Swimming

sweet1 nuff people watching on the sidelines there, busy days I bet

been here? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Immersion
gonna read this book and get into this, soon as it said yogic swimming I was like, there.

hmmm...

I have been re learning my swimming stroke using this
YouTube - Total Immersion Perpetual Motion Freestyle Part 1

there are 4 videos in this lecture, in no3 he talks about the relative efficiency of swimmers and dolphins. Once I had grasped that I was sold on the idea, and I moved up a whole level in a week. I can now swim for much longer ( like 30 minutes) at a pace I used to be able to manage for 100 metres, And I am concentrating on every single stroke to make it a tiny bit better than the stroke before.

sounds like that Zen feeling you only get when riding fixeh

it's not without it's merits. i've got a TI (shaw method) book and it helped me get back into freestyle after a long hiatus. it is a handy approach to adopt espeially for distance swimming. it's just a shame that it always seems to be taught little weird by pot-bellied dudes. i'd love to see someone like grant hackett demonstrating that level of dedication to streamlining but applied with the grunt of a serious athlete... meh.

fly main set from last night.

800 warm up (alternating free and back)
16x25 fly (with fins) on 30 secs (repeat x4 w/50 easy between 16s)
400 freestyle pull w/pullbouy
4x100 breaststoke kick (2 kicks to 1 pull)
8x25 medley sprints (each 25 on 1 minute)

my fly seems to have hit a bit of a flat spot lately. i don't seem to be improving all that much.

the epiphany that I had last year when i finally got that wave-like like body motion and the two kicks per stroke to click has subsided andI've realaised i'm now over-emphasising this movement, going too deep and spending too much time gliding underwater. It's much easier to do and means i can swim whole fly sets without wanting to die, but it's not that quick.

I was watching the really fast guys and girls out of the corner of my eye last night and their movement is wave-like but actually quite shallow. It looks almost effortless, as if the dolphin-esque movement of the body is providing the basic propulsion and they're using their arms and legs to provide a sort of turbo-boost on top of that. they tend to only breathe every other stroke too. very impressive

I always found a breath every other stroke to be easier, it felt like it eliminated the drag around the neck/shoulder area, but also seemed to improve the sequential rise and dip of my mid section.

Do you use a kickboard dooks?

i'm sure you're right dude. i need to do some more fly drills when i'm swimming alone and not trying to keep up with the frighteningly brisk ladies of lane 3. i only use a kickboard for freestyle leg drills at training really. got a good tip involving one?

Not particularly, I only have my own training to do by, but butterfly sessions always had me dedicating time to solely developing the kick. Getting it fast enough and powerful enough, with enough flick on that second kick to get a bit more reach in the fly was the aim.

I spent alot of my prime summer working on the shoulder n chest muscle to try and get some more rise out of the water to reduce the drag around my arms but i found a better developed and well timed kick technique to be have a way more substantial effect.

I timed myself for the first time ever for a 400m crawl yesterday and managed it in 5.50 in a 25 metre pool. Is this any good? :$

^ Olympic standard? no. fast club swimmer, maybe (edit depends on the club). quicker than most fixed wheel cyclists, defo.

How tired were you by the end?

Thanks for the breakdown.
I was pretty tired. Started off strong then got into a nice rhythm and finished strong.
I needed a good 10 mins rest afterwards before I began some interval lengths.
Pretty certain that with practice I can get it under 5.30. Although it's difficult in a 25 metre public pool at busy periods. Oh and I can't do tumble turns either. I never have been able to

I thought you we're a northy?, is the Parliament Hill Lido an option for you?
I find the 25m pools in London to specifically be for kids, OAPs and uber casuals, getting decent times and an adequate amount of lengths in is near impossible, or maybe im just moany.

also, a couple of easy lengths after extended swims helps get rid of that exhausted heaviness you feel when you get out of the water, 2 lengths of super easy head above water breast stroke or something.

I certainly am and am waiting for it to be warm enough to swim in. I go there a couple of times a week from about May onwards. I love the place. But I don't own a wetsuit and I don't like being cold :)

Total Immersion.
For anybody watching the video that adroit posted, you can pretty much ignore the first 7 minutes where the guy just talks about himself. He speaks some truth inbetween a whole lotta waffle.

"monster set*" tonight.

800m warm up.

8x25m fly sprints on 1min.

400m freestyle pull (w/paddles and pull buoy)
4x100m freestyle w/fins on 1.50 increasing speed every 100m.
repeat this pattern (400 followed by 4 x 100) three times.

10x25 free kick (w/board) on 1 min.

*apparently this is just a freestyle set with longer than usual intervals. to be honest i didn't find it any harder than usual. i still hate using paddles though.

I get updates from this site, I think their tips are brilliant ! Its quite like Total immersion....

http://www.swimsmooth.com/

Pull buoys - you put between your legs so you can concentrate on your upper body.

Paddles - make your hands massive, so you can build up speed/muscle faster.

I think I may suffer from slight over gliding. I fit the profile well in terms of build but some of the attributes do not. Very informative website that cheers

Mikec if you sign up to their emails, they send regular tips, no catch, just good advice, that works ! :)

Tiswas

I personally dont like paddles, they cause alot of swimmers to cross over their body line with their arm strokes. ( bad technique, shoulder injury) IMO.
finger paddles are better...

Pull buoy is an essential part of my kit ! Always do a few drills using it.

It corrects body postion, body roll, and you can then concerntrate on getting those strokes perfect !

Oooo and Kickboard - Kicks practice essential too :)

personally dont like paddles, they cause alot of swimmers to cross over their body line with their arm strokes. ( bad technique, shoulder injury)

i hate them too. my stroke goes all to sh*it after a while of using them. thanks for the linky. interesting stuff.

+1. Not that I do any swimming any more :(

Pull buoys are good though, especially if you're a cyclist with tired legs who just wants to work on your upper body!