Stop Breathing For A While!

If you have a problem with your freestyle stroke, it is most likely to appear when you go to breathe. For instance you might cross over at the front of your stroke, bend through your core or drop your wrist hurting your catch. It's only natural to focus on your breath and getting that air in - it feels very important - but this shift in mental focus away from your stroke to your breathing often introduces or worsens stroke flaws.

These movements become a habit when you breathe which hurts your speed and economy through the water. Here's a way of breaking those habits and bringing them to your attention so you realise what you are doing:

Short Technique Swims Breathing Less Often

Normally we'd ask swimmers to breathe bilaterally every 3 strokes (counting both arms). In these special breathing sets we ask swimmers to breathe every 5 or 7 strokes instead over short distances. Swimmers who are good at this sometimes go to breathing every 9 strokes.

Here's two example sets to try (insert these in your drill sets):

1) Repeat 3x 200m with fins at steady pace (kick only gently). Over each 200m swim 50m breathing every 3 strokes then 50m breathing 5s then 50m breathing 7s then 50m breathing 3s.

2) Swim 3x 100m breathing 3, 5 and 7s in turn - so first breath after 3 strokes, second after 5 more, third after 7 more, then back to 3 strokes.

Why do this? In these sets you perform many more 'good clean strokes' without the distraction of breathing. By focusing on smooth, well aligned strokes you dial in those good movement patterns. Then when you go to breathe you have a much better chance of holding good form - and of feeling the change in movement if you do introduce a flaw.

Aside: In years gone by swim coaches used to ask their swimmers to breathe less often - they believed the oxygen starvation made their swimmers fitter. This was known as hypoxic training. This is NOT what we are doing here - this is technique work not fitness training. You will normally feel a little short of breath doing these sets but that's OK, don't push it too far - it's not supposed to hurt. Keep exhaling long and slow into the water to get rid of the CO2 and focus on perfect smooth strokes.

If this sounds really tough to you still give it a go! For short distances it's not as hard as it sounds. Just relax, swim at a steady pace and enjoy perfect strokes without the distraction of breathing.

This method is just one of the subtle ways we work to improve your stroke in our highly regarded training plans: www.swimsmooth.com/trainingplans - They're the perfect mix of training and technique!

Swim Smooth!

Why Kick On Your Side?

Kicking on your side drills are normally performed with fins, with your lower arm extended out in front of you and the upper arm resting by your side. Your shoulders and your hips are fully rotated onto the side with both at 90° to the bottom of the pool. In this position, gently kick with the fins to push you down the pool:

There are 3 reasons why kicking on your side is very good for your freestyle:

1) You become accustomed to being on your side, this makes rotation more comfortable in your full stroke. Good rotation adds power and efficiency to your swimming.

2) You can practise getting in a good arm and hand position before you start the stroke. Do this by holding your elbow slightly higher than your wrist and your wrist slightly higher than your fingertips. Make sure you have a flat hand, don't bend at the knuckles:

This setup position is great for improving your catch and feel for the water - increasing your propulsion for the same effort. Don't underestimate how important this setup position is if you want to swim faster!

3) You get the feel of holding your body straight in the water and holding your lead arm straight out in front, this is especially useful for removing cross-overs at the front end of your stroke.

Tip: Whilst kicking along on your side, you can briefly raise your head slightly and look forwards, check you arm is extended straight and your hand is in that cocked wrist position.

Two classic Swim Smooth drills employing kicking on your side are 6-1-6 and 6-3-6. If you have the Swim Smooth DVD Boxset or used one of our training programs you'll be familiar with them. Insert some 6-1-6 and 6-3-6 in your drill sets and you'll be on the pathway to faster, more efficient swimming.

Swim Smooth!

How To Structure Your Swimming Week

Most triathletes swim between 2 and 4 times per week. Here’s our suggestion of how to lay out your training week:

Swimming 2x week:
Session 1. Warmup. Technique Work. Then a long-ish endurance set or straight swim at steady pace. Include open water skills practise - sighting and drafting.
Session 2. Warmup. Technique Work. Faster swim set (we prefer sets with short recoveries – "CSS Swimming"). Warm down.

