Over the past while, everyone who I speak to and everything I read about swimming seems to indicate that it is all about technique and only secondarily about fitness.
I have taken this on board and I have investigated squads around the different pools. After much consideration... I am not going to any of them.
I'm just not a fan of having a coach. I am not totally sure why. I don't like someone telling me to do this, do that etc. I like working it out for myself. I like reading about stuff and putting my own program together. I like talking to other people informally and picking up a tip or two here and there.
So I am just going swimming. I am working on my technique though. I am trying to work on a few things at the moment, but perhaps too many things at once. As I focus on one thing, other things suffer and it is hard to get good habits/muscle memory to occur. The three things I am working on are:
1) Staying relaxed and breathing properly. I have a bad habit from when I was a kid of holding my breath. When it is time to breathe, I breathe out and suck back in - obviously a pretty fundemental flaw and frankly quite embarasing. I then tense up. Things are so much easier when breathing properly. Blow bubbles you goose!
2) Staying parrallel to the water line. My head is up and my bum is down. I watch good swimmers and they float so much more than poor swimmers. I am trying to keep my head down, roll to the side and breathe out the back. I try and get my backside out of the water like Grant Hackett.
3) Slow my stroke rate down and make every stroke count. I feel like I splash around alot. Reach by rolling body slightly - glide - pull back etc.
Putting all three together at once and making it a habit is the first hurdle.
So I know I should get a proper coach/lessons but I am not gunna! I will probably be last out orf the swim leg but I don't care - more to catch on the run! I became a single figure handicap golfer without lessons - how hard can swimming be?
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Wow. With a handicap like that, you should give up triathlons and have a crack at the PGA tour!
I agree about technique being vital for swimming. The only problem about 'doing it yourself', is you can't see what you're doing. You might imagine what you're doing, but it could still be wrong. A coach could give you some instantaneous feedback about a small correction in technique.
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