I can only assume that's a typo on 10 x 200 on 2:10. You mean 100 right?

Actually w/o seeing it in motion tough to guess. To have that kind of flexibility in your humerus is not a bad thing if you can protect it and control it. To have a good early catch and do it so narrow that your deltoid rubs your cheek? I wish I had that problem b/c that is a slippery profile! Phelps looks like that from overhead views he looks like a pencil from above when catching.

Do you have a video of your stroke by chance?

I used to get that.

Bend at the waist and do your swim stroke in dry land. You will see the only way for this to happen is if you are crossing over the midline and you are looking up.
Tuck your chin in more ( look at the bottom of the pool) and don't cross the middle at the front of your stroke.

Thanks a lot for the advice guys it's appreciated. I do cross the mid line a touch with my right hand and I'm working on getting my head lower in the water as I do have a tendency to look quite far forward as it feels like I can turn and hence breath faster with my mouth nearer the surface looking forward. Probably why I sink quite badly at the bottom end and am faster with a pull buoy than kicking!
Yes unfortunately that is 100m ace rather than 200 lol

good swimmer will get this when not shaved but in your case at 2.10..... it s most likely happen for the wrong reason.

at 2:10/100m you have enourmous amount of improvement possible relatively quickly if you can find someone to work with you. There is a lot of low hanging fruit for you....

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
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Quote:

been developing a friction burn on the front of my shoulder, about the size of a quarter where my shoulder and jaw are rubbing

This happens to lots of the guys I swim Masters with. It's totally normal for me to get this when I have a spiky beard.

Glad to hear it as 6 weeks ago I couldn't even swim 50m continuously and entered IM Frankfurt in July haha.
I can go a good bit faster than that, that's just me in what feels equivalent to tempo in cycling parlance so I can get the 2km in in blocks of 200m at a time.
I've had one session with a coach and due to go back to him in a few weeks for an update, hopefully I can get the shoulder sorted by then so he can work on other stuff with me.

I've also seen a video (from someone with much more swim experience than me, can't recall who though) who said that beard burn happens because you're breathing for too long. In other words, take a shorter breath and get your face back in the water as quickly as possible.

Same here, if I don't shave it happens occasionally

If you repeat your stroke on dryland I would guess you could observe yourself doing one of two things.

The first as another poster has said is that you simply could be taking too long to breath and your arm is dropping into the water while you head is still turned. Which leads to the next most obvious question, are you rolling enough to breath earlier (while your arm is behind you) so that by the time your arm or hand is perpendicular with your head you are finished breathing. For many new swimmers that smooth roll is one of the harder things to learn. Without it you have to lift yourself enough to find space to breath. Lifting yourself means you need to be pulling to get the lift and that results in a late breath.

Once you have learned to roll, it will keep your body position straighter in the water, while showing a smaller profile to the water than a turned head can give and will also reduce "snaking"through the water. By getting your head back in the water earlier you also lose less speed. Olympic swimmers are said to lose a tenth from each breath, you might lose several tenths. A little math shows that a smooth breath that saves you two or three tenths each time you breath is worth maybe enough to get you under 2 minutes per 100, without any added effort. A 6 minute saving at the IM distance.

Worth a shot.

Pretty sure it was Gerry Rodriguez somewhere in the video series here.

Until this thing heals up and you change your stroke mechanics, use some GoStik or Bodyglide on that burn.

KS

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Karen ST Concierge

You're tugging a boat. Head-up / hips down = slow tugboat. Not a surprise that you swim faster with a pull buoy because it's forcing your hips / legs into the correct position. When your head is lifted or above the proper position your hips will naturally counter act and sink down. This is extremely inefficient. If you can get your head lower, engage your kick more, your legs / hips will raise up to the surface and you will be swimming on top of the water (not literally but compaired to dragging your lower half). Addressing this area of efficiency will also allow you take the same quick breath to the side versus forward. (there's separate technique for sighting but that comes later).

