Swimmerists – front crawl advice please…

How do you do that slow, lazy looking front crawl!?

I see loads of people doing this at the local pool and they just go up and down constantly. If I go that slow my legs just sink.

They have a very ‘deliberate’ arm action, almost pausing mid-stroke, before the hand enters the water.

I seem to have to swim at a certain pace and so can only manage 5 lengths or so before I need a short break to catch my breath.

Ta!

Have a look at swim smooth.com

Go for coaching, I was taught for a very long time as a kid, so it just comes naturally now.

+1 swimsmooth.

You’re probably not breathing properly (and going hypoxic?) if you need to stop after ~5 lengths.
The swimsmooth stuff is really good, IMO.

What I was taught*, if you concentrate on your down-arm, the one that’s under water, and visualise its correct path through the water, your up-arm naturally adopts the motion you describe – pausing slightly to reach forward with your fingertips as it transitions from up-arm to down-arm and begins its own pull through the water.

Then, you just need to get your breathing right. It’s that, more than anything, that allows you to keep going, I think, and learning to breathe off the top of your lungs. You need to find a beat that suits you – every other stroke, or whatever, and whether it’s always on the same side or alternating, which just comes with practice and fitness.

* I was 7 at the time so might be talking bolx.

Obviously it is all about technique but for me the tip about breathing (which I heard when watching my little girls in their swimming lessons) is the most pertinent – best shown in pictures.

Are they going slowly or effortlessly?

As the others have said… SwimSmooth and coaching.

Annie who helped create the swim smooth app has just started coaching again after maternity leave.

http://www.triswimcoaching.com/

The single biggest improvement I had was when someone explained that you breathe out underwater

I tried for months to work it out for myself using books and videos but i couldn’t do more than a length. an hour with a good coach had me sorted and i was doing 3.8k within a few weeks. so as above, do that.

FWIW, i have heavy legs in the water and what helped was pushing my head down more than felt natural at first. I understand core strength is supposed to help here too but i never bothered with that. probably should.

Breathing also, start breathing out as soon as your head is in the water and make absolutely sure you’ve blown it all out before you take another breath. it takes more concentration than you’d think. especially true in open water

Im a pretty rubbish swimmer. i can still only swim at one speed and my stroke is pretty untidy, but from where i am now, i think i could probably get OK at it with a small amount of effort. When i started out, it felt like i’d never get even vaguely competent

get some tuition!

Dont mention a pause to the swim smooth guys!! It’s one of their great bugbears – as I know as an over-glider (to use their terminology)

The single biggest reason for feeling puffed is breathing – or to be more precise exhaling. Again as key lesson that SS coach.

Paul and Adam are both stars IMO

As well as Swimsmooth you can try Total Immersion.

I use both, but IMO SS are more comprehensive and accept that we have different styles. TI is more one way (happens to suit me) and can lead to being an over-glider and having a pause in your stroke.

I still go back to TI drills to help timing.

Thanks folks – I am breathing out under water, but probably nowhere near enough by the sound of it.

I’ll have a look at the website recommended too.

Thanks

A good warm up is the SS bubble, bubble breath drill – I do this for first 100m as a warm up

It assumes bilateral breathing but can be adjusted.

Breath one side, then consciously exhale fully saying bubble under water with two strokes then breathe again and repeat

If your legs are dropping then your stroke rate is probably too slow and the last thing you need is a pause in it.

Arms for swimming, legs for cycling.

One of the most important aspects to distance swimming, and one of the first things I learned, is to relax and only use the muscles you need. If you’re tense, swimming with clenched teeth, etc. then you’ll be out of puff after a few lengths.

A pause is a glide and your legs won’t sink if you glide fully stretched. Things that make your legs sink:

Pushing down on the water while your arms are in front of your shoulders. People do this subconsciously to lift their head to breathe when you should just rotate your body and head to breathe.

They don’t drive the arm forward as it enters the water but instead drive it down and forward thus lifting the body and sinking the legs. You drive the arm forward (that’s above your head if you were standing), glide if you wish, then “catch”, that means start the pull by dropping the hand and forearm as if you are reaching over a barrel. You pull yourself forward and avoid pushing down until the arm has pulled past your shoulder – from that point on downward push will lift your legs.

An inefficient leg kick, it needn’t be fast or even particularly powerful, but it does need to lift the legs; so you kick from the hip – lie tummy on the floor and lift a leg a little, that’s the start point for the kick, not when your legs are already sinking. Try a drill in which you concentrate on lifting the leg but make no effort to kick, then lift-kick. A four-beat kick should be adequate.

Breathing also, start breathing out as soon as your head is in the water and make absolutely sure you’ve blown it all out before you take another breath. it takes more concentration than you’d think. especially true in open water

Breathing was key for me. started out barely able to finish a 50m length without feeling like it might be my last! Exaggeration, but it always felt desperate, and I always needed a rest at the end of a length. Someone told me to concentrate on getting all my breath out before breathing in, and within a month, I was doing a mile with a “sprint” finish. when you get your breathing sorted, you can find your “jogging” pace, rather than your desperate dash pace, then you’ve got the brain space to concentrate on the actual stroke!

I tend to breathe out hard on the last stroke before the breath, rather than slow release. I think I think it helps with buoyancy, but no-one else seems to mention it.

