Making some progress!

[Mike A]

I had a great swim this morning. It started well - applying recent experiments with body position, balance and deeper hand entry, I began with a leisurely 100m - which I think is the first time I've managed 100m freestyle continuously! Not only that, I didn't even feel particularly exhausted or gasping from breath at the end, so next time I'll shoot for 150 or 200.

Even better, with this deeper entry angle, I discovered I could manage 25m of Unco reasonably comfortably on both sides (though a bit more of a struggle with my weaker left arm). And this was with no fins! My previous attempts at Unco have been more like struggling not to drown, and in the case of my left arm, having to give up after 10 or 15m.

I was so pleased with myself that I got brave and decided to try a few flip-turns at the end of my session (the pool had emptied quite a bit by then). I think I was more or less successful a couple of times out of ten or fifteen attempts, but not bad for my first attempts in over 25 years - and practise makes perfect!

[SolarEnergy]

This is really awesome. Keep up!!

[Mike A]

Thanks Charles. I should add that Paul's recent blog post about deeper hand entry - plus improving my catch from studying the Catch Masterclass DVD - have been a big help, even if I'm now probably swimming a bit too Total Immersion-ish for SwimSmooth's liking. I think I needed to become an overglider to find my balance - I figure I can fix the dead spots later!

[Mike A]

Slightly more mixed results today (first swim in a week).

I started well, with a non-stop 200m freestyle. This has been an important goal for me for a while, and I'm very pleased to have finally achieved it. On the downside, it took me just over 4 mins (though I was deliberately taking it easy). I think with practice I ought to be able to get below 3 minutes (I can sprint 25m in about 19s). But I was struggling to breathe to the right, and ended up mainly just breathing to the left.

The real disappointment was when I tried Unco drills. It seemed much harder than last time, and with the left arm I really struggled - couldn't find the breathing pocket, and couldn't make 25m. I worked on it a bit, tried to figure out where I was going wrong, and managed a little improvement by the end. But clearly a lot more work is needed. I wish I could swim more often, to really consolidate technique and get it all into muscle memory. Old habits die hard.

I had better luck with the flip turns, though I only did a few towards the end when the pool was empty. Much better success rate than last time though.

I recently watched a video of Shinji Takeuchi swimming 25m breast stroke in just 6 strokes (plus one underwater), and today I thought I'd see how few I could manage. I was quite surprised to discover I could actually match Shinji, though maybe I was a bit slower (at a more normal speed I usually do somewhere between 13 and 16 strokes). All of which shows how weak my freestyle is still, with my current record of 15 strokes for 25m compared to Shinji's 9! (I realise of course that all this stroke counting is heresy to SwimSmooth - so burn me!).

cheers, Mike

[SolarEnergy]

Speed remains (and forever will remain) function of rate * dps.

Keep up Mike, keep up!

[Mike A]

Yes, I'm not taking the stroke counting too seriously - but slowing down has definitely made me focus more on balance, and I at least feel like I can slow myself to a sustainable speed now, whereas before I was rushing faster and faster towards breathlessness.

When I was thinking about what went wrong today, I remembered a useful drill I'd done on the swim before last - basically just pausing the recovering arm while finding the catch with the lead. A voluntary deadspot, but I think it helped me get the feel for good positioning etc. I'm going to try that one next time, before going into normal freestyle. In fact I've made a little list for my next swim - two specific drills, and three things to focus on - which I hope will correct the mistakes I made today. Onwards and upwards!

[Mike A]

Better swim today. Didn't do a 200, but did lots of 100m sets. Quickest was 1:37, though I wasn't totally sprinting it. One day maybe I'll catch up with my 13-year-old niece who apparently does 100m in 1:15. Right now that's about my sprint speed for 25m!

Lots of slowish technical lengths today, focusing on body position, catch, timing etc. Also quite a lot of 2 beat kicking - I seem to be getting the hang of the rhythm now, though occasionally I find myself flexing my non-kicking leg when I shouldn't (probably a balance thing). Successfully did 25m unco, no fins, on both sides (though still inclined to drown a little with the left). Did a few flip turns, but I'm tending to flip too soon at the moment - missed the wall entirely one time!

I think I'm getting to the point now where I can benefit from using the tempo trainer. Will maybe give it a go next week.

[cottmiler]

Mike A wrote:
"Better swim today. Didn't do a 200, but did lots of 100m sets. Quickest was 1:37, though I wasn't totally sprinting it. One day maybe I'll catch up with my 13-year-old niece who apparently does 100m in 1:15. Right now that's about my sprint speed for 25m!"

Mike, are all these digits correct as I don't seem to make sense of them?

[Mike A]

To clarify, I did 100m in 1m37s. My neice does 100m in 1m15s, which equates to about 19s per 25m (a speed I can make over 25m, but not much further). Hope that makes sense now!

[Mike A]

Pretty good swim this morning. Did 200m in 3:42 - quite a leap from two weeks ago, when it took over 4 mins! I timed a 50 at 42s, so I guess my sustainable speed at the moment is around 2min per 100m (or a CSS of 0.83m/s). Way slower than I want to be, but it gives me a baseline to work from.

I was trying to pace myself with the Tempo Trainer, but I find it really hard to stick to the beat, especially on the first few laps when my arms want to go much faster! Maybe it takes a while to get used to. 48spm seems to be a good sustainable pace for me at the moment (quite low, I realise!).

