Really trying to improve my swim this winter with help from the ST forum. Being so slow, relative to many on ST, gives me a lot to think about (in addition to effort) while boosting distance (now regularly doing 15K a week).
Compared to other times, some days feel like I am dragging in the pool. My legs seem to be dragging below me and I wonder by how much?
A new measure for me on how much my tail is dragging in the water is to lift my foot or feet behind me to know. I’m often surprised at how far my knee has to bend and foot has to go upward to break the surface of the water. Sure enough, I was really dragging my legs and I know better.
Besides measuring how low the legs are in the water, the action of raising the heels to get to the surface corrects the problem. Raising that foot towards the surface shifts my body in the water balancing me on my chest.
It felt weird at first because it didn't seem possible to be that far off. In the past, I probably was making small corrections and not the big one needed. In a short amount of time though I’m getting some relief since my rear end is no longer dragging. Swimming gets easier and measured times faster.
This is not a drill. It's something that can be done off the wall or mid pool. Measure how deep the kick is by raising it to the surface, then keep it up there and you too might find swimming faster. For me, it takes less effort to get the feet up than to continually swim with deep feet.
Oh well, one more humbling experience from the MOP and BOP to share.
Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.
Compared to other times, some days feel like I am dragging in the pool. My legs seem to be dragging below me and I wonder by how much?
A new measure for me on how much my tail is dragging in the water is to lift my foot or feet behind me to know. I’m often surprised at how far my knee has to bend and foot has to go upward to break the surface of the water. Sure enough, I was really dragging my legs and I know better.
Besides measuring how low the legs are in the water, the action of raising the heels to get to the surface corrects the problem. Raising that foot towards the surface shifts my body in the water balancing me on my chest.
It felt weird at first because it didn't seem possible to be that far off. In the past, I probably was making small corrections and not the big one needed. In a short amount of time though I’m getting some relief since my rear end is no longer dragging. Swimming gets easier and measured times faster.
This is not a drill. It's something that can be done off the wall or mid pool. Measure how deep the kick is by raising it to the surface, then keep it up there and you too might find swimming faster. For me, it takes less effort to get the feet up than to continually swim with deep feet.
Oh well, one more humbling experience from the MOP and BOP to share.
Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.