Swim for n00bs

Informative morsels to improve the swimming abilities of the aquatically challenged var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-37350315-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

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5 Rules for the Pools

1. Wear Proper Swim Gear

There have been countless times when I've seen basketball shorts, underwear, sweat soaked gym clothes, etc. Not only is this bad for the pool's filtration system, chances are there the things you are leaving behind in the pool leave either an oily residue or worse clump up into a terrifying grey matter that floats around the pool waiting to assassinate a swimmer by means of oral asphyxiation.

2. Be Mindful Of Sharing Lanes

Having a lane to yourself is akin to driving back home after work during rush hour with no cars on the road. Unfortunately, it'll rarely happen unless you choose to swim at ungodly hours in the morning or evening. Anyone who ever swam on a swim team probably shared a lane with 6-10 kids in the same lane and can understand the concept of circle swimming which is a nifty method of sharing the lanes.

Photo taken from Scubaboard.com

Lane Splitting (See the Fast Lane)

In most cases, you will end up splitting a lane in two if there aren't that many swimmers which is pretty simple. Stay along the sides and make sure you switch over after getting to the wall. 

Circle Swimming (See the Medium/Slow Lane)

Speed does not necessarily matter too much in a lane that's split so do not feel intimidated to share a lane with a more advanced swimmer. In fact, I highly recommend it if you are a visual learner as you can probably pick up a few things just by watching them swim. Having a lane to oneself is an unnecessary luxury unless they are swimming nothing but butterfly/breast stroke and have limbs the length of Michael Phelps that can knock out the guy in the next lane.

3. Stop To The Corner Of The Lane

Unless you like getting kicked in the face, avoid stopping in the middle on either end of the lanes. If you need a quick breather or clean your goggles scoot over to the side and allow your lane partner to utilize the sections you aren't using. 

Expect something similar, but with water..... and probably less boxing ring.

4. Pass With Class

Nothing makes you want to shove your heel down someone's face more than getting tapped on the feet constantly by someone swimming behind you in a circle pattern lane. While it is a both up to the lane line leader and the swimmer behind him to set the pace, the polite thing to do is tap their feet once or twice for one lap and inform them once they stop on the wall that you'd like to pass. If you're in front and start to slack, take a quick stop on the wall and let the swimmer behind you move ahead and jump in when the lane clears.

See: http://i33.tinypic.com/b8r1pj.jpg

Just to be clear, this is not classy but still hilarious nonetheless.

5. The Pool Is Not A Restroom

Yes chlorine kills a whole lot of things in the pool (EVEN STDS!) but that doesn't excuse that yellow cloud working it's way down your legs and towards the face of the person behind you. I've been witness to pieces of soiled tampons, poop chunks, and above all else tons and tons of questionably yellow tinted water which isn't exactly a great motivating factor when you know you're going to swallow some of that water at some point.

I'll leave this up to your imagination

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If you feel comfortable doing your Freestyle flip turns, here is a video demonstrating different turns in an Individual Medley (IM) which consists of Butterfly, Backstroke, Breastroke, and Freestyle in that order. The turns here demonstrate the way to transition from one stroke to the next. While this is a well trained swimmer, the biggest thing to note is the fact that he does not go straight to the surface each time allowing him to maximize on his push off the wall in conjunction with his dolphin kicks.

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Flip Turn 101 (Part 3)

Part 3: Pushing Off The Wall In a Streamline Position

Did you read Part II? If not, go back and make sure you understand the positioning there before going on to this section (Feet positioning is key). 

Finishing the flip is the easy part of your turn and the most fun since you get to blast off the wall. Knowing how to properly streamline is half the battle so if you haven't gotten this skill down refer to the image below as reference. 

Hands are flat stacked on top of each other with the biceps hugging your head behind the ears.

From the squat position in the last section's Step 3, we will begin by making sure that your body is parallel to the bottom of the pool. A good way to put yourself in this position is to have your "eyes on the sky so that you are looking up at the surface of the water (blow bubbles through your nose here if you have trouble with water shooting up your nose). 

Push off with BOTH LEGS straight off the wall, not towards the surface so that your body is parallel to the ground. You want to break out of the streamline on your stomach (unless you are doing backstroke).

This is where it gets a little tricky. If you can dolphin kick, perform one dolphin kick on your back, one sideways, and one on your stomach. Practicing this method will set you up for a cleaner looking push off. If you can't dolphin kick, freestyle kick your way onto your stomach.

You are now ready to start making your way up to the surface. Lead with your hands towards the top and MAINTAIN your streamline the entire time! The moment you feel your hands on the top of the water, you can begin your freestyle strokes with the hand that is closest to the bottom of the pool.

The compilation of posts regarding flip turns covers the basics of how to do a freestyle flip turn. As you practice, you may end up developing your own methods/style of flipping which is perfectly fine (unless you intend on swimming competitively). If you have any questions feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer it!

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Flip Turn 101 (Part 2)

Part 2: Figuring Out Where And When To Flip

To find out roughly where you should initiate the flip, head towards the end of a lane where you can stand.

