Our Teaching Methodology

The following outlines some other ideas we try to implement:

The Catch:
The catch position, if developed correctly the catch will enable the swimmer to hold a better body position, needing to use the legs less to stabilize this area. 'Breaking' the stroke at the elbow early leads to a more effective and efficient pulling action with the arms.

Upper Body Rotation:
In order to lower frontal resistance we need to work on the concept of trunk rotation, beginning with the shoulders. The shoulders will ideally roll from one vertical plane to the other (left shoulder to chin, then right shoulder to chin). If we can develop this ideal swimming position you will have a smaller frontal area of resistance than when you were solely swimming flat. Swimming on your side will help develop a longer reach which gives not only a longer and smoother stroke but a safer stroke due to you using the major muscle groups of the back rather than just the shoulders which in time will lead to shoulder strains and tendon problems etc.

Head Position:
An exaggerated head movement whether or not you are breathing will encourage a snaking movement through the body. If the head is turning during the breathing phase and kept independent of the shoulders and arms rotating, then the swaying or snaking effect should be kept to a minimum. The drills we suggest will help lead to the breathing being separated from the upper body rotation and arm movements. This should also eliminate the arms swinging around on the recovery phase and stop the hips moving sideways in a counter reaction style of movement.

When breathing you do not need to breathe to the ceiling to take in air, you should never really breathe any higher than seeing the pool gutters, any higher than this and the body position will be altered or the legs and arms have to work harder to sustain the ideal position.

Open water swimming ­ the head movement for the breath might need to be slightly higher due to the often wavy conditions. Keep the head slightly looking forwards but relaxed rather than burying the head and looking at the bottom of the pool. Looking forwards rather then facing forwards. If the head is buried this will really interfere with the swimming stroke when attempting to take in air above the choppy water during your normal breathing pattern. If the head is buried too low then it has to be lifted higher to breathe which will affect the body position. The whole body has to turn and lift usually affecting the legs which are then prone to scissoring if the hips have rotated too much. Kicking the water sideways gives no balance to the stroke and no lift since you are no longer kicking in a downwards plane.
This is often the reason your legs are sinking...

If we can help you to swim looking slightly forwards which we feel is the ideal head position the double benefit is when you are sighting during a race. From this head position you will have less distance to look up and sight if you are swimming looking forwards (but not facing forwards) eyes just below the surface of the water.

Bi-lateral Breathing:
To develop the most streamlined swimming stroke we need you develop bi-lateral breathing in all pool training sessions. The most common fault when someone is only breathing to one side is that they become very dominant on one side only. The effects are the following: very short and choppy stroke, only one efficient arm pulling throughout the stroke (breathing side) and the chance of shoulder strains due to the same arm doing more work than the other.

Bi-lateral breathing will develop the longer, smoother stroke, more efficient stroke pathways under the body which use the major muscle groups. The added gain of being comfortable with this technique is that when certain open water swims dictate only breathing to one side due to sunny weather or the need to sight the same lake side/river bank/beach in two directions you can switch your breathing pattern without any problems and still have the better and stronger stroke.

If you are to start breathing every 3rd stroke then you will need to set some targets for your training, e.g. every first length of each 100 metres will be breathing every 3rd stroke. If this is too difficult then you might need to go back to basics and start single arm practices breathing to your weak side.

Kick:
Kick practice is necessary to allow us to slow the arms so that the drills can be done properly. If we can get the arms swimming correctly then the leg action will diminish to just a two beat leg action purely used to support the body position. Imagine getting out of the swim and your legs are not totally exhausted before getting onto the bike - this is the ideal we are trying to incorporate into our teaching at Swim for Tri.

The legs only move in a vertical plane, this is what we strive for but its not always attainable due to flexibility etc. What's more important is to not kick too deeply or too high or to have the feet kicking too far apart in the up or down position. All of these positions will slow you down; they will certainly tire you out and in no way contribute to a faster movement through the water.

Please remember at all times with distance swimming the leg kick is not really an ideal means of forward propulsion, its tiring due to inefficiency and the larger muscle groups of the body. Better to minimise the kicking action so that it is a means of balance and in no way slowing you down by dragging from increased resistance. This often happens with a weak arm stroke as you fight to stay afloat.

Fins:
If you have not got any fins then we cannot recommend enough that you get a pair and bring to all sessions. We use them to slow the stroke down to a point where you can do the drills correctly and only rely on the fins to support the body position and give minimal propulsion. When using fins it is of extreme importance that you kick correctly from the hips and develop a very narrow type leg kick, if the kick initiates from the knees you will move forwards but this will have a poor effect when going back to the full swimming stroke. Fins will help you kick in a smaller plane and make it difficult for you to kick outside the streamlined ideal area. They will also help to mobilise the ankle joint to a degree if combined with further stretching.

A two or four beat gentle flutter kick purely maintaining balance is all that is required; this can be practiced on the back with the hands held at your sides or ideally above your head.

Eventually after progress has been made with the basic or advanced drills, some practice should be completed without the fins but you should always try to maintain 100% focus on the drills. If the drill is still too difficult to complete without the fins then keep practicing with the fins - you are not ready yet.

Return to our 'Basic Drill Concepts'

See also our 'Glossary of Swimming Terms and Helpful Hints'