The Official NSC swimming thread

[Stat Brother]

As I was riding last night after Lil Miss Stat's lesson I didn't bother with a swim, instead just watching from the side.

The swimmers lane only had one bloke in it and, although a chunky monkey, he was effortless FS-ing up and down.
No splashing about, no leg drag, plenty of speed, no need to catch his breath.

Watching him made me think 'I wonder what I look like?'.
I even thought 'I wonder if someone would video me, just so I can see any obvious poor technique'.

Eventually I'm sat there like a looney, sniggering and laughing to myself when the penny finally dropped, and I realised why people don't video from the side of swimming pools, esp while the kids are having their lessons.

 

[Indurain's Lungs]

As I was riding last night after Lil Miss Stat's lesson I didn't bother with a swim, instead just watching from the side.

The swimmers lane only had one bloke in it and, although a chunky monkey, he was effortless FS-ing up and down.
No splashing about, no leg drag, plenty of speed, no need to catch his breath.

Watching him made me think 'I wonder what I look like?'.
I even thought 'I wonder if someone would video me, just so I can see any obvious poor technique'.

Eventually I'm sat there like a looney, sniggering and laughing to myself when the penny finally dropped, and I realised why people don't video from the side of swimming pools, esp while the kids are having their lessons. [emoji38]ol:

I think part of the problem is having no sense of where your limbs actually are when swimming. If you move your head it messes everything up so it hard to adjust without outside help.

 

[Stat Brother]

I think part of the problem is having no sense of where your limbs actually are when swimming. If you move your head it messes everything up so it hard to adjust without outside help.

Breathing was going to be one of my next questions.

I take a breath off to my left every fourth right arm rotation.
This seems considerably longer than everybody else, who mainly breath every stroke or alternates.

Should I be trying to breath more?

 

[Indurain's Lungs]

Breathing was going to be one of my next questions.

I take a breath off to my left every fourth right arm rotation.
This seems considerably longer than everybody else, who mainly breath every stroke or alternates.

Should I be trying to breath more?

Supposedly bilateral breathing is ideal as it keeps you balanced. Every 4th right suggests you're breathing every 8th stroke which is a very long time. Are you continually exhaling between? - breath holding was another of my flaws.

My coach uses swim smooth and it seems to make sense to me. The website give you 7 days free so you could at least get an idea of what you should be doing and some ideas to mix up the sessions. I have to say, though, the sessions all seem to have a 101 different bits to them which I can't be arsed with so I pick and choose a bit.

 

[Stat Brother]

Supposedly bilateral breathing is ideal as it keeps you balanced. Every 4th right suggests you're breathing every 8th stroke which is a very long time. Are you continually exhaling between? - breath holding was another of my flaws.

My coach uses swim smooth and it seems to make sense to me. The website give you 7 days free so you could at least get an idea of what you should be doing and some ideas to mix up the sessions. I have to say, though, the sessions all seem to have a 101 different bits to them which I can't be arsed with so I pick and choose a bit.

I've tried breathing off to the right and I nearly drowned!!
I do exhale, working on the theory that I need to maximize my momentary breathing in time.

I'll try breathing every 6th stroke (3rd right arm rotation) and I'll have another go at alternating the sides, but I don't hold out much hope.

Thanks for the site, I'll have a look when I have more time, although like you I can't see myself able to retain all the information.
I'm only just remembering to 'spear' and not 'windmill' my arms.

 

[Stat Brother]

Well that was messy.

Trying to breath on a shorter stroke and alternating sides was asking for trouble.

I added to that my first swim for a couple of weeks without a pull buoy, and still my legs still seem pretty superfluous to the whole endeavour.

I guess it wasn't all bad as I managed an extra 100 metres in the same time as I usually do 500m.

 

[nwgull]

Well that was messy.

Trying to breath on a shorter stroke and alternating sides was asking for trouble.

I added to that my first swim for a couple of weeks without a pull buoy, and still my legs still seem pretty superfluous to the whole endeavour.

I guess it wasn't all bad as I managed an extra 100 metres in the same time as I usually do 500m.

Swimming with a pull bouy will just make any sinking legs issue worse. You need to ditch it, otherwise you'll always be reliant on it.

 

[Bad Ash]

Swimming with a pull bouy will just make any sinking legs issue worse. You need to ditch it, otherwise you'll always be reliant on it.

I think there is an argument to use pull buoys which would include:
It'll allow you to focus on other parts of your stroke, e.g. still head, hand entry into the water, catch, pull, etc.
It'll get you used to the correct position.
If you're cramping then it might allow you to continue to swim.

But you shouldn't always use it, you need to get your body used to getting you legs into the correct position. They recommend building good core strength and to pretend you're holding a penny between your cheeks

My legs are a real anchor, I swim faster with a pull buoy.

With regards to breathing, you'll probably find as you swim further you'll find you need to breathe more often. I know when I first get in and swim very relaxed for the warm-up I rarely need to breathe, but I almost force myself to to avoid building up an oxygen debt later on. Most people will I breathe every 2 or 3 strokes when swimming a longer distance. You have to learn to breath out very quickly (e.g. with a lot of force) to allow yourself to breath that regularly, which can feel unnatural at first.

 

[Stat Brother]

With regards to breathing, you'll probably find as you swim further you'll find you need to breathe more often. I know when I first get in and swim very relaxed for the warm-up I rarely need to breathe, but I almost force myself to to avoid building up an oxygen debt later on. Most people will I breathe every 2 or 3 strokes when swimming a longer distance. You have to learn to breath out very quickly (e.g. with a lot of force) to allow yourself to breath that regularly, which can feel unnatural at first.

It's funny how comfortable I am breathing off to the left but so difficult when going right.
I did get a little better, but there were some strokes when I only breathed in water, which I found wasn't as effective.

I just slowly breath out when my head is back under water almost the moment I've stopped breathing in.

 

[nwgull]

I don't disagree that pull bouys have their place. However, sinking legs and not being streamlined as a result will slow you down far more than any flaws in your stroke.

Best advice I got was to concentrate on balance drills. Within a month I was swimming so much easier and more efficiently. It took about 2 mins off my 750m time and gave me the confidence to step up to Olympic distance tris (1500m swim).

 

[Bad Ash]

I don't disagree that pull bouys have their place. However, sinking legs and not being streamlined as a result will slow you down far more than any flaws in your stroke.

OK, sorry I read that as advice to never use them. I think the phrase ''everything in moderation' is pretty appropriate to most swimming aids and drills.

One of the issues with swimming is that there are sooooo many parts of the stroke to work on that you can end up overwhelmed, which is why there are drills that focus on improving tiny elements of the stroke.

Another issue is that it's incredibly difficult to know what you're doing wrong, unless you can watch yourself or there is someone else to point it out to you. Quite often I'll think I'm swimming well, and I'll then have 3 big faults pointed out to me. I find watching other swimmers of a similar standard quite useful as I can see a lot of their faults and it makes me appreciate that I must be making similar errors.