By Eric Hansen
For Active.com

Any group of swimmers at any level is an interesting case study of their preconceptions about the do’s and don’ts of swimming fast.

Denial and justification of specific training methodologies are the most fun to observe and debate. Having swum competitively for 20-some-odd years and coached now for over 15, I have witnessed some interesting concepts.

It was my interest in these debates that led me to get my MS in exercise physiology and apply it to my sport of choice, swimming. It is from my education and my experimentation as a National Team athlete and coach that I share with you a few of my favorite ongoing misconceptions:

1. Don’t eat within two hours of swimming. You will certainly cramp!

Whoever coined this phrase or gave birth to this concept certainly didn’t have my body. There is a significant percentage of swimmers whom I have trained with and have coached that need to eat right up to training time.

Have you ever tried to train on an empty stomach for three hours when you’re only carrying 4 percent body fat? It doesn’t work well. I’m not a huge advocate of jalapeno poppers or nuclear chicken wings prior to training, but I’ve found peanut butter and jelly or energy bars work great.

The sacrifice of tasting anything during warm-up, due to reflux, is counterbalanced with a solid block of energy to help you with prolonged duration at high intensity.

2. I’m not a great swimmer, nor will I ever be. I am a sinker, not a floater.

I love this one! This bit of philosophy tends to be used more as an excuse to not put in the time to adapt to an aquatic environment and learn to work with water, as opposed to punishing it.

Having worked with numerous Masters swimmers and multisport athletes who struggle with this concept, one thought always enters my mind: Relax!

Having swum or coached internationally for over 15 years, I can honestly say that the majority of world-class swimmers could be classified as “sinkers” due to their low body fat percentage. When trying to move through water at high speeds, body fat rarely can be regarded as an asset. Marathon open-water swimmers may have an argument, but the rest of us need to accept the fact that adding an extra layer of insulation won’t assist us in achieving world-class status.

I realize that elephant seals and a few other aquatic mammals seem to excel with their elevated adipose tissue. What mother nature gave them in the form of high fat content was counterbalanced with incomparable hydrodynamics and skin composition. We’re not so lucky.

Sorry about the lack of justification for holiday and weekend feeding frenzies. Let me reassure you that swimming has evolved to the point where the added buoyancy achieved through an increase in body fat is outdone by the unfavorable decrease in a strength-to-weight ratio.

3. Pulling with paddles is the quickest way to become a better puller, thus a better swimmer.

Paddles can be a dangerous tool to the inexperienced or technically challenged swimmer. The increased surface area that they provide has the potential to put undue pressure on parts of the shoulder that are sure to produce overuse injuries.

Eric Hansen is the head men’s and women’s swimming coach for the University of Wisconsin. He has been the men’s head swimming coach for the U.S. National team for several international competitions, including the World Short Course Championships in 2006, the 2003 Pan Am Games and the FINA Short Course World Championships in 2002. He is a former U.S. National Champion and U.S. National team member.

Kicking Drills for Better Body Position

By Karen Buxton
CoachBuxton.com

Don’t miss Part 1 of this series on swim-stroke efficiency drills.

The following drills not only help develop your kick, but improve your rotation and body position as well.

These drills are easily incorporated into your warm-up and cooldown and should yield good results if done consistently. Remember, if good technique were easy to come by, everyone would have it.

Discipline yourself this season to make these drills a part of your regular swim regimen.

Kick on side: Kick on your side with both arms at your side. Play with head position and see how that affects how your hips ride in the water. (Think “downhill” head pushing down and out and help your hips ride high).

Kick on side with rotation: Same as above, except after a six-beat kick, roll to your other side, initiating the rotation with your hips and core (the shoulders and upper body will follow).

Kick on side, arm out: Lie on your side and kick a length of the pool with the bottom arm extended and the top arm at your side. Concentrate on feeling long.

Kick on side, arm out with rotation: Same as above, except after a six-beat kick take a complete stroke (one-stroke cycle) and roll over to your other side. Lead the rotation with your hips, not your shoulders.

