AOS question (pulling too soon when I breathe)

Triathlon Forum
1

As I’ve worked to get better at swimming (still not good but getting better), one of the things I recently noticed was that when I breathe to my right side, I always initiate my left arm movement/start pulling way too soon. This does not happen if my face is in the water. My stroke is longer, smoother and more controlled then.

I assume this is bad balance, need to drive my hip forward/down better, work on my core…?

As a point of info, I almost exclusively breathe to the right and I’m sure that has caused imbalances in my stroke.

Any tips on how to make this better/fix? I can feel the difference for the better in my stroke when I wear a snorkel or do breath control sets. It only happens when I take a breath, which ya know I’ll need to do from time to time while swimming.

Thanks in advance.

2

The breathing causes the problem but what’s making the problem is not keeping the arm out it front long enough. If you video yourself you’ll see you’re not doing the ‘catch-up’ style of stroke, meaning that your extended arm is dropping too fast - it needs to be held out in front wayyy more than you think. By holding that arm out in front until the very, very last millisecond, you won’t over-rotate and your stroke will stay mostly correct despite the breath.

I learned this the hard way, had to video myself repeatedly to fix it - it wasn’t the breath that was the problem, it was underestimating how long the lead arm has to stay out front. A LOT more than you think.

3

US Masters Swimming has numerous technique videos:

https://youtu.be/BQW9Zw0CsQ8?si=YWkHhm9aXiZpLXUi

https://youtu.be/O-TygMAyvtg?si=8RgzJhQ2FUhjg4dq

https://youtu.be/dsgLX-XFj_U?si=byrk_tzLSUZjHczk
.

4

Look at videos of Tom Dolan and Federica Pellegrini. Two of the very best ever who both have very early pull on their non breathing arm. Is that what you are mentioning?

Not meaning to overtly disagree with lightheir, but some people have a natural catch up rhythm and others have a natural early pull and its very hard to change it drastically.

5

If you can send me some video, I’m happy to do an analysis and let you know exactly what the issue is. Based on your description there could be a few things going on.

Tim

6

As I’ve worked to get better at swimming (still not good but getting better), one of the things I recently noticed was that when I breathe to my right side, I always initiate my left arm movement/start pulling way too soon. This does not happen if my face is in the water. My stroke is longer, smoother and more controlled then.

I assume this is bad balance, need to drive my hip forward/down better, work on my core…?

As a point of info, I almost exclusively breathe to the right and I’m sure that has caused imbalances in my stroke.

Any tips on how to make this better/fix? I can feel the difference for the better in my stroke when I wear a snorkel or do breath control sets. It only happens when I take a breath, which ya know I’ll need to do from time to time while swimming.

Thanks in advance.

My guess is that you’re trying to lift your head rather than just turn it to the side.

7

Yes, that is what I mean. My non breathing side arm pulls too early. No matter how much I want to keep it extended out longer, I cant. (when I breathe)

I can keep it extended longer when I keep my face submerged.

8

Some drill you can try if you like the feeling of this in your stroke

Catch up drill, just aim to have your thumbs brush each other out front.

Also if you don’t have one, try using a snorkel

Perhaps if you do a motion more frequently you will get the hang of it when you take the snorkel off

9

Some drill you can try if you like the feeling of this in your stroke

Catch up drill, just aim to have your thumbs brush each other out front.

Also if you don’t have one, try using a snorkel

Perhaps if you do a motion more frequently you will get the hang of it when you take the snorkel off

Catch up drill with a baton is a good one too.

10

Some drill you can try if you like the feeling of this in your stroke

Catch up drill, just aim to have your thumbs brush each other out front.

Also if you don’t have one, try using a snorkel

Perhaps if you do a motion more frequently you will get the hang of it when you take the snorkel off

Sadly the snorkel
Doesn’t help a lot I’ve found. You have to learn to keep the arm out while the breath is happening and you don’t get that with snorkel.

Catchup drill helps but you really have to just do it while swimming on the easy side first than holding it while going harder

11

As I’ve worked to get better at swimming (still not good but getting better), one of the things I recently noticed was that when I breathe to my right side, I always initiate my left arm movement/start pulling way too soon. This does not happen if my face is in the water. My stroke is longer, smoother and more controlled then.

I assume this is bad balance, need to drive my hip forward/down better, work on my core…?

As a point of info, I almost exclusively breathe to the right and I’m sure that has caused imbalances in my stroke.

Any tips on how to make this better/fix? I can feel the difference for the better in my stroke when I wear a snorkel or do breath control sets. It only happens when I take a breath, which ya know I’ll need to do from time to time while swimming.

Thanks in advance.

I notice this same problem when I video myself. There are people here more qualified than I to offer advice, so trust them over me. I’ll just say that in my experience, I think part of the problem comes from a tendency to breathe a hair too late, not turn my neck enough, and therefore over-rotate. When taking a breath, my tendency is to just rotate my body without turning my neck much at all, which results in over-rotation and imbalance. The body imbalance throws off the timing of my left arm pull.

Like you, I breathe to the right. If I concentrate on turning my neck just a hair more and slightly quicker/ earlier to avoid over-rotating, I find it is easier to have a more patient left arm lead. I also sometimes try to think of my right arm as pulling me into the breath.

When I watch myself on video taken with the camera underwater at the end of the lane, I can tell I’m doing it better when my left arm stays still at extension and the left-arm catch is more directly toward the back of the pool. When I’m not doing it as well, my lead arm kind of waves around in front of me sliding toward the midline prior to starting the catch. Also, my right leg comes out to the side more, probably trying to stabilize me as I over-rotate.

That’s my amateur analysis. Listen to the coaches.