Front Crawl - Legs.

Green Hornet

I swim about 40 lengths front crawl of a 25 metre pool about 3 days a week but I'm very slow (takes about 30 mins). I've been watching other people swim and they seem to be much, much faster, although many seem to do about 10 fast lengths and then leave the pool.

I asked the lifeguard to have a look at my technique this evening and he told me that my stroke is good, smooth entering the water and stretching the arms out etc.

He thinks my main issue is leg action. He told me that I seem to swim at an angle, i.e. my legs dont even really break the water. He also said that I seem to be bending my knees a little. Both things obviously add more resistance and slow me down.

Is there anything I can do to get the legs up? I already try to keep my head down well. I can practice leg action for a few lengths each session but is there anything else I can do to try and get the legs up? Maybe there isn't and it just needs practice and conscious effort until it improves?

missyfirefly

Ok well there are a few things on this that i'd like to say.

Firstly... You say you swim at an angle, Maybe try bi-lateral breathing (breathing left and right every 3rd or 5th stroke) this may help balance out your stroke.

if you swim 40 lenghts of a 25m pool in 30 mins, thats 1k in 30mins... there are a few things to take into consideration here 1) your age 2) were you ever a competitive swimmer 3) how old were you in life when you started to swim lenghts

By a swimmers standards 1km in 30mins isn't quick tbh but that doesn't mean that it's not fulfilling it's purpose, i mean heh, are you looking to have this as a hobbie, general feelgood/keep fit or are you in training for anything in partcular???...

as for your kick, right well bear with me on this as i have to put this into words without visual aids..

ok
your legs should not be breaking the water(white splash) if you are going for endurance (like getting into a pool and swimming 40 lenghts straight)
Your legs should be kicking just below the surface. All you should see above the water is the water raising up but not splashing.

It is very labour intensive to be kicking your legs while swimming a long distance (like 1Km), you'll wear yourself down, leave the kicking to the sprinters

the leg action for distance swimming is just for balance and is usually just a 2 beat kick i.e. 1 kick per arm movement. Now by kick i don't mean a full kick either. Your ankles should be loose, knees slightly bent, and toes pointed inward. the kick should not break the surface but the flick of your ankle should feel resistance from the water... Hope that makes sense

Ok now the reason i'm saying that distance swimming should not really focus on the kicking is because the power in that sort of swimming comes from the sholders and from how you pull yourself though the water. Make sure you feel the water and stretch yourself through it, doing long strokes.

Head Position - This varies person to person - Most people are taught to keep their head looking forward as this creates less resistance, however, personally i never did this as it made my neck tired, tbh i was prob too lazy...

i kept my head flat but facing down all the same so, tbh it depends on the individual.

the least resistance you will get through the water depends on how much you stretch your body, but at the same time remembering to keep your ankles loose...

The best way to speed up your swimming would be to set yourself a proper swim session.

i'll give you an example

firstly a good stretch poolside..
warm up

300m 10 lenghts
nice and easy strecting yourself as you go

5 x 100m (5 sets of 4 lenghts)
Set yourself a time giving yourself about 20 secs between each 100m. time example of 2:30min (you should be decreasing this time over time giving yourself less of a break as your aerobic capacity builds up)

200m 8lenghts warm down...
very important to have a swim down as this will help any lactic acid that has built up to leave your muscles faster and thus a quicker recovery.

Hope all of this makes sense, main thing is to stick with it and the more you can structure your session and set yourself times (realistic times) to aim for your speed will increase...

aside, people who get in and do just 10 lenghts are either just warming down after a gym work out or trying to wake up because getting in and doing just 10 lenghts isn't going to aid in any keep fitness regime on it's own.

Any questions or clarification just let me know

Green Hornet

Wow!! Thats a great reply and very useful!

To answer a couple of your questions I'm 39 and started swimming just over a year ago.

I'm really just interested in maintaining some level of fitness as I dont play team sports anymore. I'm actually content enough with the distance but also aware that its very slow. So slow that I wondered if it was really doing anything for me fitness wise.

I gotta admit that I never stretch before I get in the pool and haven't ever really structured a session either.

I really should try and focus more on the bilateral breathing too. It just doesn't seem to come as natural to me as breathing on one side.

Thanks for the help!

missyfirefly

no probs chicken


keep at it...

AngryHippie

missyfirefly wrote: »

Ok now the reason i'm saying that distance swimming should not really focus on the kicking is because the power in that sort of swimming comes from the sholders and from how you pull yourself though the water. Make sure you feel the water and stretch yourself through it, doing long strokes.

