The Gradual Crescendo

Upcoming Swim Smooth Clinics / One to One Consultations: Prague Kids Swim Camps Enjoy Prague this August whilst your kids improve their swimming! Full information here New Lancaster SS Squad Full information here Lancaster UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here South Coast Clinics May & August Full information here Loughborough SS Squad Full information here Richmond & Wimbledon Sunday Workshops Full information here Acton UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here Loughborough, UK May Clinic Full information here Alicante, Spain June Clinics Full information: here Swim/Tri Camps Alicante September 2013 Full information: here For more info on SS Certified Coaches see here

Olympic Triathlon Gold Medallist Alistair Brownlee ran a 28:32 10,000m on the track at the Payton Jordan Invitational in Stanford a couple of weeks ago. If you're a runner or triathlete you'll appreciate that's serious running speed:

After the event Alistair tweeted: Learnt that 68s felt easy at 3k and 69's felt hard at 8k. Can't wait for another go.

Alistair's referring to his lap time per 400m on the running track, where in the early stages of the race 68 seconds per lap felt easy but later in the race 69 seconds per lap felt hard. We call this progressive increase in how hard a well paced effort feels the "gradual crescendo" and it should feel this way in all sports, including swimming.

Approximately 80% of world records are set this way with even pacing or a slight negative split (with the second half quicker than the first). However, most age group swimmers and triathletes pace things out like this in their races and training: http://bit.ly/4e1Hk2

How Training Sets And Races Should Feel

If you swim a hard effort (say a 400m or 1500m timetrial) and you pace it out evenly (with every 50m swum at the same speed) the feeling of effort should rise throughout the swim like this:

The first quarter of a well paced effort feels pretty easy and in fact it's possible to go significantly faster over this initial distance. However by the half way point of the swim, the effort has risen and you are aware you are working hard to stay with the pace. By the last quarter of the distance you are getting close to maximum effort, working very hard to finish off the effort.

Remember, this is all at the same actual speed, you're not speeding up through the swim. The same pace is gradually feeling harder and harder - this is the gradual crescendo.

If I Can, Shouldn't I Work Harder Earlier?

In a word, no. For two reasons:

- It feels easy to do but by going faster in the early stages of a race you will do damage which you cannot recover from. It takes a while for your breathing rate and heart rate to catch up but by starting fast you will slow down in the second half of the race and be much slower overall. This is why nearly all world records are set with an even or slight negative split.

- In a training set, if you start too fast and then blow up and slow down you will not get the training benefit that you would by pacing out your training sets well. If you feel that your swimming fitness is on a plateau this could be where you are going wrong. By pacing things out properly your fitness fill continue again on an upward curve; as a bonus not only are well paced swim sets more beneficial but they are less painful too.

To help get your pacing right, we strongly recommend the use of a Tempo Trainer Pro in mode 1 or 2. This will beep to you when you should be turning at the end of each lap helping you pace out your training sets perfectly. Many swimmers find that it's only when you use a Tempo Trainer for the first time you fully appreciate how bad your pacing skills are!

Pacing Is An Essential Part Of Swimming Technique

At the moment when you think of your swimming technique you might just think of your stroke mechanics but your pacing skills are also a critical part of your technique to swim at your best. Pacing out training sets and races is critical to reach your potential in the water, it's something that elite swimmers and triathletes have developed and honed during thousands of training hours in the water and on the running track.

Get your pacing right and you will experience that gradual crescendo yourself, and you might well set some personal bests right away without any other improvements in technique or fitness.

Swim Smooth!

Announcing Swim Smooth / Triathlon England Open Water Training Days This Summer

Upcoming Swim Smooth Clinics / One to One Consultations: Prague Kids Swim Camps Enjoy Prague this August whilst your kids improve their swimming! Full information here New Lancaster SS Squad Full information here Lancaster UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here South Coast Clinics May & August Full information here Loughborough SS Squad Full information here Richmond & Wimbledon Sunday Workshops Full information here Acton UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here Loughborough, UK May Clinic Full information here Alicante, Spain June Clinics Full information: here Swim/Tri Camps Alicante September 2013 Full information: here For more info on SS Certified Coaches see here

Swim Smooth are very proud to announce that we have been selected by Triathlon England to operate a series of Open Water Swimming Training Days in England this summer.

Each course will be run by our Swim Smooth Coaches at venues throughout England over the summer months. There are two variations:

1) A novice course to get you into open water for the first time and develop the skills and techniques you need to swim comfortably and effectively in the great outdoors.

2) A more advanced session for those accustomed to swimming in open water but looking to improve their skills such as sighting, drafting and turning to improve their race performances.

Bookings for these days are being taken by Triathlon England (not Swim Smooth). For full information and to sign up, see the Triathlon England website: www.triathlonengland.org/take-part/open-water
(please don't hesitate to book up, we are expecting the days to fill up in just a few hours following this announcement)

Don't worry if there isn't an event local to you yet, further venues are being finalised by Triathlon England and will be announced shortly on that webpage.

We very much look forward to working with you soon and sprinkling a little Swim Smooth magic on your open water swimming!

Swim Smooth!

Is Your Athleticism Holding You Back In The Water?

Last week on the blog we discussed swimmers who have low drag but poor propulsion. Not surprisingly we received a lot of emails and tweets asking us to take a look at the opposite situation, where your drag is high but your propulsion is relatively good.

To that end let's look at a case study involving just such a swimmer who has made some big strides forwards by reducing his drag:

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If you've attended one of our clinics or talks in the UK recently you might have seen some video footage of Charles showing his legs lying low in the water when he swims:

This footage was taken in 2011 and we show it to highlight how your perception of your stroke might be very different from reality. Charles felt that his legs were quite low but estimated they were "4-5cm" lower than they should be. Watching back the video footage of his stroke, he was quite shocked to see that his legs were sinking by as much as 60cm (2 ft) beneath the surface.

Charles is a strongly built triathlete with lots of lean muscle mass. He's a strong cyclist and runner but finds swimming frustrating and looking at the shot above it's easy to see why with his legs sinking low in the water, creating a huge amount of drag. This a classic trait of our Arnie Swim Type, together with their strong tendency to fight the water with a crossover of the centre line in front of the head, as we see Charles doing here:

Just prior to taking this footage Charles swam 42 minutes for 1500m which (with his competitive mindset) he called "a disaster". Unfortunately it doesn't matter how fit Charles is, dragging his legs through the water like that is going to slow him down dramatically.

During our initial video analysis and stroke correction session with Charles we worked on:

- His exhalation technique into the water, ridding his lungs of excess buoyancy which otherwise lifts him up at the front and sinks the legs
- Improving his swimming posture to remove his crossover in front of the head
- Keeping his head low when he breathes
- Improving his kicking technique to avoid bending from the knee and scissor kicking the legs wide apart
- Slowing down his stroke rate a touch to help him straighten out the stroke

Charles found that immediately following this session he dropped his 1500m time to 35 minutes, which was a nice improvement in a very short period of time.