I should be swimming more than I am – it’s good physio for my shoulder. Hate indoor pools though! Roll on summer and Guildford lido opening and warmer water at The Quays in Mytchett.

Dont mention a pause to the swim smooth guys!! It’s one of their great bugbears – as I know as an over-glider (to use their terminology)

As well as Swimsmooth you can try Total Immersion.

Bit of a generalisation, but “Total Immersion” places more emphasis on the gliding bit, while Swimsmooth seems more orientated to a tri crowd where speed is of the essence.

But if you’re having problems doing more than 5 lengths without dying either one (or pretty much any other coaching) will be a massive improvement.

I second (or third) Total Immersion…changed me from a crap only-able-to-swim-a-length-without-being-exhausted swimmer to one who can swim in a relaxed style for as long as I want (within reason).
if your legs are sinking, it’s possibly because your head is up/looking forward too much

I swam outdoors today over lunchtime and have done twice a week all Winter. An outdoor 50m pool heated to 27°C all year round.

An outdoor 50m pool heated to 27°C all year round.

27C? Yuk, that’s far too hot!

27? that’s a bit warm for actual swimming isn’t it? Is it geothermally heated?

Too warm is a nice problem to have, though. Our local lido is heated to 12 degrees over the winter. I went over the cold snap and the chap said, “sorry, boiler’s on full whack and 10°C is as high as it’s going.”

27+/-2 is the competition standard. Are you trying to tell us you’ve got too much insulation? 😉

12 degrees?

Wetsuits are mandatory for all Tri distances if it’s below 14 degrees.

27+/-2 is the competition standard. Are you trying to tell us you’ve got too much insulation?

🙂

Didn’t realise it was that high TBH. And BMI<22, probably lacking in insulation if anything!

Wetsuits now compulsory for all FINA open water events if the water temp is under 18 degrees! Pah blouses.

I did the French Olympic distance championships years back. They measured the temperature and declared no wetsuits – our toe tests said it was too cold. They they put us in the water and left us treading water for long enough for me to consider retiring there and then. By the time the klaxon went I was gibbering and never warmed up. I also crashed in to a kayak that was supposed to be directing us. I was very happy to get out of the water but then never really warmed up on the bike.

http://www.guildfordspectrum.co.uk/swimming/guildford-lido/cold-water-swimming-season/

In a wetsuit you may find you can swim comfortably for a while. For hardened swimmers you may wish to swim without a wet suit, this is your choice but a disclaimer must be signed.

Grrr!

(Brrr)

Wimps, South London Swimming Club swim throughout the year at Tooting Lido, no wetsuits.

After many (30-ish) years of not swimming properly, I returned to it last year (inspired by my daughter as she’s learning to swim). I only get a chance to go once a week and, for entirely other reasons (not going in to here) which mean my exercise is deliberately limited (volume/intensity/duration), I can’t do a great deal more.

I’m at the point where, because I’m so out of shape, I target 1k in 30 mins. But that’s a 50/50 split of freestyle and breaststroke (alternate 25m lengths) with a general rest for 30-60 seconds each 100m.

I’ve definitely improved since I started up, and breathing was a key one. I’ve recently moved from every right hand stroke to alternate side breathing on every 4th stroke.

But now I want to get to the point of being able to swim freestyle only without the breaststroke recovery lengths (though my BS is prob no slower than my FS). Stroke isn’t bad, though it is’t consistent and it definitely tails off on the second length of my 100m blocks. I don’t do the high elbow pull and think I might be reaching too far.

Is it worth getting coaching or am I forever going to be fighting against the inability to gain fitness?

I am breathing out under water, but probably nowhere near enough by the sound of it.

one of the SS drills is to start sinking at the deep end and then breath out so you sink rather than float up. Its surprising how hard you have to breath out

My technique is bad but pilates has really helped me focus and relax. I m going to get coaching as the next step. As above relax, focus and concentrate.

I was coached in The Shaw Method, which is Alexander Technique based, very similar to total immersion. For me, coaching made a word of difference and was money very well spent

alternate side breathing on every 4th stroke.

How TF do you manage that???

Is it worth getting coaching or am I forever going to be fighting against the inability to gain fitness?

Definitely. Swimming is 90% technique / 10% fitness.

How TF do you manage that???

Just in case I’m causing confusion:

Right arm out, breathe right hand side, right arm in, pull back.
Left arm out, in, pull back.
Right arm out, in, pull back
Left arm out, breathe left hand side, left arm in etc.

EDIT: those are in breaths. I breathe out all the time while my face is in the water. I also tend to look down rather than forward.

Definitely. Swimming is 90% technique / 10% fitness

Will look into it then. I’d forgotten just how much I love it.

I too find it very hard to slow down but What makes it worse is the footcramp i get after 1000metres or so.If I use my legs much, or do kick turns it gets worse.
Rotating my body is new to me but it takes the stress off my shoulders.
So you wait until your arm is below your shoulder level before you use any power with it?

I do a fair bit of swimming.
From watching other’s technique the way to make it look effortless is to make sure you extend your pull through the water right down to your thigh. I see so many people who bring there arm out of the water for the recovery phase somewhere near the hip. I am guilty of this when I get tired or trying to put a sprint on.

So if I’m doing 60 lengths with a bad technique does that mean I’m using more energy than someone with good technique! 😀

So if I’m doing 60 lengths with a bad technique does that mean I’m using more energy than someone with good technique!

For a given speed, yes.