SKILL
Let me guess, sometimes your brain just HURTS thinking about swimming.
If you’ve watched your share of videos about swimming, read the advice given to fellow triathletes, or heard other discussing swimming skill, it can be overwhelming.
There are a LOT of details, a lot of perspectives, and a lot of nuance involved.
And some (much?) of it is contradictory.
It can be hard to know who to listen to or where to start when it seems like you need a degree in physics to understand what’s happening.
Frustrating.
However, you should know that much of the information IS needlessly complicated.
Fortunately, once you’ve improve your breathing, swimming well is ACTUALLY pretty simple.
It all really comes down to TWO basic skills that you have to master.
1. You want to create as little resistance as possible as you move through the water.
In other words, you want to move through the water like a torpedo on the surface of the water- straight and rigid with as little up and down or side to side motion as possible.
2. You want to create as much propulsion as possible with your arms.
In other words, you want to create as big a paddle as possible with your arm, and use that paddle for as long as possible to move as much water as possible.
If you do those TWO things really well, you will SWIM really well- quickly and efficiently.
Why is this perspective so important?
Every stroke you take is an investment in getting better.
You’re ALWAYS practicing.
What (and if!) you’re improving will depend on where you place your ATTENTION.
Because you can only focus on one thing at a time, and because you only have so much time, WHAT you focus on will determine what you improve.
And if you’re focused on improving either of the Big Two skills, you’ll get faster.
If you’re not, well…
Here’s what you can do-
Start paying attention to how you can create less resistance in the water.
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Can you keep your head in line?
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Can you keep your torso in line on the surface?
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Can you keep your spine straight?
Start paying attention to how you can move more water backward.
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Can you use your hand AND your forearm?
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Can you create more pressure on your hand and arm?
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How can you make a bigger paddle?
Just shifting your perspective can make a WORLD of difference.
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Learning the freestyle pull is one of the most difficult skills you can learn. If you want to know more about how to simplify your approach to improving your pull, grab a FREE copy of Developing A Powerful Pull.
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It has more details about why they simple approach is most effective, as well as 9 exercises that you can use to get the results you want.
It will help you focus where it matters, and it will give you the confidence that you’re working on the right skills.
With those skills in place, then you can start to TRAIN those skills.