(Follow this stroke correction process yourself, or the one appropriate for your Swim Type, in our Swim Type Guides here.)

Is Your Athleticism Holding You Back When You Swim?

If you are an Arnie yourself, you will know how difficult and frustrating swimming can be despite your natural athleticism. Ironically it's actually this athleticism that is making swimming harder for you as your lean muscular legs sink downwards in the water.

If you have low-lying legs when you swim unfortunately there's no silver bullet to lifting your legs high, it's going to take diligent and consistent work on all of the areas of your stroke we mentioned above. However, be persistent and disciplined, and the improvements will come:

Two Years Later

Since that initial consultation in 2011 we hadn't seen Charles until he came back for a follow-up session with us last week. We were very impressed with how much his body position had improved since 2011:

Although he's not yet perfectly horizontal in the water, his body position is drastically improved and although there's still a slight tendency to cross over the centre line with the right arm, this is much improved too:

These stroke improvements are giving him some very large speed gains. In fact he recently swam 28½ minutes for 1500m, a full 13½ minutes faster than two years ago!

As well as consistently working on all the areas we mentioned above, Charles has found that swimming with a light flutter kick results in a lower effort than trying to use a minimal two-beat kick. Although some additional energy is being used in the faster kick, this is more than offset by his legs sitting higher in the water.

Some swimmers are naturally suited to a 2-beat kick, particularly those with good natural buoyancy and shorter punchier stroke styles. But with such a dense muscle mass, Charles will always be best served with a light flutter to help bring his legs higher. This a classic example of why you must always think of yourself as an individual and not follow a "one size fits all" approach to swimming.

Persistence And Chipping Away

After further refining his stroke technique in our follow up session, we are excited about the improvements Charles will now experience as he continues to improve his stroke technique. Getting into the 25-26 minute 1500m speed range is a realistic short term goal for him and he's also aware he will gain another minute or two when he dons his wetsuit for open water events. This means he should now exit the swim towards the front of his age-group rather than coming out at the rear and having to play catch-up on the bike.

So a big congratulations from us to Charles on the large improvements he's made with his swimming, it's not been an easy journey but your persistence and hard work is really starting to pay dividends. Thanks also for allowing us to share your experiences with the wider world.

Swim Smooth!

Do You Only Have One Speed When You Swim?

News: A new Mr Smooth is born! A huge congratulations from us at Swim Smooth to Jono Van Hazel (the original Mr Smooth) and his wife Anna on the birth of their baby boy Max on Wednesday! May he sleep long and peacefully through the night guys!

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Do you feel like you can hold a reasonable pace over longer distances but when the coach says "Sprint!" you just can't go much faster no matter how hard you try? Don't worry, you're not alone! This is quite a common problem and it is actually telling you something interesting about your swimming and how to improve it.

Drag And Propulsion

To be a truly efficient swimmer you need two things:

1) Low drag so you slip through the water easily

2) Good propulsive technique so the effort you are putting in is pushing you forwards effectively

Elite swimmers have both of these elements in place in their stroke which is why they are so fast and efficient. But what happens if you are strong in one area and weak in the other? What are your swim-symptoms?

High Drag But Good Propulsion

The swimmer who has a low body position but relatively good propulsion can normally sprint quite well over short distances of 50 or 100m because the extra propulsive power helps lift their legs higher in the water. However at a more sustainable level of effort, their legs sink lower which increases drag dramatically. The result is a large drop off in speed over longer distances.

Low Drag But Poor Propulsion

From our Swim Types system, the two swimmers who have quite low drag but suffer from poor propulsion are the Kicktastic and the Overglider. The Kicktastic is brought high in the water by their strong kick but has poor arm propulsion, normally pressing down on the water during the catch:

The Overglider has worked hard on lowering their drag but by trying to add a pause-and-glide into their stroke has got into the habit of pushing the water forwards. This adds the pause into their stroke timing they  believe is necessary to make their stroke more efficient but in doing so it has harmed their catch technique:

If you are an Overglider or Kicktastic and feel one-paced when you swim, this is because as you try to accelerate nearly all the extra effort is wasted as you work against the water by pushing it downwards or away from you. Conversely, a good catch technique presses the water backwards which propels you effectively forwards - then the harder you work the faster you go! :

A Balanced Approach To Developing Your Stroke Technique

If you've been following Swim Smooth for a while you will know that we give equal importance to reducing your drag and increasing your propulsion. You need both in place in your stroke to be a truly fast and efficient swimmer and as we saw in the case of the Overglider above, focusing too much on one aspect can actually harm the other.

Work on both drag reduction and improving your propulsion all year round and you will be on the optimal pathway to improving your swimming.

Swim Smooth!

Try This Classic "Technique Pyramid" Session

Here's a classic swim session that is a good combination of technique work and some aerobic swimming. The aerobic swims keep some emphasis on your swim fitness and immediately ensure that the stroke technique you are developing can be sustained over long distances - which is essential as a distance swimmer or triathlete.

The worst thing you can do in technique sessions is to become a "technique hermit" and only ever swim short distances of 50 or 100m for fear of your stroke falling apart. An effective stroke technique is much more quickly developed in combination with an all round program: developing both your swim fitness, pacing skills and technique at the same time. This session is a great way to do just that.

Technique Pyramid Session

Swim the following session straight through, taking a short recovery between swims to think through what you are doing next:

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100m steady freestyle, relax and gradually loosen off your shoulders.

200m freestyle with a pull buoy, focusing on efficient roll from the hips. Visualise rotating the hips out of the way ahead of the arm stroke (see here).

300m with fins, 6-1-6 drill on the way up the pool, freestyle on the way back down. Think "shoulders back and chest forwards" during the drill to keep your lead arm straight.

400m steady freestyle, breathe ever 3 strokes on the way up the pool, every 5 strokes on the way back down. Focus on a nice smooth exhalation whenever your face is in the water.

500m with a pull buoy (and paddles if you have them). Don't kick at all but focus on pressing the water smoothly backwards to the wall behind you with a good rhythm.

6-1-6 is a great drill to work on your
posture and alignment.
Progress to 6-3-6 by performing
3 strokes in the middle instead of 1.
(click on the image to expand)

400m freestyle swim as a negative split, meaning you swim the second half faster than the first. If possible check this with a stopwatch or the pool's pace clock to see if you did in fact negative split (it's not as easy as it sounds!).

300m with fins, 6-3-6 drill on the way up the pool, freestyle on the way back down.

200m freestyle on the way up the pool, backstroke on the way back down.

100m easy pace freestyle.

