I'm not a fish by any means, but I've been focusing heavily on my swim this year and have definitely made gains.

• Swim a lot.
• SLOW DOWN and forget what the wall clock says. Really, really focus on what it *feels* like in the water, proprioception.
• Video your stroke and truly analyze what that stroke feels like and what it will feel like when you fix the technique error you're trying to fix. For instance, I lead with my elbow when I pull with my left arm, but during my warm ups (first 1,500 yard of a swim or so), I close my eyes, swim stupidly easy, and truly key-in and focus on what a "good" pull feels like. I now can feel when I get lazy and my form starts to deteriorate deep int main sets.
• Don't practice a shit stroke. You're going to get to a point where it's your technique that's your barrier, and no amount of thrashing out 100's on 1:20 is going to make you faster.
• Let go of your ego and be willing to question what you previously accepted as fact.

Namaste (in the pool and put the work in).

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

for the past 4 years I have I spent the last 15 minutes of my sons swim practices, while waiting to leave(!) watching everyone swim. I was a swimmer myself and have a good background on this.

I think your list is good. I'd add two things: in regards to breathing technique, it seems that faulty breathing is what leads to stroke imbalance and stroke imbalance is what causes the most drag. Is that your assessment too?

Second: the really fast kids (and this doesn't have much to do with age-group level triathletes) kick really hard. I only say this because if you have a kid who swims but doesn't have a good kick...get him interested in triathlon!

You make a great point about the difference between what something looks like and it what it feels like. A lot of time what one think they have to do to make a change is dramatically different from what they actually need to do.

A change is always going to FEEL much more larger than it actually is. It feels like you've move your arm 3 feet when you've only move it 3 inches.

Video is great for confirming you're actually doing what you think you're doing.

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http://www.masteringflow.info
http://www.youtube.com/@masteringflow
http://www.andrewsheaffcoaching.com/...freestyle-fast-today

I would agree that breathing is the start of almost all problems. You are going to get air first, no matter what. You need air to float and you need air to live. That is the first priority, always.

Poor control of breathing accelerates dramatically fatigue because you'll be a lot less relaxed and your position in the water will be worse. Poor breathing mechanics throw the stroke out of rhythm and alignment.

It's MUCH easier to learn effective freestyle when breathing is under control. This is a mistake many individuals make. They try to learn freestyle before they learn to manage their air.

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http://www.masteringflow.info
http://www.youtube.com/@masteringflow
http://www.andrewsheaffcoaching.com/...freestyle-fast-today