I am seeking advice from this forum. I’ve tried coaching, I swim masters, I watch all the YouTube content. Ive gotten stuck at my current level of swimming and can’t seem to figure it. Unfortunately my current level is not very good!
For context, I’ve been swimming and triathlon for about 7 years. I’ve really been working hard on my swimming the last 4 or so. Ie. Masters, averaging 10-12k yards per week. Last year was my first major break through. Just speeding up my stroke rate, I took off 8-10 seconds per 100. This got me to where I can realistically swim 1:32-35 pace on the 1:50 or ~1:40-1:45 “long swim” pace.
I am a pretty good runner and cyclist. In local races I’m usually top 5 overall in both. At Ironman races I’m usually top 5 AG in these splits.
Unfortunately the guys in my “tier” are out swimming me by 4-5 minutes. All of them! I am the slowest by far. And seem to be the only guy who cant figure it out….
The issue I have is that when I make technique changes, all that happens is that the swimming efforts get harder…My coach gives me advice on improving my catch, I’m able to catch and pull more water, but the effort becomes harder! So it like, yes, I am going a little bit faster, but I’m also working a lot harder and can only sustain that effort for a shorter period of time.
I would think a real improvement would be something where I am getting faster without increasing the amount of work I am having to do.
Hopefully this makes sense. I’m a little desperate. I am so far behind my competitors that it feels like there should be something totally obvious. An easy fix. Any advice would be appreciated…
If you improve your catch, you will get more muscle recruitment from your lats and be able to apply more power to the water. This will and should feel harder because you are using your muscles more, and grabbing more water. As you become stronger, it will feel easier. Sounds like you’re on the right track.
It’s like you’re asking how to get faster at running, someone tells you to run hills or sprints and you complain that it feels too hard. That’s the whole point! Getting faster at swimming hurts.
Your hand entry is wrong. When your hand enters the water, it should be parallel to the surface and extend forward, not dive down like you currently do. When your opposite hand finishes and starts to recover, your forward hand then starts the catch and pull. That timing is later if you are a “front quadrant” swimmer (look it up).
Most egregiously, your left hand (and your right to a lesser extent) appears to do a scull motion at the beginning of your catch. That’s wasted effort. Your hand should enter the water in front of your shoulder, extend straight forward underwater, then drop down (keeping your elbow as high as possible) and move straight (in line with your direction of travel) back without zigging and zagging. You rotate your body so that you are using your lats to the maximum extent possible during the pull.
You have very little glide, such that it appears you are forced to accelerate anew every time you pull. Serious energy suck.
If you want to go faster without increasing the amount of work you do, you have two opportunities: decrease drag and improve efficiency of your propulsion. You don’t have a lot of wiggle in your stroke, and your legs aren’t really dragging, so you need to work on your efficiency (as described above).
You look really tight through the shoulders. And if your coach hasn’t detected your catch flaws, you need a new coach.
Thank you. I am glad you mentioned “tightness in the shoulders”. This seems to be the one thing I cannot figure out how to fix. My background before triathlon was body building. I think my brain has become programmed to move very mechanically or robotically. It feels like this is where i am wasting energy and am incredibly inefficient.
Since you mentioned this, do you have any advice to fix it? There are a million things online about correctly your catch/pull but almost nothing about how to swim with more fluidity.
I tried to help another triathlete (great biker, outstanding runner, lousy swimmer) by standing in the lane next to him, and I couldn’t believe how tense his upper body was. He has not been able to improve his swimming, partially because of this. I have no suggestions, although it seems like something akin to Tai Chi might help.
No matter how tight you are, you can still make great speed/efficiency gains by fixing that entry/catch/pull. There’s an old saying that is very applicable to swimming: “What you think you are doing is not what you are actually doing.” You need someone on deck who can tell you what to change (and, with more difficulty, how to effect that change).
know what you are doing (video, coaching, etc.)
know what you should be doing (studying good swimmers)
know how to get from 1) to 2) (needs a good coach)
have the ability to effect 3) (some people have it, and some don’t)
hey man you look like you put a lot of force through your stroke with your legs.
next time see if you can keep the rhythm of your kick more even throughout the two arm strokes (rather than having that little pause at the end before your left hand enters). if you can lay off your legs more you might find some more torque to pull against and give you more leverage.
also if your upper shoulders are as tight as a fishes arse hole that makes things harder. loosening out happens over time. stretch with towels and bands above your head and behind your shoulder. do streamline positions a lot at home, look up all the swim shoulder flex videos
I have a suggestion that I thought about while doing my swimming this morning.
You are starting your catch way too early. Like, waaay too early. Like, before your hand even enters the water. No wonder you are so tense. You shouldn’t even think about your catch until you are finished your extension underwater in front of you. Concentrating on that extension requires you to relax your muscles, while the catch is all about contracting the muscles.
Higher elbows. Think about your arms going over a barrel. You leg kicks as posted are dragging since you are over kicking. Work to obtain a 2-3 beat kick at a mininum. Keep your head penperdicular to your body. Don’t move side to side.
if that is his natural kick rhythm , good for him. id kill for a natural 6 beat rhythm but our man needs to optmiise the tempo / rhythm. ive got a 2 beat kick naturally but it caps out how fast I can swim with my endurance rhythm.
Honestly i can maintain that kind of kick for about 200yds. After that my kick slows down a lot.
The strong kick is the only thing that keeps me swimming ~1:30ish pace. Hence why I can do 1:30s for sets of 100 but my long swim is closer to 1:45s
You’re right, my legs do eat up a lot of energy but kicking hard on shorter intervals is how I increase my speed.
could you post video of your long swim form, when kicking less/slower ?
paddles might help - you seem to be putting your arms down on the water, should be throwing them out in front and trying to extend much further out before starting catch, catch looks absolutely rushed and choppy here. paddles will let you feel that extension and glide, which in your case you do not have
I’m not a coach, nor am I a great swimmer, so take my advice for what it is worth. My profile is similar to yours in that I’ve had to work hard to improve my swimming, and it’s still worse than biking or running.
My experience is that, while most of us non-swimmers have problems with our catch, it’s usually not the best place to start.
What jumps out at me, other than the shoulder tightness others mentioned, is your hand entry and the timing of your breath. The breath looks late to me, and you appear to lift your head slightly. I’d focus on thinking about that breath as your left arm comes over the top and turning as your hand enters the water, keeping your head in the water with a long, but relaxed neck.
After fixing that problem, I’d work on hand entry. It seems your elbow may be hitting the water at the same time as your hand, if not sooner. Part of the reason is your hand enters too far in front, almost fully extended. It should enter around where your wrist would be if the arm were extended, and then extend through the water. Try relaxing your arm during the recovery, leading with your elbow and feeling like your arm below the elbow is dangling loosely. The finger tip drill can be good for that.
The last thing I will say is fitness and technique go hand in hand. Swimming more yards will give you the strength and fitness you need to make technique improvements.
Again, I’m just an average Joe. Hopefully the real coaches will chime in.
I put together an analysis of you stroke and where you might want to work to improve. The first place, in my experience, that triathletes need to look when they have been stuck in the swim or have plateaued is in their bike and run volume. If you are constantly going into practice fatigued in swimming, improvement will be elusive.
Thank you Tim and everyone else who commented. I will incorporate this feedback into my drills and swimming going forward and hopefully get a little faster. Thanks again