This session totals 2500m. You can lengthen or shorten it by lengthening or shortening the swims slightly, albeit keeping the pyramid structure in place.

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If you are someone who enjoys a lot variety in their swimming then you'll love this type of set, there's always something new to think about and keep you stimulated. Many Kicktastics can easily become bored when swimming so this session is perfect for you to enjoy, the time will fly by.

(By the way, there's plenty more training sessions to follow in our Waterproof Training Plans and the Swim Smooth Book of course!)

Swim Smooth!

How To Choose A Wetsuit To Suit Your Individual Stroke Style

When you are choosing a wetsuit you'll want something at the right price that fits you well, has great flexibility and looks good on you. But should you be considering your stroke style when selecting the right suit for you? Here at Swim Smooth we certainly believe so.

The buoyancy of a wetsuit has a huge bearing on how you swim in it, particularly the distribution of that buoyancy in different parts of the suit. We call this the "buoyancy profile" and broadly it relates to the buoyancy in the upper body versus the lower body of the suit. This is effected by the choice and thickness of materials in different areas of the suit.

It is critical that your wetsuit's buoyancy profile
is tailored to your individual stroke style

In this guide we'll outline some classic types of swimmer and what they should look for in their wetsuit, particularly in relation to its buoyancy profile. Identify which group you fall into and you'll be able to select the perfect wetsuit to make some big strides forward in your open water races this season.

Buoyancy Profiles And The See-Saw

A swimmer acts a bit like a see-saw in the water, pivoting around their centre:

Obviously to bring the legs higher in the water we could add extra buoyancy to the wetsuit legs. But equally, we could also reduce buoyancy in the chest, bringing the front end down and so the legs up. This double lifting effect is one of the secrets why the 3:5 profile HUUB wetsuits are so amazingly quick for sinky leg swimmers.

Conversely if a swimmer has a good natural body position we just need to maintain that with a wetsuit with a neutral buoyancy profile along their whole length. By giving them too much buoyancy at the rear we would bring them too high with the legs and leave them feeling awkward and unbalanced.

So the key when choosing a wetsuit is to select one that corrects or compliments your own body's buoyancy profile to leave you sitting perfectly in the water. Get this right and you will swim quickly and easily in your suit. Purchase the wrong suit and you'll be much slower than you could be or left feeling unbalanced in your stroke.

HUUB Wetsuits

This guide applies to selecting any wetsuit brand but as you know, Swim Smooth are part of the HUUB wetsuits design team. With our knowledge of stroke technique and individual swimmers, we carefully tailored buoyancy profiles for each type of swimmer within the range. As part of this guide, we'll highlight the prefect HUUB suit for each type of swimmer.

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Sinky Legged Swimmers
SS Swim Types: Arnie, Arnette, Male Bambino

Low lying legs is the single biggest thing holding
this swimmer back in the water

Profile: Many triathletes without a swimming background suffer from low lying legs in the water creating a huge amount of drag. They often cross-over the centre line in front of their head and drive their kick from the knee rather than the hip.

Experiences: You don't have a swimming background and find swimming with a pull buoy significantly easier. You might be a powerful athlete on land but find swimming a frustrating experience.

Wetsuit choice: You need a wetsuit with reduced buoyancy in the chest and maximum buoyancy in the legs to rebalance you in the water. This will bring your legs up much higher than a conventional suit with high buoyancy in the chest. 3mm neoprene in the upper body and 5mm in the hips and legs is recommended.

Recommended HUUB suit: Archimedes 3:5, Aerious 3:5 or Aegis 3:5 (female version available). Improvements for sinky leg swimmers in these suits can can be phenomenal - reductions in swim times of over 20 seconds per 100m are quite common.

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Female Swimmer With Good Natural Buoyancy
SS Swim Types: Female Kicktastics, Overgliders and Bambinos

Megan loves her new Aura
- find out why in her review here

Profile: Women are a different shape to men (you might have noticed!) and have a different buoyancy profile which needs a unique approach to wetsuit design. Not only is the distribution different but most women are more naturally buoyant overall than men and so require a less buoyant suit.

Experiences: You may find swimming in a wetsuit a little clumsy or unbalanced, and may struggle to get a good fit as traditionally wetsuits have been designed for men.

Wetsuit choice: With good natural buoyancy in the water you need a low buoyancy wetsuit in both the chest and legs to avoid bringing you too high at the rear which would leave you unbalanced. We recommend a 3mm neoprene thickness all over.

Recommended HUUB suit: Aura 3:3. The Aura is a unique thinner wetsuit design with less buoyancy. Easier to get on and off, and leaves you feeling balanced in the water when you swim. As a bonus the thinner material is more flattering too, avoiding the chunky look of men's suits.

Note: Although more rare than with men, some female swimmers do have sinky legs - follow our advice above for sinky-leg swimmers if you do.

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Dominant Leg Kick Swimmers
SS Swim Types: Kicktastic

A dominant leg kick brings you into a high body position

Profile: Many swimmers with a swimming background have quite a dominant leg kick and in a conventional high buoyancy wetsuit are brought so high at the rear they start to kick air. Worse, being overly high at the rear leaves the swimmer feeling unbalanced and uncomfortable in their suit.

Experiences: When training in the pool you may be slower with a pull buoy although this isn't always the case if you kick more from the knee than hip. You dislike wetsuit swimming and may feel unbalanced and restricted in a conventional suit (often feeling that restriction in the shoulders).

Wetsuit choice: You already have an excellent body position in the water and so you need a wetsuit with a neutral buoyancy profile. i.e. the same thickness of neoprene in the upper and lower body. We recommend 4mm all over for men and 3mm for women.

Recommended HUUB suit: Male: Archimedes 4:4 or Aerious 4:4, Female: Aura 3:3. Using the exact same construction and technology as the HUUB 3:5 profile suits, you have the perfect suit to maximise your speed.

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Long Gliding Stroke Style With Two-Beat Kick
SS Swim Types: Male Overglider

Profile: Despite working hard on creating a longer stroke style, swimmers with a long pause and glide in their timing normally sit a little lower in the water than they would like. This is especially the case if they have also introduced a 2-beat kick. Whilst their legs are not as low as the classic leg-sinkers, they will still benefit from getting their legs higher in the water.

Overgliders with a two-beat kick will benefit from
a 3:5 buoyancy profile to develop their body position.

Experiences: Although you enjoy swimming in a wetsuit you may find you don't perform as well in open water relative to your peers as you do in the pool. Waves and chop from other swimmers tends to stall you in the pause and glide in your stroke and may knock you off balance, leaving you quite uncomfortable swimming in a pack.

Wetsuit choice: As with the classic leg sinkers, choose a design with a low buoyancy chest and high buoyancy legs. We recommend 3mm neoprene in the upper body and 5mm in the legs.

