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So many swim opinions!
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 Jeeze...hip driven, front quadrant, good grief! Interestingly they all seem to produce winning results, so how to choose? I've tried both, still out of breath after 25 yds. 2:15 per 100. Drills don't seem to carry over to actual performance. If I'm not moving, I'm sinking. (5'9"/140lbs).
Watch YouTube videos, everyone makes it look simple. Not. Thoughts?
Frustrated in FL.

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Re: So many swim opinions! [wawaski] [ In reply to ]
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All of the techniques used to propel you forward in the water start with a good, long axis form or shape of your body. That shape, or alignment, starts entirely with how you breathe in the water.

Are you picking your head entirely out of the water to breathe? Are you rotating just your head? Shoulders? Or Hips? Are you kicking down with the opposite leg, hence pushing down with your hip flexor to give some extra thrust through the body rotation to get a good clean pocket of air to breathe through the corner of your mouth? Do you stop kicking when you breathe?

Answer some of those questions to find a good launch point to find some drills that will help the rest of your form.

Level II USAT Coach | Level 3 USAC Coach | NASM-CPT
Team Zoot | Tailwind Trailblazer
I can tell you why you're sick, I just can't write you an Rx
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Re: So many swim opinions! [wawaski] [ In reply to ]
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The best advice I received was to learn to balance in the water, both north and south, east and west.

I was told to be able to lie face-down in the water and be able to maintain that balance, with both head and feet high in the water, while rolling onto one hip and then back to the other hip.

You can troubleshoot a little— if your feet are sinking, then press your chest down a little & they should come up.

Get comfortable with your balance and know where your body is in the water. It makes breathing easier because you won’t lose track of where you are. It will simplify things.
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Re: So many swim opinions! [Dr_Cupcake] [ In reply to ]
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 Thanks for the input, will check everything!

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Re: So many swim opinions! [CallMeMaybe] [ In reply to ]
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 I think you may have nailed it, tks!!!! You're the first person to address this that I've found,
Tks,
S.

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Re: So many swim opinions! [wawaski] [ In reply to ]
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The best advice I can give you if you're out of breath after a 25 is that I suspect you are holding your breath in the water - so when your face is in, you should be exhaling. Then when you rotate to breathe, you just need to inhale.

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
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Re: So many swim opinions! [Dr. Tigerchik] [ In reply to ]
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 Wish it was that, easy to correct. Good thought though!

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Re: So many swim opinions! [Dr. Tigerchik] [ In reply to ]
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Dr. Tigerchik wrote:
The best advice I can give you if you're out of breath after a 25 is that I suspect you are holding your breath in the water - so when your face is in, you should be exhaling. Then when you rotate to breathe, you just need to inhale.

My biggest issue with breathing (I have many), is that although I breath out under water, I don’t seem to have much time to inhale. So I end up breathing in very fast and by the end of my swim I am super bloated (I look pregnant) which is both uncomfortable and embarrassing.
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Re: So many swim opinions! [CallMeMaybe] [ In reply to ]
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 Thank you so much for your reply! After doing some YouTube research on balance drills, I realized that all the sites I've visited never mentioned balance! Guess they just assume everyone knows about it!
So thanks again !!!!

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Re: So many swim opinions! [wawaski] [ In reply to ]
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To OP: question 1) are you breathing every stroke? Or are your trying to breathe every 3 (bilateral) or even more and breathing when you need it? One thing I see often is not breathing enough! (and even in myself coming from a D1 college pool swimming where breathing every stroke was frowned upon back in the day). Look at Katie Ledeky- breathing every single stoke on her distance events- it’s not considered a bad technique anymore. You need Yu to be able to breathe to both sides though, especially for open water, but you may favor a side and it’s a long swim, you need oxygen! 25’s and 50’s at the pool working on various breathing patterns is a great set. 2) the front catch and your head position (as stated by someone else in this thread also) are the strongest points of improvement IMO. Straight arm recovery, bent arm, 4 beat kick, 2 beat, hip driven, shoulder driven etc….. not as important as what your paddle (forearm) is doing underwater and where your eyes are looking and therefore your head is. Chloe Sutton (Olympian) has a great video series for all strokes, but her freestyle video really shows you how to do that front catch- and the drills to get it stronger. Also check out Olympian Rada Owen / Brian Marsh freestyle videos from her years at Auburn. Chloe- You won’t have her catch ever- nor will I, but you can improve it. I do drills every single practice for “feel” of my catch. 3) head position (eyes looking down) is the biggest catalyst to good body position. Top hat drill is great for enforcing that. Again pool swimmer from the 90’s- I had to relearn head position and it’s something I have to remember at every practice. Top hat is my go to drill. Also - work on one thing per lap. Isolate with pull buoy, kick board, make it easier with fins- when doing drills to really be able to focus on that one thing you are trying to accomplish in each drill.

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Re: So many swim opinions! [GoH2Okies] [ In reply to ]
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 Thanks for everyone's time in replying!

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