Put both hands straight out and walk towards the wall until your fingers are about 2-3 inches away from the wall. This is where you will be flipping at the wall so familiarize yourself with feeling and seeing this location on top and underwater. 

Keep your fingers out instead of what the swimmer has here.

Practice swimming up to this spot and standing up to make sure that you are the right distance away once you get there. Do this until you can hit the right spot 3 times in a row.

The next step here is to land BOTH your feet parallel to the wall. You may have noticed that at the end of some lane lines there are plus signs that decorate the wall. Think of these as flip turn targets with the horizontal line indicating where your feet should be and the vertical line where your body should be.

After you nail the feet positions, the next part is making sure your body is in the right position to push off the wall. Start by positioning your legs in a squat position where the knees are at a 90 degree angle (imagine sitting on a chair sideways facing the sky). The hands should be tucked in near your face and your head should be facing the sky or wall underwater. Repeat this step until you feel comfortable with sticking the landing.  

You should end up somewhat like this sans the bad foot positioning

Problems You May Face:

Landing On The Wall With Just ONE Foot

This usually happens when you use "Ballerina Arms" and end up tilted when flipping. Work on using momentum or whip kick the legs to counter this.

Other students I've seen do the flip with their knees flared out instead of being compact which can lead to one leg reaching the wall first.

Keeping your eyes on the wall while you flip will also throw you off balance and disorient you so that your legs end up everywhere but the wall.

Missing The Wall

When you are not getting your legs close enough to the wall reevaluate where you are flipping and make sure that your fingers are just a few inches away from the wall AFTER you've already reached out with your arms and have a 90 degree angle between your body and arms facing the wall. 

Some people will flip and stay in the same place which can make this a little difficult as most swimmers I know will gain a little distance while they do the flip. If this happens try not to flip so quickly and give your legs some time to roll over towards the wall.

Not Getting Enough Air In Your Lungs

A majority of the flip turn process will be underwater and what I recommend to swimmers is getting one good side breath in before you initiate the flip. As soon as you finish your side breath use the arm that you had just done the side breath with to lead into your flip. Lung capacity can be another issue which can be resolved by working on your cardio/pulmonary conditioning.

While you may be tempted to push off and complete the flip turn on your own from here, it is crucial that you can reliably hit the right spot on the wall to provide a good habit that will lead to a better push off the wall. Get it 10-15 times in a row and you'll be set for the final push. 

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Flip Turn 101 (Part 1)

Being able to flip turn is another tell tale sign of a decent swimmer and for me it was a personal milestone in entering the competitive swimming field. On top of that, they look flashy as hell and double as an effective way of splashing any passerbys on the pool deck "accidentally". 

Dream On

Before we get started, keep in mind that this is a relatively tough technique to learn for most people. The biggest roadblock is allowing yourself to be upside down in the water. Simple as it sounds, the initial disorientation experienced can leave some nauseous or frightened. 

I discovered multiple approaches to teaching this and have narrowed it down to a few milestones that will lead to a successful flip turn.  

Since there is a lot to cover I will divide these into 3 or 4 parts.

Part 1: Learn To Front Flip In The Water

If you can somersault forwards while tucking yourself in a ball then this step should come fairly easily. If not, try these steps:

Get into water that is about waist to chest high.

Stand up with your feet together and tuck your arms in towards your chest like you're about to cannonball. 

Push off with both feet upward and guide the momentum with your head forwards into the water towards where your feet were and try to land back in the same position that you started with both feet. 

*To help ensure a straight flip, have your eyes follow your feet as you flip over to make sure you are facing the direction that you want to flip. 

Her legs and arms should be tucked in but this is another example of how to do flip if you have trouble staying compact.

Problems you may face: 

Not Flipping 

Try varying the speeds at which you are pushing off. If that doesn't work, ask a friend to help flip you over. Really try to get your legs over your head and keep your eyes on your feet to help keep you in a tucked position! 

Getting Nauseous or Feeling a Burning Sensation In Your Nose

Gravity pulls the water down your nose when you are upside down which can cause an involuntary inhalation leading to an uncomfortable sensation in the nose. Blowing bubbles whenever you are in such a position will help prevent this.

Flipping Only With The Help of Your Arms

My coach termed this "Ballerina Arms" as swimmers tried to compensate the flip with the help of their arms. This is a bad habit to form and can lead to an uneven flip that will put you in a slanted position.

Good head and leg placement but the arms are way out.

Not Having Enough Momentum in Your Flip

What I do to help some students learn the flip portion is to have them start off by floating flat on their stomachs with hands tucked in. From there, use a whip kick (similar to the dolphin kick) to help throw your legs over. 

Practice this until you can successfully perform 3 flips in a row before moving on to the next step or not look like this guy below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKutxqW6NWI

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Effective Freestyle Kicking

When heading out to the pool for some laps I scope out the lanes to determine which one is best suited for my speed. The identifier between an established swimmer and a recreational one is easily identified through the way they freestyle kick. Most people tend to kick with the knees resulting in a V shaped kick that can propel you forward slightly but is terribly inefficient as kicking faster or harder with this method will yield minimal gains in speed and distance.