Recommended HUUB suit: Archimedes 3:5, Aerious 3:5 or Aegis 3:5. You already benefit from swimming in a wetsuit but choosing a 3:5 will take your efficiency to an even higher level, locking your legs high up to the surface with its amazing buoyancy profile.

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Experienced Swimmer With Good Upper Body Propulsion
SS Swim Types: Swinger, Smooth

Experienced swimmers with good body position need
a neutral buoyancy profile wetsuit

Profile: Always near the front of the field, experienced swimmers have good stroke technique from their days as junior swimmers. They already have a great body position in the water and although nobody's stroke is perfect they have only minor areas to tweak and improve.

Your experiences: Confident and capable, you are looking for a high quality wetsuit to transfer your pool speed across into open water.

Olympic Gold & Bronze Medallists, Alistair and
Jonny Brownlee chose the 4:4 Archimedes to compliment
their naturally high body position in the water.

Wetsuit choice: You already have an excellent body position in the water and so you need a wetsuit with a neutral buoyancy profile. We recommend 4mm neoprene all over for men and 3mm for women.

Recommended HUUB suit: Male: Archimedes 4:4 or Aerious 4:4, Female: Aura 3:3. As well as having a neutral buoyancy profile for you, the extreme flexibility and release features in these suits help maintain the kick and catch technique you've refined over the years in the pool. The perfect suits to devastate the field!

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Still not sure which suit profile is best for you? Send us an email to help@swimsmooth.com telling us about your swimming. Or, if you're in the UK, book up a session with a Swim Smooth Certified Coach, not only will they help you develop your stroke technique but they will also give you some detailed advice on what to look for in your next suit.

Swim Smooth!

Too Cold To Train In The Open Water? No Problem!

Your open water skills are just as important as your stroke technique and swim fitness because you can lose 5, 10 or even 20 seconds per 100m swum in a race by swimming off course, missing out on a good draft or suffering a panic or anxiety attack. For some evidence of that, see here and here:

click to play video clip

But if you're reading this in Europe you'll be painfully aware that winter is still stubbornly holding off spring, with air (and water) temperatures currently hovering at the seasonal norms for December and January. So how do you keep those open water skills sharp during the endless winter? By practising in the pool of course!

Designing A Great Open Water Session In The Pool

The key thing to remember when designing open water sessions is to be creative and introduce a wide variety of challenges. Races throw a huge range of conditions and situations at you, so you need to be comfortable adapting to whatever you are presented with.

You should ideally practise these skills with other swimmers in a group once a week in the pool by getting together with some friends or with your training squad. If your group is of mixed ability, use a pull buoy or a pair of fins to help the slower swimmers keep up with the fast guys. That's not cheating in this sort of session as it's purely about experiencing and becoming confident swimming close to other swimmers.

Here are some ideas to include in your pool based open water sessions:

- Practise starts by treading water at the deep end of the pool and on the shout of 'go!' get up to speed as quickly as you can, using a shorter stroke as you accelerate like a sprinter taking short strides out of the blocks on the running track. This acceleration technique is important for starts but also for getting back up to speed after a tight turn - you can use it to drop other swimmers who are drafting you.

Practise accelerating up to speed quickly and efficiently from a treading water position. A pull buoy is optional - don't kick at all if you use one to keep the focus on the arm stroke.

- Organise yourself into drafting groups, using both arrow head and in-line drafting formations. Swap round the lead swimmer regularly and get as close as you can to the other swimmers without disrupting their stroke. When swimming to the side of another swimmer, experiment with matching your stroke rate to theirs to avoid clashing arms.

Don't get too close to the swimmer in front when in-line drafting or you will disrupt their stroke (and yours)!

- When drafting, get comfortable being close to other swimmers, yes the turbulence will disrupt your stroke rhythm and this can feel off putting at first but don't be tempted to seek out clear water. The benefits of being in this draft zone are huge (saving you up to 38% of your energy expenditure [1]) and by becoming accustomed to it you will be able to swim much faster than you otherwise would. Experiment with a slightly shorter punchier stroke style to be more efficient in the disturbed water and turbulence.

- Include short races over 50, 100 and 200m where you are drafting and the lead person is trying to drop the guys behind. The lead swimmer can make this tactical by swimming at a steady pace at first and then surprising those behind by surging unexpectedly to try and develop a gap. If you're following the lead swimmer stay aware and responsive just as you should be in a real race situation.

- When swimming in drafting groups, include the turn at the end of the lane in your swim (if you've got use of multiple lanes duck under the lane rope into the next lane to make it harder). This creates a bit of chaos and forces you to improvise and quickly find the draft zone again - think quickly and don't hesitate or you will lose the draft!

Turning under the lane rope in close proximity to other swimmers is sure to create some race-simulating chaos!

- Whilst swimming alone in the lane, close your eyes except when lifting your head to sight forwards. This gives you useful practise of getting a little disorientated and it really highlights how straight you can swim (or can't swim!) without following the line on the bottom of the pool. Find out more about good sighting technique here.

That's just a short list to give you some ideas but get creative and use the environment and resources available to you to create your own sessions. Coach Nicky Proctor from York Triathlon Club just wrote in and told us about a session she ran with her squad where she divided everyone into teams and they raced to collect coloured balls (taken from the kiddies ball pit) and then dove for shells and sinkers from the pool bottom, all competitively for points. Her swimmers got mini-eggs and chocolate bunnies for prizes (as it was Good Friday). Great idea Nicky!

A Little Sprint Training

As you know, at Swim Smooth we're fans of threshold (e.g. CSS) training for the majority of your distance swimming fitness sessions but open water skills sessions are the perfect opportunity to include some sprint work in your training too. The head to head nature of these sessions is perfect for sprint training and combining two sessions into one like this is very time efficient.

Once A Week

We are lucky with Perth's climate that we're able to swim in the open water all year round but in our squads we still like to practise these skills once a week in the pool. The controlled environment makes it very easy to coordinate the session and give coaching instruction and feedback to swimmers.

We suggest you aim to complete a session like this once a week in the pool (in Perth we run it on a Saturday lunch-time). It's a lot of fun and you will really notice the benefit to your open water swimming when the temperatures are warm enough to get into the open water.

(Incidentally, we've had a spate of shark attacks in WA over the last 18 months so for the moment we're stuck in the pool for the most part too!)

Swim Smooth!

[1] CHATARD, J.-C., and B. WILSON. Drafting Distance in Swimming. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 35, No. 7, pp. 1176–1181, 2003.