Head Position - This varies person to person - Most people are taught to keep their head looking forward as this creates less resistance, however, personally i never did this as it made my neck tired, tbh i was prob too lazy...

i kept my head flat but facing down all the same so, tbh it depends on the individual.

I'm not saying you are wrong, but, I'm working in a pool in Brisbane at the moment, Tri is pretty popular over here, and there are 3 clubs training in the pool (outdoor 50m), I've been keeping an eye on the sets they are doing, just for comparison with home, and about 1/3 of their set is on leg work, They average about 500m either with kickboards or stubby fins in every pool session, and tbh the results are there. I was asking one of the coaches about it, and he told me that the fin work helps for the cycle and the run stints, as much as with the swim, so don't knock it.


Also on head position, The waterline should be roughly where your hairline is, and you should be looking down and forward at a 45 degree angle (give or take), If your leg kick is too deep, it may be because you are raising your head a little, keep head lower and legs will rise. Definitely worth getting the hang of Bilateral (left and right side breathing) and trickle breathing( exhale slowly through your nose while face is down, so all you need to do with your face up is gulp in some air)

Enjoy

topper75

Rather than slicing your hand along the water as you enter, dig down at an angle. Keep your leading hand down a nice bit in the water to lift the legs further. If flat in the water equals 3 oclock, try digging down to about 5 oclock.

Green Hornet

topper75 wrote: »

Rather than slicing your hand along the water as you enter, dig down at an angle. Keep your leading hand down a nice bit in the water to lift the legs further. If flat in the water equals 3 oclock, try digging down to about 5 oclock.

Actually, I do tend to run my hand along just beneath the water normally so I'll definitely try that!

AngryHippie

At full stretch, your hand should be no more than a hands width under water, depends on your catch, but full stretch is key, stretch out as far as you can without your head moving sidewards.

missyfirefly

AngryHippie wrote: »

I'm not saying you are wrong, but, I'm working in a pool in Brisbane at the moment, Tri is pretty popular over here, and there are 3 clubs training in the pool (outdoor 50m), I've been keeping an eye on the sets they are doing, just for comparison with home, and about 1/3 of their set is on leg work, They average about 500m either with kickboards or stubby fins in every pool session, and tbh the results are there. I was asking one of the coaches about it, and he told me that the fin work helps for the cycle and the run stints, as much as with the swim, so don't knock it.

Also on head position, The waterline should be roughly where your hairline is, and you should be looking down and forward at a 45 degree angle (give or take),

Well i don't think Green Hornett was looking at entering tri's quite yet.
Your absolutly right practicing kick is really good for your core and when competing in tri's a powerhouse in your core is what you need...
However I think you missed the point with distance swimming and a 2 beat kick.

As for head pos like i said i'm lazy but your right in so far as your head pos does dictate the height of your legs. That's why you see people who sim with their head out of the water, you can practically see their legs trailing along the bottom of the pool...

Look at your position in the water and adjust yourself accordingly. If your legs are too low - keep your head down.

How is the swimming going now Green Hornett? Any improvements?

trishw78

Sorry for the Hijack Green Hornet

Just reading this thread... I have a quick question

when I first learned to swim (IWS) about 25yrs ago I was thought with my head in the water and breathing every 2nd or 3rd stroke. as I got more involved in IWS training we were thaught to swim with our heads out of the water so as to see the drowning victim. since I'm no longer a life guard or am involved with IWS I can't get into face down in the water.

It's like I've forgotten how to breath every 2nd or 3rd stroke, I've tried a few times to retrain myself but I'm thinking of going back to basics and learning with a float. Has anyone else any suggestions.

Fadetodrill may have answered my problem here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58521812&postcount=2

I'll try this out

sock puppet

trishw78 wrote: »

Sorry for the Hijack Green Hornet

Just reading this thread... I have a quick question

when I first learned to swim (IWS) about 25yrs ago I was thought with my head in the water and breathing every 2nd or 3rd stroke. as I got more involved in IWS training we were thaught to swim with our heads out of the water so as to see the drowning victim. since I'm no longer a life guard or am involved with IWS I can't get into face down in the water.

It's like I've forgotten how to breath every 2nd or 3rd stroke, I've tried a few times to retrain myself but I'm thinking of going back to basics and learning with a float. Has anyone else any suggestions.

Fadetodrill may have answered my problem here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58521812&postcount=2

I'll try this out

Can you swim face down with one arm?