I love to swim.
I love to swim, but I there is always an element of struggle in that part of training. In short, I never seem to have enough air! After years of feeling the same way swimming, I felt that fighting that breathlessness was just the way it was. Then I went to a swim clinic with Patrick McCrann.
Now mind you, over the years I have had private lesson after private lesson. I have done the Total Immersion weekend. I have been part of a masters team for five years, with a coach who willingly tries to help with technique. I've been trying and trying to make a breakthrough, and it seems that this one clinic did it.
For me, the changes I need to make boiled down to three things: quiet head, strong breath, deep hands. Maybe some of these tips will help you:
strong>Quiet Head
For better body position, I needed to pick up my chin a teeny-tiny bit. I need to look a little straighter ahead, rather than so far down. I can now see my hands just after they enter the water, rather than not seeing them at all.
Strong Breath
By strong breath Patrick means that as soon as the hand of the recovering arm is entering the water, you begin exhaling forcefully. That way ALL the air is expelled so you can take a full breath when you turn to breathe. What that has meant for me, is that I now breathe bi-laterally much more effortlessly. I found that on the left side, I was breathing much to late, and still exhaling when I needed to be breathing IN. I do it correctly on the right side. I've always been hugely breathless trying to bilateral breathe for any length of time. By breathing sooner and more forcefully on my left side, it is making it much, much easier for me to breathe bi-laterally. This is going to take some practice.
Deep Hands--For Me, This is Key
The "deep hands" has gotten my arms off the surface of the water, where there is nothing to "pull." It sets me up for the catch and pull in a way I never felt before. I literally have to dive my hands down deeper as the enter the water, rather than just reach out shallowly on the surface. Diving the hands down also gets my hips UP and in a much better body position. I LOVE swimming like this. It makes for ease, yet with propulsion. Below is a video from the free Endurance Nation Swimming Ebook. It shows how Rich "dives" down his hands and fixes his head position to tilt up just a bit. It's what I'm trying to replicate.
I am not going for speed right now, but just drilling and working on what I need to change. As I swim, I find myself thinking "Is this what they mean by easy swimming????" "Can it really feel this effortless???" "I'm not feeling winded, but going faster without trying." OMG, I'm amazed. I'm also sure that I don't have it all cemented in place. I have another session with Patrick in two weeks. By then I'll see what's improved--and what else/still needs work.
I encourage all of you to get some good swimming help if you think you need it. Try an instructor, if you don't make progress, then try another. This endeavor is 70% technique, 30% speed. Proper instruction really can make a difference. It's taken me years to find it, but what a difference it is making.