The Three Ways To Develop A Longer Freestyle Stroke

There are three ways to make your stroke longer:

1) Reduce your drag so you slip through the water more easily
2) Improve your propulsive technique so you are pushed further on every stroke
3) Artificially elongate your stroke by adding a pause-and-glide

The first two are excellent ways to improve your swimming speed and efficiency. However the third only makes you slower and less efficient as you slow down between strokes and then have to re-accelerate on the next stroke. This is doubly the case in open water swimming where waves and chop slow you down even more during the deadspot in your timing.

Letting The Tail Wag Your Swimming Dog

Within our Swim Types system, an Overglider is a swimmer who has added a distinct pause-and-glide into their stroke to try and make their stroke as long as possible. If you're an Overglider you're probably an intelligent and diligent swimmer who likes to use a thoughtful approach to swimming. You have likely read on the internet or in books that gliding as far as possible after each stroke is what defines a great swimmer.

Taking fewer than 40 strokes per 50m is often held up as a benchmark where true swimming efficiency begins, however this disregards the achievements of Olympic medallists such as Janet Evans, Laure Manadou, Lotte Friis and David Davies who take between 42 and 55 strokes per 50m. It also ignores the fact that nearly all elite triathletes and open water swimmers use a shorter punchier stroke style to give them great speed and efficiency.

If you are aiming for a long stroke style be very careful not to create
it by adding a pause-and-glide into your timing.

The truth is that swimming efficiency isn't created by gliding, it's created by lowering drag and improving propulsive technique (1 and 2 above), which may or may not result in a long stroke style depending on the individual swimmer. This is the true perspective we need when considering swimming efficiency and explains why great swimmers use a vast range of stroke lengths depending on their body type, build, natural style and the environment in which they are swimming.

Equating stroke length to efficiency is a gross oversimplification of the truth because any swimmer can lengthen their stroke by gliding but will harm their efficiency by doing so. If you've added a pause-and-glide into your own stroke you'll know this is the case as you will have hit a plateau that you cannot get off. You may also have had the experience of getting slower and slower as you try and lengthen out your stroke more and more. Gliding has taken you down a cul-de-sac with your stroke and the only way out is to bite the bullet and remove the deadspot to create a more continuous rhythmical stroke.

"Putting On The Brakes"

Overgliders have a strong tendency to unwittingly drop their wrist and show the palm forwards at the front of the stroke, something we term "putting on the brakes". Pushing against the water in this way creates a lot of drag and also harms the catch that follows by dropping the elbow lower than the wrist before the catch has begun:

While Overgliders are not normally aware they are showing the palm forwards, pressing against the water's resistance in this way helps pause the stroke at the front which is something they are deliberately trying to do in order to glide. Many view this period as an opportunity to "rest between strokes" but given that water is 800 times more dense than air, all they're actually doing is decelerating.

In the correct position with the elbow slightly higher than the wrist and the wrist higher than the fingertips it is difficult to pause and glide as the catch wants to initiate itself as soon as full extension is achieved:

This fundamental link between gliding and a poor catch is one of the reasons Swim Smooth are so opposed to teaching any swimmer to pause and glide, even beginners learning the freestyle stroke. It also explains why improving the catch is critical to help any Overglider remove the deadspot from their stroke timing.

Right Can Feel Wrong

If you are a recovering Overglider you may have tried to develop a better catch technique but found it difficult to do. By swimming with the palm facing forwards at the front of the stroke you are used to feeling the water pressure on the palm of your hand and might be misinterpreting that feeling as a good catch. By correcting your hand position you will actually feel less pressure on the palm which can feel "wrong" and like you're "slipping the water".

Our Catch Masterclass DVD is our dedicated coaching program to improve your catch technique (and so remove the deadspots from your stroke timing). It's the perfect development program for Overgliders, containing all of Swim Smooth's visualisations, drills and methods to improve the key thing holding you back in the water - your propulsive efficiency.

Our Catch Masterclass DVD lets you study Jono Van Hazel's catch
technique underwater - shot using our fantastic HD filming rig in Perth.

Swim Smooth!

Ankle Flexibility With Olympic Medalist Cassie Patten

Last weekend we were joined by Olympic Medalist Cassandra Patten on our Coach Education Course in Ireland. Having recently retired from swimming, Cassie's already developing into a fantastic coach and joined us in Limerick to find out more about Swim Smooth's coaching methods.

Despite attending the course as a coach, Cassie let us take a look at her freestyle stroke and as you can imagine she has a beautiful stroke technique, with a super high body position in the water:

One thing that is immediately apparent when watching Cassie swim is how hyper-mobile she is in many of her joints, even by elite swimming standards. For instance with her ankles, when sitting down she is able to touch the floor with her toes:

This extreme level of flexibility allows her to produce good propulsion from her leg kick, so much so that she can kick in the region of 70 seconds for 100m with a kick board. A lot faster than most readers of this blog will be able to swim full stroke for 100m!

This is all very interesting but what should you be looking for with your own ankle flexibility?

Good Flexibility But Not Too Much

Studies have shown that even the great Ian Thorpe (who was famous for having an extremely powerful leg kick over 200m and 400m) only developed 11% of his propulsion from his leg kick [1]. For most of us racing over longer distances without the flexibility of an elite swimmer, it is unrealistic to generate significant propulsion from our leg kick.

However, very poor ankle flexibility drops the feet down into the water flow as you swim and adds a lot of drag at the back of your stroke, pulling your legs down low in the water:

If you have poor ankle flexibility some simple stretching exercises are well worth adding into your routine to increase the range of motion of your ankles.

If you are already flexible don't go overboard with this, whilst extremely flexible ankles are a useful attribute in elite pool swimming they will leave you vulnerable to ankle and lower leg injuries, especially when running. If you can point your foot in line with your leg that's plenty of ankle flexibility for adult swimmers and triathletes.

Two Simple Stretches For Your Ankles

The safest way to stretch off your ankles is to sit down on the floor with one leg crossed over your lap, holding your foot and knee to stretch through the shin and upper foot:

Hold this stretch for 30 seconds at a time and only apply a light pressure. Developing your ankle flexibility will take many months and shouldn't be rushed. Treat it is a long term project but along the way you will notice every small improvement benefits your swimming.

A second stretch is to kneel on a soft surface and sit back gently onto your ankles. By itself this may be enough to stretch the ankle but you can increase the stretch by lifting a knee up gently with your hand:

Again, hold for 30 seconds at a time and never force the stretch. If you suffer from any sort of knee pain or injury do not perform this one as it places a little load on the knee joint.

Using Fins

In the Swim Smooth squads we make extensive use of fins when performing drills. Not only do the fins give you good support to focus on improve your stroke technique but they also gradually stretch your ankles at the same time. Used regularly during drills sets fins can make a big difference to your ankle flexibility as the months go by.

We recommend mid-length flexible rubber fins such as these as they provide greater support and propulsion than the shorter zoomer style fins, allowing you to relax and focus on the drill.