Common Freestyle Flaws and How to Fix Them

Even top swimmers can benefit from technique work, so working out stroke inefficiencies is time well spent.

Steve Tarpinian
Triathlete magazine

Your weakness is your strength! Cliche? Yes, but like many cliches, this maxim contains an element of truth, since every imperfection presents an opportunity for improvement. And when it comes to swimming, ironing out wrinkles in your stroke can yield huge dividends in terms of improved efficiency and lowered splits.What’s more, regardless of your level of proficiency in the water, there is always room for improvement, so even the most talented swimmers can improve by continually tweaking and refining their strokes.

Start by Taking a Breather

Let’s back up. Before we talk about technique, let’s start where most problems begin in the water: breathing. When you’re swimming freestyle, it’s critical to exhale when your face is in the water so you are able to take a full breath when you roll to the side.

However, because they can’t relax in the water, many swimmers hold their breath or only partially exhale, which subsequently prevents them from taking in a complete lungful of air. Invariably, these swimmers need to breathe every stroke and usually go hypoxic after a short swim, not from the effort but merely from lack of oxygen.

Prescription: Always focus on breathing while warming up and cooling down. This is the perfect time to smooth out your breathing and relax in preparation for the technique work and main set to follow.

Another useful exercise is to take five breaths on each side at the edge of the pool. If you are breathing to your left, place your right arm on the wall and rotate to the side, exhaling while your face is in the water and inhaling when you turn to breathe. This is not a physically demanding drill, but it helps to reinforce rhythm and relaxation.

Technique Troubleshooter

As noted, even top swimmers can benefit from technique work, so taking the time to work out inefficiencies in your stroke is time well spent. Here are a few of the most common sources of waterborne frustration for triathletes along with a few suggestions for improvement:

Crossover: When your hand enters the water at the beginning of each stroke, you must ensure it doesn’t cross your body’s imaginary midline running from head to toe. Crossing over puts a tremendous amount of strain on the shoulder joint and makes your body fishtail or swing from side to side, increasing drag.

Prescription: Single-arm and catch-up drills. Exaggerate the width of your entry point. At first it may feel as though you are entering far too wide, but this is simply because relative to where you were entering, it feels wide. Video analysis is usually necessary to monitor progress.

Entering too early: An early hand entry at the start of each stroke almost always causes the swimmer to drive down with his or her arm rather then extend forward. The driving-down motion causes an ineffective straight-arm pull that generates little power.

Prescription: Catch-up, finger-tip drag and single-arm drills.

Short finish: When you are sprinting, a shortened finish, which boosts stroke rate, is advantageous; however, for most distance swimmers, full or almost full extension at the end of the pull phase is much more efficient.

Prescription: Catch-up drill with thumb scrape on your leg to ensure you are completing the end of each stroke.

Dropping the elbow: Oftentimes, swimmers drop their elbows after their hands enter the water at the start of each stroke (instead, the elbow should remain high while the fingertips point down — think of reaching over a barrel on its side). This freestyle no-no robs swimmers of speed more than any other flaw. A similar flaw with the same prescription is pulling with a straight arm. In both cases, most of the resultant force vectors are directed down.

Prescription: Fist and single-arm drill. Also, visualize pulling over a barrel with each stroke.

No long-axis rotation: This is also described as flat swimming, where the swimmer doesn’t rotate from side to side. This flaw shortens the pull, reduces the length of the stroke and increases drag.

Prescription: Kick on side drill and catch-up drill.

Slapping and overextending entry: This is usually caused when a swimmer is working to lengthen his or her stroke; however, a long stroke must be generated by extending underwater and rolling onto the side. Otherwise, overextending on the entry can push a swimmer’s body down in the water and lead to a straight-arm pull.

Prescription: Catch-up, finger-tip drag and single-arm drills.

When working on the above drills, take the time to do them properly and concentrate on the skills you are developing. With practice, your stroke will respond and you can enjoy increased efficiency and faster splits in the water.