Trying to improve my swimming over the winter (Jan/Feb) months. I am lucky enough to swim with a masters group 3x a week and plan on including a 4th technique or drill swim each week to work on form. I have no swimming background but absolutely love to be in the water. I am currently hitting my 100s on 1:19 and 50s on :40. My PB on the 1/2 IM is 32 and my first full IM swim was 1:09.
So the masters swim coach looks at me tonight and says; “I do not understand you - you can do the kick and pull sets faster than you normal swim times”.
What can I do to put my stroke “all together” during that 4th drill practice each week?
If your arms work well and your legs work well but they work less well togther, I don’t need to see video to say it is your timing that needs work. In fact posting video here will lilely be counterproductive, as you will get all sorts of corrective advice pointing to ‘this’ or ‘that’ and little or no guidance as to when and where. It is the when and where you are probably lacking. As in, “Where is your hand when you kick” or “WHere is your kick when you finish your pull?”
Can you answer those questions? Can you effect the answers? Can you notice a difference through your effecting of the answers?
Post video. Dave is right btw, but we need to amuse ourselves here on ST, so post it for our amusement please.
An excellent path can be found in one of the three links found in the above posts. Not kidding about that. 2 are for excellent for entertainment, the other is the beginnings of a journey that can take you where you want to go with swimming.
On second thought, scratch #1 above, just do a little digging into #2.
Trying to improve my swimming over the winter (Jan/Feb) months. I am lucky enough to swim with a masters group 3x a week and plan on including a 4th technique or drill swim each week to work on form. I have no swimming background but absolutely love to be in the water. I am currently hitting my 100s on 1:19 and 50s on :40. My PB on the 1/2 IM is 32 and my first full IM swim was 1:09.
So the masters swim coach looks at me tonight and says; “I do not understand you - you can do the kick and pull sets faster than you normal swim times”.
What can I do to put my stroke “all together” during that 4th drill practice each week?
Any advice would be appreciated.
I need to get back in the pool when people are asking fish advice and able to hold sub 1:20 on a set of 100’s :). Good job man!
First off, you’re doing pretty well with no swim background and going 1:19’s, so enjoy that!
Second, i’d be really surprised if you were able to hit 1:18 or less in a 100 kick, get an accurate time to compare swimming, pulling, and kicking.
Third, i would absolutely NOT be surprised if you were able to pull faster than you could swim… in fact that’s the case a lot of the time. I don’t think you’re as bad off as you think.
Fourth, my favorite drills are 6 beat drill and fingertip drag, but as someone else said, posting a video will greatly help figure out what YOU need.
In fact posting video here will lilely be counterproductive, as you will get all sorts of corrective advice pointing to ‘this’ or ‘that’ and little or no guidance as to when and where.
First of all, you seem to be mathmatically challenged like many non fish. You do not hold 1;19’s for 100’s, and then only 40’s for 50’s. You do understand that a 1;19 is two 39.5’s back to back?? The way it works in swimming is that as you go longer, the average pace gets slower. That goes for everyone…
And you are not kicking as fast as you swim, unless if is with fins. I could maybe kick that time, but of course i go faster than a 1;19. And as to your pulling, welcome to most triathlon swimmers. Pulling is almost always faster with paddles and a buoy for workout stuff. Not really faster for a 100 for time from a dive, but long sets it gets you a lower HR so that you can go faster with the same effort…(most everyone, so outliers need not correct me)
Here is what you do first, join Dave’s finding freestyle, it sounds you are right up its alley. The spend a lot of time bringing your kick and pull together, and perfecting the timing of those two opposites on your body. And if you really want to sound like a swimmer, post up some interval times along with what you did post. Is it a 1;19 all out, 10 of them on the 1;30, 20 of them on the 2;00? It helps us to see where you are at because a 1;09 ironman swim is pretty slow if you can hold a lot of 1;19’s on a good interval. Not so slow if it is all out for you… Email Dave…
Good deal, i think that program is what you need to take it to the next level. And remember, every level you achieve in swimming, stays with you forever when it comes to stroke. You can take off a large amount of time, and it is just weeks to get to 95% of your former self. I think it was Mark Spitz that took off over 20 years, and in a short time he came with 4 seconds of his olympic record in his early 40’s. I think Janet Evans took off a good chuck of time too, and now she is going for another olympic team in her 40’s. It is all engine work for those folks, just like it is for mere mortals.