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A special thanks to Cassie (@CassiePatten) for letting us share her feet with the world(!) also a big shout out to Alan Ward and all the staff at the University Arena for making us very welcome at their fantastic venue in Limerick.

Swim Smooth!

[1] Toussaint, H. M., Hollander, A. P., de Groot, G., Kahman, R., & van Ingen Schenau, G. J. (1990). Power of leg kicking in front crawl swimming. In N. Berme & A. Capozzo (Eds.), Biomechanics of Human Movement (pp. 456-459). Worthington, Ohio: Bertec Corporation.

A Drill Sequence To Help You Breathe To Your Bad Side

On last week's blog we talked about how pro triathlete Joel Jameson has made big strides forwards with his swimming by breathing to his non-dominant side. We had a huge response to the post and we know a lot of you have been experimenting with breathing to your 'bad' side to great success.

If you have a strong preference to breathe to one side when you swim, try one of our favourite drill sequences below. It's a simple but powerful way to help you open up the 'bad' side of your stroke and develop the timing of breathing to that side. We often use this sequence in the Swim Smooth squads during a session warm-up.

Side Kick And Swim - With A Single Paddle

Wearing fins, grab a single paddle and place it on one hand - a conventional strapped paddle is fine but we like the Finis Freestyler for this purpose as it is arrow shape and the keel gives you feedback on your alignment.

Push off and kick on your side with the paddle on the lower hand outstretched in front of you. This is like our conventional side kicking exercise (see here) except you are wearing the paddle on the lead arm. Make sure you are at 90° on your side with your rear hand placed gently on your thigh.

As you kick on your side think about keeping the lead arm aligned by drawing your shoulder blades together and back, the arm should point arrow-straight down the pool. Be particularly aware of this if you have a crossover of the centre line in your stroke as it's likely to re-occur whilst performing this drill:

Also become aware of the angle of your hand, make sure the palm is facing the bottom with a very slight downwards angle at the wrist. As always in your stroke, elbow higher than wrist and wrist higher than fingertips:

Once you get the feel of this drill on both sides (swap the paddle to keep it on the lead hand), perform it for 25m and immediately go into your full freestyle stroke, breathing away from the paddle on every stroke. So if you kicked on your right side with the paddle on your right hand go into full freestyle but breathe only to your left side on every stroke.

Integrating Into A Set

Try swimming the drill in this 200m set, perfect for adding in to a warm-up:

Paddle on right hand: 25m kick on right side + 25m freestyle breathe left
Paddle on left hand: 25m kick on left side + 25m freestyle breathe right
Repeat twice through

How does it feel breathing to your bad side? The drill should help you rotate much better to that side and the paddle give you a greater awareness of your catch whilst breathing.

(this is a variation of our classic drill sequence with a focus on breathing to your bad side)

Swim Smooth!

Joel Uses His Bad Side To Come Good

Joel Jameson is a professional Ironman athlete with a fantastic bike and run pedigree, including running a 2:42 marathon off the bike at Challenge Henley last year. But until recently his swimming hasn't been where he'd like it to be.

Joel's been training with Swim Smooth in our elite squad in Perth under Paul Newsome's tutelage and has been making some large strides forward with his swimming. Over the last couple of months we've reduced his 3.8km open water time from 58 minutes down to 52:15 and he's rapidly closing in on his goal of a sub 50 minute Ironman swim.

L-R: Cat Jameson, Joel & Tom Lowe enjoying training with us in sunny Perth

What have we done with Joel to make the difference? One of the key things we've worked on is to change the side he breathes to:

Faster On His Bad Side

Joel has a strong preference to breathe to his left when he swims and normally would perform all his training and racing breathing to the left. Generally his stroke was pretty good technically but unfortunately some bad stroke habits have developed whilst breathing to the left which are really holding him back with his swimming:

In the shot above taken from his first video analysis with us, we can see how Joel's right arm tends to push down on the water whilst locked out straight and it's also pushing out wide. This action gave Joel a poor catch and caused him to bob up and down as he swam. He should have a bent elbow at this point in the stroke with his hand under his shoulder, as shown below by double Olympic Gold Medalist Rebecca Adlington:

Despite Paul's encouragement, Joel resisted getting used to breathing to his right side as in his own words it "felt awful and also it felt super slow".

It was only during a CSS session when Paul asked him to swim alternate repetitions breathing to his left and to his right that Joel discovered he was in fact two seconds quicker per 100m breathing to his right - even though it felt awkward to do so. In Joel's own words:

"It's starting to feel a lot more natural the more I use the right side (my wrong side)... The biggest change is that it has been proven to me that it is faster! That changes your mental ability to make the changes and it breeds positive progress. I have tried many times to change the side I breathe to but until coming to Perth I had never put a clock to it.

Any athlete, pro or amateur, is looking for quick gains in performance. Buying a nice piece of kit is the quickest gain but often the most minimal. This change in my swimming although it seems an obvious one is a revelation of just how much quicker I can go. It has all happened over a relatively short time period too. 3 months of consistent work and it has proven to be fruitful. To swim 50 sec quicker in 1 week over the same distance and same conditions just because I was bold and tried swapping sides in a time-trial... Well worth the focus and persistence!"

Find out more about Joel and what he's up to at www.joeljameson.org and @joeljameson1

Working From A Blank Canvas

In an ideal world everyone would be able to breathe equally well to both sides and to encourage this we recommend bilateral breathing to most swimmers. In some instances though the best route for a swimmer may be to switch sides completely, as we have seen with Joel here.

For tactical reasons Joel can now swap sides whenever he needs to. If there's waves, chop or bright sunlight to one side he can swap to the other. Or if he needs to keep an eye on another competitor and draft to the side of them, he can breathe to that side to judge his distance accurately.

If you have a strong preference to breathe to one side it's likely you will have flaws in your stroke that are related to doing so, these might include lifting your head to breathe, pressing down on the water during the catch (like Joel) or crossing over in front of the head. Even though breathing to your 'bad side' feels awkward, your stroke technique to that side is probably much better than you think - in a sense it's a "blank canvas" without any bad habits that you can work from.

See our related post: If Something's Going To Go Wrong In Your Stroke, It'll Go Wrong When Breathing

Swim Smooth!

Announcing New Swim Smooth Coaches in Lanark, Windermere & Prague

Swim Smooth are thrilled to announce today three new Swim Smooth Certified Coaches:

Emma and Alan training with Paul
at Claremont Pool, Perth

Gabi coaching the SS squads
in Perth

Gabriela Minarikova, Prague: www.swim-coach.cz
An ex-elite swimmer who speaks excellent English, book in for a video analysis consultation with Gabi if you're in Prague on business. Or join her for any of her coached training groups throughout the week.