Swimming 3x week:
Session 1. Warmup. Extended technique work. Short sprint set with open water skills practise – sighting and drafting. Warm down.
Session 2. Warmup. Technique work. Long endurance set or straight swim at steady pace.
Session 3. Warmup. Technique work. Faster swim set (we prefer sets with short recoveries – "CSS Swimming"). Warm down

Swimming 4x week:
Session 1. Warmup. Extended technique work. Short sprint set. Warm down.
Session 2. Warmup. Technique work. Mixed open water skills and endurance set.
Session 3. Warmup. Technique work. Faster swim set (we prefer sets with short recoveries – "CSS Swimming"). Warm down.
Session 4. Continuous steady paced pool or open water swim.

Here’s why:
- You need technique work to improve.
- You need a mix of intensities to improve – make sure you do the long swims at a steady pace (think 6 out of 10 on a scale of effort).
- Open water skills are critical if you want to perform at your best in triathlon.

You can discuss this post on our forum in its dedicated thread: #tbd#

Related articles on our site:
www.swimsmooth.com/triathlon
www.swimsmooth.com/training

And of course our waterproof training plans hit the exact mix you need, with perfect weekly progression built in:
www.swimsmooth.com/trainingplans

Cheers,

Swim Smooth!

How To Structure Your Swimming Week

Most triathletes swim 2 or 3 times per week. Here’s our suggestion of how to layout your training week.

If you’re swimming 2x week:
Session 1. Warmup. Technique Work. Then a long-ish endurance set or straight swim at steady pace. Include sighting and drafting practice.
Session 2. Warmup. Technique Work. Faster swim set (we prefer sets swim with short recoveries – "CSS Swimming"). Warm down.

If you’re swimming 3x week:
Session 1. Warmup. Extended technique work. Short sprint set with open water skills – sighting and drafting. Warm down.
Session 2. Warmup. Technique work. Long endurance set or straight swim at steady pace.
Session 3. Warmup. Technique work. Faster swim set (we prefer sets with short recoveries – "CSS Swimming"). Warmdown

Here’s why:
- You need technique work to improve.
- You need a mix of intensities to improve – make sure you do the long swims at a steady pace (think 6 out of 10 on a scale of effort).
- Open water skills are critical if you want to perform at your best in triathlon.

You can of course discuss this post on our forum in its dedicated thread: #tbd#

Related articles on our site:
www.swimsmooth.com/triathlon
www.swimsmooth.com/training

And of course our waterproof training plans hit the exact mix you need, with perfect weekly progression built in:
www.swimsmooth.com/trainingplans

Cheers,

Swim Smooth!

The Conveyor Belt Visualisation

Here’s a neat visualisation to help you remove deadspots from your stroke.

Deadspots normally lie at the front of the stroke, the lead hand gliding in a stationary 'dead' position for a period of time causing the swimmer to slow down between strokes. Not only do you lose speed here but many stroke problems occur in this dead period, such as dropped elbows and wrists – adding drag and ruining feel for the water.

Problem: Swimmers can find it hard to co-ordinate removing these deadspots, when they try they often end up accelerating every other phase of their stroke but leave the deadspot in place!

If you’re in that situation here’s a little tip to help you, we call it 'The Conveyor Belt Visualisation'. Imagine you are swimming over a conveyor belt in the water (you could also think of it as a treadmill):

What you have to do is simple, try and keep one arm stroke on the conveyor at all times – so as one stroke finishes at the back you begin catching the water at the front. As you do this try and stay relaxed and find a new rhythm, there will be a temptation to swim harder but this isn’t necessary. In fact, as you remove the deadspot and become more efficient, you can reduce the force in your stroke a little to swim at the same speed – great!

Use the conveyor belt visualisation as a drill to practise a new improved timing. Depending on your individual stroke and style, the 'conveyor stroke' may be too extreme for you to be comfortable swimming over longer distances – you might need a very small delay between finishing at the back and starting at the front. That’s OK as long as that lead hand never stops and pauses – it’s always in motion: either extending forwards with your body roll, gently initiating the catch by tipping the fingertips over and bending the elbow or pulling backwards on the water. If you watch him closely, this is how Mr Smooth swims.

Discuss and asks questions about this blog post in our forum thread here: #link tbd#

Swim Smooth!