How to learn the feeling of swimming on top of the water. If you've never felt how efficient you can be with the proper body alignment I would recommend two training tools. 1) a center mounted snorkel 2) long blade fins

The snorkel will naturally help you obtain the proper head position ie- looking down and forcing your hips up. The long blade fins will give you the sensation of having your feet near the surface (and thus your hips near the surface).

My advice would be vary these two tools into your training. You can use them individually or together. But in both cases you will start to FEEL what it is like to swim on top of the water vs. dragging your lower half. Knowing what that feels like is the first step towards obtaining it and working towards it. You are training your muscles to know what it feels like to be efficient vs. inefficient.

Good luck.

I too am just getting into swimming...and i'm a FUCKING TRUCK...

I hope the OP has more success than I, or figures it out, because I just can't get the feel for swimming. First its breathing to fast (every 2 strokes), and now every 3 to 5 strokes, yet still...dragging.

Ugh...swimming is stupid!

Some fantastic posts here thanks for the help everyone. In the pool today I noted I could feel the rub on the 'out' portion of the stroke and then to a lesser extent on the pull back. Sorry my terminology doesn't extend better than that!
My coach in the single session I was with him for said I was breathing much too late but at the time it was a small issue compared to my half football half breast stroke kick that was actually pulling mW backwards when using a kick board!
I'm aware that I don't turn a lot, anyone recommend a good article/ drill for turning technique?
Much to do. Thanks again.

A good youtube channel I frequent / reference a lot is - GoSwim.tv (https://www.youtube.com/user/goswim098/featured). They've got hundreds of stroke / technique / equipment training videos. If you're trying to isolate a particular fix they've probably got a video for it. Annnnd you get to watch someone do it correctly which, for me, is super helpful being a visual learner

Good luck. You're on the right path (errr I mean black line)

One good way to tell if you are timing your breathing right is what you can see as you take your breath. If you're doing it right, you should be able to watch your hand go by your head as you're breathing, then insert hand back in water as you turn your head back into the water. I don't actually see my hand go back in the water b/c I don't look that far forward but i think i prob could see it if i raised my head enough and looked straight ahead at the end of the pool.

Also, another key to not getting the shoulder burn, which i've gotten on occasion in the past, is to tuck your head and look back behind you as you breath, rather than trying to look straight out or ahead of you. The tucking of the head is the crucial thing to avoid the shoulder burn.

Just FWIW, some years ago I read an article about an English Channel swimmer who forgot to shave the morning of his channel attempt. He indeed made it all the way across and, after some 12 or 15 hrs of swimming, his breathing side shoulder was bleeding quite a bit from scraping it every cycle of his arms for 12 hours.

So, actually you're in good company:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Thanks again for two helpful posts. I'm working my way through the videos now. In the pool yesterday and didn't rub at all. Focussing on not crossing midline seemed to help but also I was subconsciously angling my head 10° to the right at all times which was pointing my jaw angle at my shoulder. So that's that sorted I think!
Breathing is my next big issue, I start my breath as my right hand leaves the water and AFAIK snap back in to the water as my hand is passing my head but I'll keep an eye on it.
My problem is I have so many stroke issues I can only focus on a couple and then the others fall apart!
If I lean on my head to get it lower and my line better then my roll ceases and my kick falls apart...if I try and point my 90° orientated feet I'm not thinking about a good pull etc etc it never ends haha.

Don't make it too complicated. Just throw your arms out there as far as you can and pull as hard as you can. Breath when you need to. Let your legs kick when they will. There are several diff "styles" of freestyle that work pretty well, just swim the way that works best for your body type, flexibility, etc.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I get this "burn" as well. It has nothing to do with me crossing the midline during the stroke (at least in my circumstance). My years of wrestling prior to coming to triathlon have left me with very tight pec minors and forward shoulders.

So...to the OP...it could be a mechanical issue or it may be an anatomical issue. Without seeing a video of you swimming or having more information it is pretty tough to tell. Regardless, eventually you'll probably develop a callus on your shoulder and it should stop bleeding. Clean shaving each A.M or going grizzly will help as well. Best of luck.