Emma Brunning, Windermere: www.activeblu.co.uk
Emma runs a fantastic open water venue on beautiful Lake Windermere and also offers full video analysis consultations locally. Wherever you are in the North West, there's now an even bigger incentive to visit the lakes!

Alan Cardwell, Lanark, Strathclyde: www.c3triathlon.com
Within easy reach of both Glasgow and Edinburgh, Alan can offer you full SS video analysis, SS squads and in the summer months open water skills training. We get so many emails from Scotland asking for Swim Smooth coaching - now your prayers are answered!

Gabi, Emma and Alan are all experienced coaches in their own right but have been working extremely hard towards their certification over the last 18 months. Each has been personally trained by Paul Newsome and Adam Young, including intensive training with our squads in Perth. Paul and Adam are very proud of these three excellent coaches and warmly welcome them to the team.

Swim Smooth Certified Coaches

Since we launched our certified coaches in the UK 12 months ago demand for their services has been overwhelming. Make sure you book up for a video analysis session or clinic with your local coach soon, they are all extremely busy in the build-up to the summer triathlon and open water season and consultation slots are filling up fast.

Find your local SS coach here: www.swimsmooth.com/certifiedcoaches

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Triathlon Show London Reminder

Don't forget we're at the triathlon show at Sandown Park, London today, Saturday and Sunday. Full info and details of our seminars are here.

Adam and Paul are already under-way with video analysis on the stand - bring your footage along on a pen drive too! :

Swim Smooth!

The Brownlee Brothers Choose HUUB + See You At The Tri Show In London

Some announcements this week:

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The Brownlees Choose HUUB!

HUUB wetsuits are only entering their second year but they're already taking the swimming and triathlon world by storm, and now the elite athletes are joining the party. HUUB are very proud to announce today that Alistair and Jonny Brownlee (Gold and Bronze medal winners at London 2012) have chosen HUUB as their wetsuits of choice.

Alistair said: "Since I started Triathlon, I have always known that you have to have a top wetsuit. I choose HUUB because they spend a lot of time researching how to help make me faster in the water. The new suit feels great and I'm looking forward to racing in it this year. It's just a shame they've given Jonny one as well!"

Swim Smooth are co-designers of the range and it's a very proud day for us that two of the greatest triathletes of all time have chosen HUUB. We can't wait to see the swim splits this phenomenal pairing can pump out in these super-fast suits!

Follow today's announcements on HUUB twitter feed and facebook page.

For more information on the HUUB wetsuit range and which suit is best for your individual swimming, see our swim shop: swimsmooth.com/huub

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We're Coming Stateside In June

For all our frustrated US readers we have some great news, we're planning a trip to the US in June this year. Paul Newsome and Adam Young will be kicking off in New York after Paul takes on the mighty 46km Manhattan Island swim - let's hope he's got some energy left to coach afterwards! More details of the tour to follow soon.

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The Triathlon Show March 1-3rd

Kicking off a week today, Swim Smooth will be at the Triathlon Show (formerly TCR) at Sandown Park, London. Paul is flying in from Australia and will be joined by Adam Young and many of the other Swim Smooth Coaches from around the UK.

We're sharing a stand with HUUB wetsuits - come and say hi and bring a video clip of your stroke along on a pen drive and we'll give you an analysis of your stroke to take away. Of course, we'll also have all our DVDs, training plans and the new Swim Smooth book for you to check out on the stand.

Bring along some footage and we'll
analyse your stroke live at the show!

Make sure you try on one of the fantastic HUUB wetsuits and discover why Alistair and Jonny chose HUUB over any other wetsuit on the market.

Paul and Adam will also be giving two presentations at the show :

Stroke Technique & Efficient Swimming, Saturday March 2nd 10:00am in The Triathlon Show Theatre Featuring our unique HD footage of elite swimmers, Swim Smooth take a close look at why great swimmers and triathletes are so quick and how to make the same changes in your own stroke.

Transforming Your Open Water Swimming, Sunday March 3rd 12:15pm in The 220 Triathlon Live Seminar Theatre Worried about open water swimming or struggling to transfer your pool performances across to the open water? We take a close look at why that is and how to get much much better at it. Includes new footage from our elite group in Perth showing you how it's done and sometimes getting it wrong themselves!

Both of our seminars played to packed auditoriums last year so get there early to get a seat.

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Go Rotto!

Last but not least the 23rd Rottnest Channel Swim takes place tomorrow morning in Perth, good luck to everyone taking part in this great event! The weather forecast isn't that great so tough it out and keep focused on your rhythm if it is lumpy out there. Follow Paul's twitter for updates from the event @SwimSmoothPaul and use the hashtag #rottoswim

Paul's in great swim shape and is taking on the 21km solo swim himself. :)

Swim Smooth!

75 Reasons Ian Thorpe Is A Great Swimmer

Listen to each of these three beeps in turn and decide which is the stroke rate of Ian Thorpe winning his five Olympic golds:

A:

B:

C:

(Imagine the beeps corresponding to his hands entering into the water, so it's "beep" = left hand enters, "beep" = right hand enters etc.)

Which do you think?

Ian Thorpe was considered by many coaches to have a
"perfect" freestyle stroke.

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The correct answer is C, the fastest of the three. This is 75 strokes per minute (SPM) and if you own a Tempo Trainer Pro and have tried to swim at this rhythm yourself then you'll know it's a very fast stroke rate. Far too quick for there to be any pause-and-glide in his stroke.

Many swimmers remember Thorpie as having a long slow technique but this is an illusion brought about by the length of his stroke and his silky smooth movements. In fact he has a long and fast stroke, which is why he is so devastatingly quick of course!

(For reference, the other two audio tracks are at 55 and 65 SPM)

A Brilliant Stroke

Here's a fascinating quote from Thorpe's autobiography This Is Me, where he talks about counting his strokes per lap in a 50m pool:

I've got it down to 24 per lap, which is about as low as I want it to get. I could reduce it by another four strokes but the danger is that I'd get to the point where I'm gliding rather than swimming efficiently.

Ian's talking about deliberately taking fewer strokes per lap during a technique set but the interesting point here is that when swimming in a race he actually took 30-32 strokes per 50m. A full 10-12 strokes more than he could if he wanted to.

Further, by studying slow motion video of Ian swimming we can see that any perceived glide in his stroke is an illusion. The gap between one of his strokes finishing at the rear and the next starting at the front is just 0.15 to 0.2 of a second - less than the blink of an eye!

This highlights the fact that while Ian developed a brilliantly efficient freestyle stroke, he didn't do so by making his stroke as long as he possibly could. Instead, he found the right trade off between the stroke length and stroke rate given his height, build, flexibility and fitness level. And you should do the same.

(Hint: unless you're 6'5" with size 17 feet and have swum all your life, expect to end up at more than 32 strokes per lap!)

