I'm roughly your same pace (maybe a tad slower) with your same problem so take anything I have to offer with that in mind.

Regardless of the feedback you get I'd pay a coach for a few sessions. I feel like I've done every drill in the book over the past few years with marginal improvement. I've not been really swim focused yet but when I get around to it I'll get a coach on deck.

I picked up a pair of Lava shorts on sale recently and have been swimming with those quite a bit. I'm sure I'll get blasted for that on here but it's really helped me feel what better body positioning feels like.

try just lying in the water face down and keeping your body as long as possible with arms out in front of you, with it as close to the surface as possible. you'll need to point your toes.

My own $0.02 (and I did a lot of this my third year of swimming) is you should do a lot of sculling while actively working on your body position. If your low back is sagging actively counter it by engaging your abdomen to flatten your low back and your glutes to pull your legs up. Practice it on dry land first, then in the water sculling with a pull buoy, then in the water sculling and kicking, then finally transfer it to swimming. Plan on it taking a few months before that body position becomes second-nature.

I definitely don't qualify as a fish but I went from a mid 30s 1500 swimmer to a 22 minute 1500 swimmer over the course of about four years.

video will help.

You don't need to arch your back excessively to keep your feet up. The key is to move your centre of mass forward, which means getting your head down so it's aligned with your spine, and getting enough reach on the front of the stroke.

The core needs to stay tight, so that the mass out front brings your legs up. If you try to get your feet up by simply arching your back, then all that will happen is your feet will sink, but you will still have a sore back.

Hope that helps a little, but if you have access to some good video, then that can help guide you even more.

I tend to work on streamlining during kick sets. I do a good bit of kicking underwater and on my back. As an age grouper, we did a lot of 12 kick switch drills to emphasize the streamline (kick on your side, bottom arm outstretched, top arm at your side. 12 kicks and pull with the bottom arm, switching sides, 12 kicks on the other side, and repeat.).

That said, I work on streamlining ALL the time, whether doing drills or swimming regularly, regardless of stroke or the type of drill.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Tuck the chin in. Head down look straight at the bottom of the pool.

Practice smooth entry. If you slap the water you are pushing against the water's surface and lifting your chest out of the water.

It isn't just enough to have your heels breaking the surface (which yours may or may not do). Feet can be near the surface with your body arched and belly sticking down, or as slowman calls it the hammock position. That too creates a lot of drag. You need to be long in the water. Really stretch when you reach, with toes pointed back.

Practice gliding in that stretched 'superman' position, one arm in front, the other against your body. Practice kicking on your side in superman position. If you have a weak kick get yourself training fins (not scuba fins!) and kick in superman position with the fins.

And finally do these two drills:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_the_water_307.html

Read that carefully and do the ankle band drill to fix bending in the waist, snaking through the water, scissors kick. Do the one armed swim drills to see if you are stalling in the water.

Gotta ask, what does sculling achieve?
Introduced to it recently at a swim clinic, but I don't grasp the concept of it at all.

Feel for the water? Is that sort of like Daniel-san waxing Miyagi's cars?

Just like in this video.


https://www.youtube.com/...BPsQ&app=desktop

Press your chest down, engage your abs and work on your breathing technique. Chest down= hips up, engaging your abs = hips up, working on breathing keeps you rotating your head as opposed to lifting it which will cause your hips to drop.

My $.02. I'd consider myself a decent swimmer (25-30 min HIM, just over an hour in IM)

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Team Zoot