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Next most important for me is one-arm drills.
Although catch up looks and feels good I'm nver fully sure what I'm trying to achieve with it. Any suggestions?
The longer you can make your body shape physically, and hold this position for longer in time, the more efficient through the water you will be and the less drag you will produce.
A lot of people spin their arms like windmills, thinking they have to have them both constantly in motion and at alternate sides of the arm cycle.This is not the case.
Think long and tall.
Thinking of getting some smaller ones too, tho
I also have some fist gloves
Fist gloves? Wow, you rival me in the gadgetry department Will!
Arent they a little unnecessary though: dont you just clench your fist or do you like going to the pool looking like Inspector Gadget?
Drill for Hollywood there, swim with your fists clenched. Its great fun too! Always makes me laugh!
My first competitive swim since the pick the ping pong balls up swim in the cub scouts (if only I was joking) was the 750m London sprint tri swim this year - I did it in 13:01 - which made me 80th out of 1200(ish) for the swim so I was very happy!
I'm now trying to stop just getting in the pool and swimming up and down - and am trying to do some technique training instead... I'm going to be interested to see what changes!
Just starting my own little drill list:
1. Catchup - while your left hand is doing the stroke, leave your right hand out in front - then when your left hand "catches up" when your right, you can start the right stroke, leaving the left out in front.
2. One armed swimming - Hold a kickboard out with your right arm, stroke with your left, really focusing on twisting your upper body out the water to get your head out to allow you to breathe. Do two lengths stoking left handed and breathing on the left, then two on the right.
3. Swim golf - more of a test than a drill - add the number of strokes to the number of seconds for a 50 meter swim - that's your handicap. Aim is to get your handicap lower...
4. My kind of drill - something to do with lying on the lounge floor on a couple of cushions :-)
5. Dan Dan's favourite (part 1) - You have the recovering arm coming out the water, and you drag the finger tips along the body from the hips up to almost the shoulder and then place it down in the water in front of you as you body starts to roll the other. To do this drill you need to have a high bent elbow, which in itself is a drill you can practise.
6. Dan Dan's favourite (part 2) - Get your elbow like a sharks fins as it comes out the water, straight arm down through the wrists to pointy fingers which pierce the water, not slap the water, which then becomes another drill in its own right.
7. Swim with your fists clenched. Its great fun too! Always makes me laugh!
trinewbies descibe some of the drills here:
http://www.trinewbies.com/category.asp?catID=4
Given Dan,s earlier post I think you should have a hip rotation drill as will (its not not just about the arms - as LA would have said)
The ladies love a bit of hip swinging!
P.S. Going to try to just do two or three of these a week otherwise I'll get nowhere!
[Still gotta go do some work now but will catch up on this later!]
Just starting my own little drill list:
1. Catchup - while your left hand is doing the stroke, leave your right hand out in front - then when your left hand "catches up" when your right, you can start the right stroke, leaving the left out in front. [described on Trinewbies - as touch and go - http://www.trinewbies.com/category.asp?catID=4]
2. One armed swimming - Hold a kickboard out with your right arm, stroke with your left, really focusing on twisting your upper body out the water to get your head out to allow you to breathe. Do two lengths stoking left handed and breathing on the left, then two on the right.
3. Swim golf - more of a test than a drill - add the number of strokes to the number of seconds for a 50 meter swim - that's your handicap. Aim is to get your handicap lower...
4. My kind of drill - something to do with lying on the lounge floor on a couple of cushions :-)
5. Dan Dan's favourite (part 1) - You have the recovering arm coming out the water, and you drag the finger tips along the body from the hips up to almost the shoulder and then place it down in the water in front of you as you body starts to roll the other. To do this drill you need to have a high bent elbow, which in itself is a drill you can practise.
6. Dan Dan's favourite (part 2) - Get your elbow like a sharks fins as it comes out the water, straight arm down through the wrists to pointy fingers which pierce the water, not slap the water, which then becomes another drill in its own right.
7. Swim with your fists clenched. Its great fun too! Always makes me laugh! [described on Trinewbies - http://www.trinewbies.com/category.asp?catID=4]
8. Thumb to thigh drill from Trinewbies - http://www.trinewbies.com/category.asp?catID=4
Tis a more structured session you need rather than swim technique coaching, by the sounds of it.
The finis pacer mentioned above will be ideal for you, in this case.
I have been putting this off for ages and ages!
Also will put those books on my list (especially the second one as it's only a fiver second hand) - but my new triathlete training bible only arrived on Saturday and since it looks quite heavy going in places I have to read that before I buy another one...
Here I was, gently enjoying not having been down the pool in ages, when yesterday's conversations made me decide it was time I practised what I was preaching!
First few swims after a lay off are always a killer, so the first 45 minutes were torture.
But taking my tempo trainer with me, and had some really good sets off ever increasing beep /stroke rate.
Honestly, once you are of a reasonablish standard, these things are just the best investment you could make.
There are loads of drills I came up with today for it...so, if you dont have a partner or team to swim with, I honestly recommend you spend 35 quid on one of these.
Simple, cheap but effective like you wouldn't believe!
You can actually also use it for running and cycling to help maintain a certain cadence or pace, so its even better an investment when you look at it those terms.
I should work as a sales rep for Finis, I tell you!
I tried doing a catchup-like routine following the description in the triathletes training bible - basically making sure I've turned sideways and swum for a few kick before I bring my trailing hand back along my side and... blob blob blob - sinking sinking sinking - this one just doesn't work at all.
With the sinking business, well the hard oart in swimming is minimising your drag.Once your are in the zone and zipping through the water thats fine.Most people though slow down between each and every stroke which is why it's so much bliddy hard work.
Training with my litle bleeping buddy yesterday was great.Beforehand, I myself was doing just this, swimming too slowly and therefore each stroke I was having to overcome too much water resistance and it was killing me. Once keeping up with bleepy however, I was zipping through the water like a veritable dolphin.
HW: you need to get greater power into your hips and speed up the stroke rate,albeit slightly, whilst keeping each stroke long and streamlined to stop you slowing down and sinking.This will also counteract and balance issues you have(up to a point).
I think you are either in need of a bleeper yourself, to be very honest.It can make a massive difference.
Go do it!