Losing The Pause And Glide

Many swimmers have been taught to add a deliberate pause-and-glide in their strokes but this is something we fundamentally disagree with here at Swim Smooth, even for novice swimmers. As Ian said, by trying to artificially elongate your stroke you'll experience a big drop-off in your efficiency and once ingrained the pause-and-glide habit is a very hard one to break.

The classic Overglider strokes very slowly indeed, in the region of 45 SPM (listen to that here). If you visualise swimming at that stroke rate you can appreciate how you would start to sink low in the water and lose any sense of rhythm.

If you're an Overglider yourself and have tried to lift your stroke rate then you might have found it hard to do. What's normally happening here is that you're keeping the deadspot in place and trying to increase the speed of every other movement! Instead, lift your stroke rate by removing the pause. Keep things smooth and continuous at the front of your stroke, either extending forwards, catching the water or pressing backwards, never pausing.

Swim Smooth!

Should You Be Doing More Of That Drill You Hate?

You've probably got a favourite swimming drill, it feels natural and smooth to perform and you identify with the reason for doing it.

But equally we all have drills that we dislike that feel awkward and difficult, drills that some other swimmers can perform with ease but never click for us. Whenever you have this experience don't see it as a negative thing, look on it as a positive. All that is happening is that the drill is highlighting a weak area of your stroke technique and something you need to work on.

Here is a list of our primary drills and why you might struggle with each:

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Sink Down Exercise
If you struggle to sink while exhaling then you're definitely someone who likes to hold their breath underwater. Learning to let go of the air in a smooth relaxed way is key to ridding your system of CO2 as you swim and helps bring your legs up higher behind you. Work on relaxing and letting go of the air to help you sink, it may surprise you just how much air is in there!

Kick On Side / 6-1-6 / 6-3-6
The most common reason for disliking this drill is if you have poor posture, with your lead arm crossing the centre line in front of your head as you swim. Think about drawing your shoulder blades together and back during the drill to bring that lead arm straight and so become much more comfortable on your side. This improved posture also helps develop better rotation in the stroke.

Swimmers who drop their lead arm when breathing (Bambinos) may also find this drill difficult. As you rotate your head to the side to breathe during the drill, focus on keeping the lead arm held in front of you to give you support. Don't let it collapse downwards.

Scull #1
Sculling requires "feel for the water", meaning your ability to connect with the water at the front of the stroke. To improve your sculling make sure your elbow is higher than your wrist, and your wrist is higher than your fingertips as you perform the drill (the hands may feel lower in the water than you expect to achieve that). Move your hands in and out, angled so that you feel the water's pressure on your palm at all times - it's a bit like mixing hot and cold water in the bath! See sculling in action here.

Doggy Paddle
If you have poor rotation in the stroke you will find Doggy Paddle difficult, or just as commonly you could be pressing down on the water in front of your head with a straight arm. As you perform the drill think about "reaching and rolling", rotating your hips on every stroke and pulling through underwater to around your belly button. Also work on bending your elbow in front of your head so that you can press the water backwards (with your hand facing the wall behind you) instead of downwards. Keep that lead hand constantly in motion either extending, catching the water or pressing backwards. As in your full freestyle the movements should be smooth and fluid - never pausing!

Unco
This is quite a tricky drill that is all about developing your rhythm and timing. If you have any dead-spots or pauses in the stroke this drill will feel very difficult, as it will if you press the water downwards with a straight arm during the catch. Try working on improving your Doggy Paddle and then return to Unco to feel the improvement. More information on the Unco drill is here.

Waterpolo
Another advanced level drill that highlights any weaknesses in your rhythm and timing. If you struggle with waterpolo remember it's a high-effort exercise (nearly sprinting!) and you need to keep a really strong rhythm going. Less advanced swimmer can use a larger pull-buoy during the drill focusing on maintaining a strong tempo, getting into the stroke quickly at the front.

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The irony here is that it is the drills we find hard that we need to persist with and work on improving. The drills you find easy and enjoy are useful for stroke maintenance but not so important to move you forwards.

Swim Smooth!

The Four Classic Causes Of Shoulder Pain And Injury In Swimming

Studies into swimming injury show that 80% of us suffer from enough shoulder pain at some point during our swimming lives to keep us out of the water for at least a few days.

In the past swimmers and coaches thought that some level of shoulder pain or even injury was normal in swimming and something that just had to be lived with. Fortunately with a modern understanding of bio-mechanics we now know that's not the case, with a good stroke technique any swimmer should be able to remain pain and injury free even when training very hard.

If you suffer from any shoulder pain or soreness during or after swimming, or even have a full blown shoulder injury, check your stroke for the four classic causes:

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1. Thumb First Entry Into The Water

Entering thumb first with the palm facing outwards used to be taught as a smoother hand entry into the water but it internally rotates the shoulder placing a lot of stress on the joint. This is the most common cause of shoulder injury in swimming and should be avoided like the plague:


Instead of entering thumb first, enter fingertips first with the hand facing downwards, this keeps the shoulder neutral and sets you up perfectly for a great catch and pull through to follow.

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2. Stroke Crossover

Crossing the centre line in front of the head places stress on the shoulder joint, the pain often being felt as impingement at the front of the shoulder or an over-stretched numb sensation at the back. Work on improving your posture and awareness of your lead hand (even when breathing) to remove this common stroke flaw:


A crossover combined with a thumb first hand entry is particularly stressful for the shoulder and a full injury surely lies in wait for any swimmer doing this.

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3. Forceful Push Downwards During The Catch

This is a classic Arnie stroke flaw and involves pushing downwards powerfully on the water at full reach with a very straight arm:


This can feel deceptively like a good catch because of the feeling of water pressure on the palm of the hand but unfortunately it only lifts you up at the front and sinks your legs downwards. It also places a large stress on your shoulder joint which can easily lead to pain and inflammation. Work on developing your catch so you press the water backwards, not downwards and expect this to feel a lot less forceful.

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4. Pulling Through With A Straight Arm (especially pulling wide or crossing the centre line under the body)

A straight pull through places a lot of load on the shoulder joint. Pulling wide tends to cause internal pain while crossing under the body with the arm over-stretches the outside and rear of the shoulder.


This can be quite hard to diagnose without video analysis but can be done by watching a swimmer carefully as they swim towards you at the end of the pool. Work on bending the elbow under the body bringing the hand directly under the shoulder, we call this 'Bending It Like Becky'.

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If you suffer from any level of shoulder pain or injury from swimming there's almost certainly a flaw in your stroke technique causing the problem and you need to take immediate action to correct your stroke technique. Once developed a full blown shoulder injury is extremely frustrating and can take a long time to overcome - prevention is far better than cure when it comes to looking after your shoulders.

Swim Smooth!