Swimming

Swimming, a closer look

Swimming form is a difficult one to develop because there is so little feedback given when doing the activity. “Dry land training” is a very useful tool to develop good form. Of the five exercises above, three of them really cross into dry-land training for swimming (The Plank/Side-Plank, Up-Kick and Pull, and Catch Pull Push)

Lat Pull (Focus Point)

We want to use the power of the lats in the identical manor of doing a Lat Pulldown to bring your body forward. Instead of Pulling a bar, the resistance in the front crawl is the capture of water molecules

Dry Thighs Kick (Focus Point)

Beside fixing proper breathing technique, one of my go to solutions is asking for Dry Thighs… One of the struggles I find is legs dropping… putting a lot of drag… resistance on the swim. This drill/skill works on this. Clients should chat with me before attempting this.

It can be done with/without a kickboard or in freestyle (front crawl) swimming. I find that many individuals bend their knee too much, cycle kick, kick too far down, or simply have body below hips drop down (Chest/head up).

  1. Use glutes to raise thighs to water surface
  2. Allow gravity (weight of legs) to drop the legs slightly down
  3. Use glutes to raise thighs to water surface again

I am looking for legs and ankles to stay relaxed… focus on glutes

  • No forced knee bend from muscle action (hamstrings)… focus on glutes
    • Knee will bend as shin meets resistance of water with gravity pulling leg down
  • No forced straight legs from muscle action (quads)… focus on glutes
    • Knee will straighten as leg meets resistance of water as thighs rise to water surface
  • No forced ankle bend from muscle action… focus on glutes
    • Ankle will bend as foot meets resistance of water as thighs rise to water surface
  • No forced pointed ankle (toes)… focus on glutes
    • Ankle (toes) will point as foot meets resistance of water with gravity pulling leg down

Now this is a skill/drill that should allow my clients to get a better body position with a Focused movement … over time the kicking should naturally evolve with improved overall swimming form. The focus here is to get control of leg movement and higher leg position. It is not the answer for all my clients. Again, clients should chat with me before attempting this skill/drill.

a note about Open Water swimming

It would be good idea to check the conditions before heading out…

  • Ahead of the session day I check the forecast
  • The morning of the session I check the Beach Conditions
  • As the time approaches, I check the live web cam.

Typically I personally would not attempt to swim in conditions with winds coming in at 10mph plus… unless it is coming from the west.

I live on the east coast of Florida, and if the winds come from anything but the West there will be a swell, chop, or waves.

If the wind is coming in from the West the water is usually very calm.