Thanks guys - I just got Shelia Ts book and notice the stretch cords section - they seem cheap enough and worth a go for sure!

I do recognize that swimming is a process - but I have been beating my head against the wall getting nowhere for the past 16 months and feel like I need to take 3 steps back right now to move forward.

In response to Kevin in Md - I don't swim mindlessly, I do swim with a focus - indeed I would get bored stiff swimming mindlessly - but I also am clearly not aware of what it takes to get the stroke technique down - so I guess I am more of a type 2. I don't know what I am doing wrong until corrected. Our masters coach did not do a very good job helping me figure out what to correct so I have now ingrained some very bad technique and have to unlearn it. It was also a huge confidence killer to work so hard, invest so much time (and $$) and get nowhere. Swimming isn't coming naturally for me.

All that aside, I am attacking this with a vengeance, recognize there are no quick fixes and it is not going to happen overnight - am just trying to figure out the best way to go about relearning how to swim. The approach of throwing volume at it - you will figure it out - did not work so well for me. So I am trying to figure out if there is a different approach I should take before I step up the volume and intensity again. The only thing I know for sure is I need to get in the pool frequently - the Q is what do I focus on for the next few months to relearn good habits. And yes, it is rather overwhelming at times bc I can't focus on more than one thing at a time when swimming without everything else going to hell! ARGHHHH!!!

Thanks for all of the tips! So far, I need to get swim cords, focus on no more than two things at a time and keep some endurance/intensity work in there. But I think as soon as form starts to go right now, I am gonna stop and save it for the next day.

Not a lot to add. I rate technique over fitness. I see no point in spending long hours working hard with bad technique, because the changes required to get to good technique may well be using the muscles differently, so you will just need to spend time building up those new movements. Seen a couple of mentions of visualization. Here is a great visualization tool.
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Ummm, no.

Technique and fitness are linked. You need fitness to execute the technique, and you need technique to utilize the fitness. You work on both, all the time.

That's why it's even more important to work on one thing at a time and work on fitness while working on technique, to reduce the risk of injury....

Technique changes as you improve fitness and you swim faster. So, to use your runner example, you want to run a 6 min mile, so you go to track and practice technique, hone it real well at a 12 min pace? Your technique today a a 2min 100 will not be the same as 1:45 pace

You confuse me.

One thing wrt technique. I didn't think I had to spell that out....

Eg during a hard set of 20x50, just concentrate on head position, or initial catch, or hand entry, or...... You can swim hard while you do that.

One thing wrt technique. I didn't think I had to spell that out....

Eg during a hard set of 20x50, just concentrate on head position, or initial catch, or hand entry, or...... You can swim hard while you do that.

On whatever off time you can manage. Play with it, if you are falling apart after 10 of them, then you need more rest. If it's easy, then take less rest.

For these, you want to be going at your 400m / 500y pace or slightly better for all of them, so take whatever rest you need to keep going at that pace. I'd typically do them on an off time that gives me 15 -20 s rest.
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Sorry, I'm not very good at posting properly yet. I guess I'll be making mistakes at this too until I get good like many of you.

I really appreciate Jason's and the experienced swimmers insights. Such as practice at a reasonable pace with enough rest to swim well. Too often new and poor swimmers do not take or get enough rest in master's programs which leads to the feeling it's all about struggling. It's an eye opener that the two hours a day that I put into running will now have to be put into swimming to discover how good a swimmer I can be.

Often we hope that "pretty" technique and equipment will get us where we want to be. The magical foot plant while running, a pretty aero bike, that elusive swim stroke.

I have been to many running races where people with atrocious foot plants due to hip and feet limitations are beating "pretty" runners.

If someone on an aero bike is averaging 25 mph and I'm going 20 mph on a road bike, a pretty bike is going to only make a 1 mph difference. I will have to put in the time to make up the other 4 mph if I'm capable of doing it.

Learning swim technique is important. It's helpful to feel like you are doing it right while training and that you are in control. Once aware of technique, I'm afraid that it is going to take an hour to two hours a day for several years before my swimming compares to my running or cycling. Over several years I went from running at eight minute miles to sub six minute miles. I was satisfied with the steady improvement of taking just one second off my mile average from week to week.

While running, my leg speed and stride length both improved as I put in the miles. Bringing the leg through a little faster tended to increase the stride length also. I did do running drills and hill running too; yet, it was running two a day workouts and three hour runs on the weekend that took me from MOP to FOP. So while I feel that I am stroking fast enough, I probably do need to bump it up gradually to increase my swim speed while putting in workouts of an hour or more daily.

Oh how I wish I could get there through "pretty" rather than time spent.

Background: 6', 145 pounds and I will be 60 in February. Very grateful for my health and that there are things, like my swim, that I can really improve upon if I put in the time.

The expert advice that I can get from the swimmers and cyclists by reading the ST forum is also appreciated. And I especially enjoyed the humor expressed with the exploding carbon bike during winter thread!

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

One thing to mention that I haven't read explicitly (admittedly I did not peruse the entire thread) is that my technique goes to hell when I get tired, and when I get tired is determined by my fitness. This is very apparent in my Garmin laps, my first 800-1000 meters will be around 2:00/100 m, then all of a sudden I drop to 2:10 (as you can tell, I'm not a fast swimmer). Soto answer your question, more fitness can only help, and whatever it takes to gain it is needed. I do my best when I include lots of laps with weight training that focuses on abdominal and lats.