Many of the triathletes that struggle with swimming share a number of basic problems in their stroke including inadequate kicking, poor breathing, an undesirable catch and even more importantly very bad body position.
Body position is very important in swimming because it directly can affect the amount of drag you have got on the water. While you're driving a car down the road next time, stick your hand out the window. Lay it flat or parallel to the ground. Next, turn your hand 90 degrees so it is vertical and your thumb is directed at the sky. Notice the huge difference the force of the wind is placing on your hand. The smallest amount of force is on your hand when it has the smallest amount of surface area subjected to the oncoming blowing wind.
Swimming is the exact same. The greater your profile or the more surface area you have exposed to the oncoming water, the greater drag you'll have. This is exactly where the idea of streamlined body placement arises from. You are attempting to make your entire body go through the tiniest hole in the water feasible in order to lower drag. This is a lot easier said than done.
There are different things that may cause a poor body position, however the most typical and severe has to be your head. Head placement has a direct effect on where a person's hips will probably be. Standing up with your hands on your hips, move your head down until your chin is on your chest. Next tip your head back as much as you can. You'll be able to sense how your hips may want to go in the opposite way as your head. So when your head is all the way up, your hips are down.
In swimming, an excellent body placement would have your hips on the top of the water so that they follow through the same opening in the water that was created by your head. As you lift your head up, your hips can submerge and substantially increase the drag you have in the water.
Learning to proper head position will not be an instant fix. It will require some time and work although the rewards will likely be well worth it. The best way to work on this would be to just simply kick in the #11 position. The #11 position is basically having your arms above your head like a number #11 or perhaps a touchdown sign in football. Laying face-down in the water with no kick board, just start kicking. Avoid using your arms. Let your arms set in place at the top of the water. You head should be low enough in the water that your ears are even with or even beneath your biceps. If you do this you should be able to really feel your hips move up to the surface. Should you have an incredibly weak kick, this can be done with fins but simply kick slow. This is a slower drill about locating your balanced body position in the water.
It is recommended that you kick around 200 yards or meters in the #11 position each swim session for quite a few months to cultivate proper routines. Often times coaches will only kick in training this way simply because having a kickboard encourages kicking with your head up and thus undesirable body position.
So to greatly improve your swimming quickly, learn how to get your head into the right position.
Body position is very important in swimming because it directly can affect the amount of drag you have got on the water. While you're driving a car down the road next time, stick your hand out the window. Lay it flat or parallel to the ground. Next, turn your hand 90 degrees so it is vertical and your thumb is directed at the sky. Notice the huge difference the force of the wind is placing on your hand. The smallest amount of force is on your hand when it has the smallest amount of surface area subjected to the oncoming blowing wind.
Swimming is the exact same. The greater your profile or the more surface area you have exposed to the oncoming water, the greater drag you'll have. This is exactly where the idea of streamlined body placement arises from. You are attempting to make your entire body go through the tiniest hole in the water feasible in order to lower drag. This is a lot easier said than done.
There are different things that may cause a poor body position, however the most typical and severe has to be your head. Head placement has a direct effect on where a person's hips will probably be. Standing up with your hands on your hips, move your head down until your chin is on your chest. Next tip your head back as much as you can. You'll be able to sense how your hips may want to go in the opposite way as your head. So when your head is all the way up, your hips are down.
In swimming, an excellent body placement would have your hips on the top of the water so that they follow through the same opening in the water that was created by your head. As you lift your head up, your hips can submerge and substantially increase the drag you have in the water.
Learning to proper head position will not be an instant fix. It will require some time and work although the rewards will likely be well worth it. The best way to work on this would be to just simply kick in the #11 position. The #11 position is basically having your arms above your head like a number #11 or perhaps a touchdown sign in football. Laying face-down in the water with no kick board, just start kicking. Avoid using your arms. Let your arms set in place at the top of the water. You head should be low enough in the water that your ears are even with or even beneath your biceps. If you do this you should be able to really feel your hips move up to the surface. Should you have an incredibly weak kick, this can be done with fins but simply kick slow. This is a slower drill about locating your balanced body position in the water.
It is recommended that you kick around 200 yards or meters in the #11 position each swim session for quite a few months to cultivate proper routines. Often times coaches will only kick in training this way simply because having a kickboard encourages kicking with your head up and thus undesirable body position.
So to greatly improve your swimming quickly, learn how to get your head into the right position.
About the Author:
triForce Swimming is focused on helping triathletes swim not only faster but smarter. With dozens of triathlon swimming drills and techniques, Scott Alexander shows you not how to swim faster and more efficiently, but why things are done they way they are.
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