My next immediate goal will be to do 400m continuous - with an initial target time of around 8mins.

More fun with flip turns today - tried adding a dolphin kick, which makes it easier (but also slows you down, or so I hear).

[Mike A]

Mixed results this morning. I kept setting off too fast (despite tempo trainer) and running out of steam after 100m. On the plus side I managed one 100m in 1:32, which is my quickest yet. Did manage a 200m, but at quite an easy pace, and untimed. Couldn't seem to get my form right today - body position and timing all over the place, as was revealed by a pretty bad unco drill.

Towards the end I did some 2 beat kick with long slow strokes (yes, overgliding!) and got much better body position and rotation - things started to feel right again. With 2bk I feel like I can keep going forever, but it's quite a slow pace.

I've been doing some dryland core exercises in between swims (well, actually a daily 15 minute workout with some push-ups and stretches too) and am hoping this will help with rotation etc. I think the 2bk really helps drive the rotation from the hip; for some reason I don't seem to manage this with the flutter kick.

[Mike A]

Wow, I see it's been a long time since I posted to this thread. I think I had a bit of a hiatus some time after March, but have been swimming again regularly for a few months now. Nice to see that back in February I had only just swum my first 200m continuous - I'm now doing continuous 400m sets fairly comfortably.

Decided to time myself this morning for the first time in a good while (I've been focusing on technique and distance rather than speed). 100m was 1m36s and 400m was 7m28s (both swum with two-beat kick). Not going to break any records, but I'm fairly happy with those times at the moment. They indicate a CSS around 1m57s per 100m, which, if I could keep it going, would suggest 1500m in under 30mins is a distinct possibility. That's my long-term goal at present.

[Mike A]

Good swim this morning, 1700m total. I did two sets of 600m continuous, one with pullbuoy, one without - that's the longest continuous swim distance I've done to date. Next I will shoot for 800m. I know that doesn't sound very impressive, but it wasn't that long ago I would collapse gasping for air after 100m!

On the down side, my attempts to breathe to the right seem to be getting worse and worse. I think I can see some heavy drill sessions in the near future.

[smootharnie]

HI MIke ,

Seems that a lot of older starters have the same endurance problems. I am also out of breath after 50 meter.
How did you improve on your distances you could swim without rest?
I am doing now more and more repetitions of 50 meter lenghts, and want to proceed to reps of 75, 100 etc.
Slowing down could also be a solution. Did you take the slow down route, and how effected this your stroke?

good luck with your progress.

[Mike A]

Thanks SmoothArnie. For me the steps were roughly:-
1. Improve balance and develop a good catch. Swimming slowly is good for the balance part. Swimming with a pullbuoy is good for catch work.
2. Develop a 2-beat kick. I tend to burn out very quickly with a 6 beat kick, so getting to grips with the 2 beat approach has been a big breakthrough for me.
3. Get relaxed about breathing, and make sure you exhale into the water. I still forget to do this sometimes, and have to remind myself!
4. Develop abdominal strength to help body rotation. Lots of dry land plank and crunch exercises.
5. Focus on distance/endurance rather than speed.
6. Put in plenty of laps, including a lot with a pullbuoy. This is the best way to develop the right kind of upper body muscle (as opposed to, say, weights or push-ups, which are low-rep, high resistance exercises. Unless you're a sprinter, swimming is about high-rep, low-resistance work). I'm not someone who puts on muscle easily, but I've noticed a significant increase in muscle bulk in my pecs and lats.

Of course, no two swimmers are the same, so some of the above may not work or be relevant for everybody. There are a lot of other little things that need focusing on when my stroke starts falling apart - not pushing down at the front of the stroke, not lifting the head when breathing, etc. It's always a work in progress!

[EricaM]

Definitely looks like a progress. I know how important it is to improve step by step in swimming. I learned to swim only 2 years ago and now I participate in local competitions in my neighborhood and I felt really great after coming to the fore for the first time!
Thank you for sharing you experience by the way, you post gave few really useful clues on swimming.


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[smootharnie]

All your points make perfect sense.
- tried a pull buoy today for the first time and it is certainly making life easier, but a lot of people advise against their use.
Agree that they are fine for experimenting with your catch, but do nothing for solving a sinking leg problem.

[SolarEnergy]

In total agreement in regards to pull buoy

[Mike A]

It's a tool - you can use it for good or evil!

For me its chief benefits have been:-
1. Enabling me to swim continuously for longer, thereby developing upper body strength/endurance
2. Isolating the catch and roll aspect of the stroke, so I can focus on them alone
3. Teaching the hips to drive rotation, without over-reliance on the kick

A pull buoy shouldn't be used as a cure for sinky legs; quite the contrary. The only thing that will cure that is getting your body position right.

[cottmiler]

MikeA,

Was it you who pointed out the benefit of returning the head quickly after breathing?

After a bit of reading about breathing, it seems useful to look slightly backwards when breathing, but what I identified today was that the head must return DOWNWARDS like a "nodding donkey".

I think I have been returning the head back UPWARDS to see what obstacles there are in front of me in the crowded pool, and instantly I feel the legs drop. Bad.

(A nodding donkey is a beam pump)