A prime example of kicking with the knees. The arrow points to how to the leg where the kick initiates while the other leg shows the end point.

How do I fix this?

The problem with this is that your feet are not catching enough water as it moves through the water. To understand this concept, get yourself in a position where you can move your legs forwards and backwards by sitting/standing. Keep the leg relatively straight (allowing only a slight amount of bend at the knee), toes pointed away from the body, and the ankles loose. 

*Ankle flexibility is key to an efficient kick and may require some stretching in order to progress. If this is an issue, practice ankle circles clockwise and counter clockwise as well as foot flexion.

If you are doing it correctly, you will feel your quads, hamstrings, and potentially your gluts working to push and pull the leg up and down. Another good sign would be to feel your feet pushing the water away from your body. 

Sitting on the edge of the pool, on stairs, or even standing with one leg are a few options on practicing.

I tell my students that their feet need to feel "heavy" when they kick in order for them to move which discourages knee bending. Most of them can do it for a few kicks but will revert back to their old habits since it provides less resistance and is less tiring.

Still not working?

Try on flippers like this. Flippers add increased surface area forcing your feet to feel a higher resistance which is both great for ankle flexibility and awareness. 

The key here is to make sure that the flippers are bending and not rigid. Practice with these with the same tips mentioned above. 

Now what?

Getting to the point where this becomes muscle memory is difficult especially if you've been V kicking for a while so keep at it and within a couple sessions, you should be able to notice the difference. Some people (mainly dudes) will prefer to use their arms over their legs and say that focusing on the kick slows them down. This is true when they initially work on their legs but most of them don't stick with it long enough to see results. 

If you need more motivation, flutter kicks are a great way to tone and strengthen both the quads and hamstrings when done correctly whereas V kicking focuses on just the quads.

Here's a video snippet for you visual learners. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ddjgj6h-qs

Now get in a pool and try it out!

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Catching Water

Flailing your arms and frantically kicking but only have a couple feet to show for it? Chances are you aren't properly "catching" the water. Swimming is the art of moving water by becoming one with the water. Seriously.

Spinning your arms as fast as you can is about as useful as slamming on the pedals while your car is stuck in a ditch. The "catch" is the most important part of your pull which happens during the initiation of the stroke. In freestyle it is the first few inches of your stroke where you initiate your grab on the water. The difference here is the resistance your hand moves towards your body.

How is this achieved?

Immerse your hand in a body of water and close your fingers together. Make your palms face the water in a way that will drag as much water as possible and wave it back and forth laterally. The palms must be facing the side that it is moving towards so you will be swiveling your wrist. [Tip: cup your hands to enhance the drag effect] If you maintained a  palm, you should feel the water being pushed left AND right. This technique is called sculling and is used to enhance a swimmer's ability to feei the water.

Want to test it out in the pool? Check out this video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CHt4J6nJvo

After practicing this for a few laps, try to be aware of this when you do your are swimming regular freestyle. You'll know its working when your stroke carries you farther with each pull. 

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Warm Up

I have too much free time at the moment and as a swim instructor/coach I run into a bunch of common problems that many swimmers (new and old) run into that can easily be remedied by a few helpful tidbits. 

I'll start by addressing the most common problem most of my students have encountered: Breathing. 

A natural response when putting one's head underwater is to hold your breath and not let any air out. Some people think that opening their mouth will cause the water to flood in signalling a dangerous situation. The idea that any water in your mouth aside from drinking water causes most people to panic and have this image flash through their brain.

The solution? 

Blow bubbles when your head is underwater. Think about it this way: Runners are constantly breathing in and out when they run. Holding your breath for more than a 10 seconds will result in you gasping for air and possibly a little light headed. Your body needs that gas exchange of O2 and CO2 when you are performing and deprivation only leads to a rapid rate of exhaustion. 

How fast should you expel the air?

The goal here is to control the rate at which the air is expelled. Blowing out as hard as you can until you turn red is not recommended. When first learning to do this, try slowly exhaling for a period of 2-3 seconds and then taking a breath. It can take a little bit of practice before this becomes completely autonomous but most people say that this immediately improves their endurance right away. As you get better at it, short controlled exhalations work best for me as I don't really need to constantly exhale.

"Notice the bubbles trailing from the mouth"

Another added benefit for nervous swimmers is that exhaling allows you to relax a little more. A good goal to attain is a breathing pattern that allows you to simulate a 2-3 second delayed version of your regular respiratory rate. 

How do I practice this? 

Try doing 3 sets of 10 bobs where you only inhale out of the water and slowly exhale underneath. Utilize either your mouth or nose but try to practice switching between the two. 

Looking back to my childhood, I realize that I spent a lot of time swimming underwater and just watching my bubbles. If you spend 5-10 minutes just swimming underwater 2-3 times a week you'll start to realize how easy it is to hold your breath and move underwater.

Within a few minutes it should be much easier to swim longer sets now that you are aware of what made you so tired in the first place.