think about my form when I'm in the pool is when I'm swimming a hard set.  When I'm getting tired and can feel that I'm starting to slow down I start focusing on the things that typically break down in my stroke.  When I'm swimming at an easier pace, I just cruise and tend to zone out in auto pilot.

As a side note, I made myself a band out of an old tube and tried it at the pool yesterday.  Did a 8x25 and holy moley it sucked hard.  I'm going to have to do lots of practice with that to get better at it.

I've swam for years and have never heard of this until the past year or so (now that I'm reading triathlete stuff).  I'm excited to try it as well.

Has this training technique caught on with the rest of the swimming world?  I finished college in 2003-had never heard of it at that point.  I swim around a bunch of AGers-still haven't heard of it or seen it with them either. 

Joel Filliol said... - band is about propulsion with the added bonus of awareness of body position. As you get faster with a band your body position improves.

Learning to swim without the use of your legs does not make you a better, a faster, or a swimmer with better body position. Would running with your arms tied to your side make you a better runner?  

What does that mean - not pulling forcefully enough?  There is no suggested force of pulling.  I know fast swimmers with very high stroke rates and fast swimmers with low stroke rates.  The force of the pull is never ever discussed.  I swim faster when I reduce the force of my pull but increase my stroke rate. I can swim faster for longer when I increase force and decrease rate.  

Yes, on kick sets.

and that's your opinion....but people smarter than you have figured out that it does.

I have no idea what you are talking about or what point you are making.  Obviously I swim freestyle and pull, who doesn't?  My point is there is no prescribed "force" for pulling.  Swimming isn't about isolating things, it is about the entire stroke, so to speak.  I've seen some swimmers us a band temporarily but never as a long term training aid.  

You can call it whatever you want to make it sound official but that's just a lot of words that say "poor technique."  Putting a rubber band on your feet isn't going to solve all those problems, but it might generate a few dollars for a coaching session.

... or they pull hard enough for a lap or two, then get tired because they only swim 1 day per week (reference tip #3)