Front Crawl Top Swim Tips

[Source: Tri-Rudy newsletter]

by Tom Anzai
www.swimottawa.com

"Top 5 Swim Stroke Mistakes...And How To Avoid Them“

After forty years of competitions both as a swimmer and a coach, I've seen just about every stroke possible as have my fellow colleagues who have been around the sport for several decades. I'm still amazed to see an unique swim technique I haven't seen before, however, I'm pretty sure the participant couldn't care less and is happy as a lark to be able to move in the water. To be honest, I'm still learning and trying out technique drills myself that seemed void in my youth (I don't think I was a good listener back then perhaps :-). Anyway, here's my top 5 front crawl swim strokes that I continually see and what you can do to fix them:


1. Excessive head lift when breathing. Lifting your head causes your lower body to sink and results in more turbulence. Do key rotation drills to make sure you look at the landscape sideways. Try it the next time you're at the pool by turning your head directly sideways. Does the landscape perspective seem odd? Chances are you are lifting your head to see more upright.

2. Forced breathing. If you get out of breath and you're in reasonable shape, then inefficient breathing is the culprit. You have to learn to slowly exhale air completely out of your lungs before you draw new air in on the breathing cycle. If you don't, you'll be attempting to both exhale and inhale when you breath causing laboured inefficiencies. To some progressive breathing drills while stationary and move to kicking with a board with your face in the water, then to experimenting with exhalation techniques to determine which is best for you.

3. Swinging arm recovery. Your arm is a pretty heavy limb. Imagine its dead weight as it swings wildly while recovering over the water. The only forces that can stop the swinging motion are two-fold: first, is your muscles to redirect your arms path, and second, is the force of the water as you counter correct it. Your muscles require energy as water is 800% denser than air. The two together will cause you to slow down over time. Use drills to relax the forearm and hand and minimize the path from the exit point (your hips) to the entry point (before you rotate to reach forward).

4. Cross-over underwater catch. The swinging arm recovery above often leads your arm passing your body's centerline as it strokes underwater. A no-no in swimming as that will result in lateral movement. We need to pull water directly behind us in order to continually move forward in a streamline fashion. Use drills to learn how to lock 'n load your hand entry by efficiently catching the water through the power phase through to the finish phase.

5. Inconsistent to no kick. Let's face it. Wet suits make you buoyant so you don't have to kick as much. But, let's be clear. You still have to kick to help drive your hips to initiate the pull. And, don't leave your feet to drag behind you like a pair of dumb bells. Use wall, vertical, dry land, and kick drills (with and without a board) to learn how to boil the water. Watch the next triathlon or open water swim. Are the leaders kicking? Absolutely.

6. OK, I snuck in a #6. Avoidance of other swim strokes. I sometimes hear triathletes stating that they only want to practice front crawl as that's what they only do in a race. One of the stronger recommendations I have is to become a real swimmer by learning the other strokes and treat it as excellent cross-training, particularly backstroke as it a long-axis cousin to the front crawl. It also uses muscles that are specific to the stroke that you cannot develop in any other way. By doing other strokes, it also prevents repetitive stress injuries and opens up a whole new awareness of feel for the water. Do progressive drills if you can't do the whole stroke. Work with the kick first and gradually incorporate the arms. You don't have to be proficient in those strokes...but if you do manage to do a resemblance of the butterfly than you can consider yourself a real swimmer :)