If you have a deep end in your pool, a great way to work on your kick is to do some vertical kicking. Keep your body nice and straight and move your feet as your would normally – there is a tendency to increase knee bend too much while vertical kicking. A good set is [...]
As race season rolls around, getting time out training in the open water is a great way to mix it up and give yourself a break from the black line. However, it is very easy to fall into a leisurely pace that won’t benefit your race day goals. To get around this you need to [...]
Sometimes when you hit the water for training you may lack some motivation to put the time in. When that happens it’s good to have a swim set that you enjoy and can fall back on. Of course, this only works if you have control of your own workouts. Sometimes, however, you may be feeling [...]
Swim cords are a great tool to help work swim specific muscles out of the water, and they can help your mental game tremendously when you can’t get in the pool because your schedule doesn’t mesh with lane swim times. Just loop them around a pole, tree, stair banister, shut the middle part in a doorway… [...]
Have you ever watched a world class swimmer on video? It’s as if they have gumby feet, acting like flippers pushing them through the water. You may have heard, or believe, that your kick is not a huge part of your Ironman swim stroke. This is true relative to a flat-out pool race, but if you can [...]
Studying pictures is a great way to improve your own form. Find someone who does it well and compare your own photos or video. They don’t have to be triathlon specific.
What does Michael Phelps or Inge De Bruijn do that you don’t? Or, what COULD you do that Michael Phelps does?
What does Norman Stadler look [...]
Swimming fast is all about technique so drills should be incorporated into all workouts, even if just in your warm up or cool down. A good drill for those of us with imperfect catches is to swim with clenched fists. By decreasing the surface area of your hand you become much more aware of where [...]