Swim training with pull buoy or not ?

munsterfan2

Hi,

Doing lane swims with the club I can comfortably hold 1:40 / 1:45 which swimming at front of group, however if I use a pull buoy I can hold 1:28 - 1:30. Trying to fix the issue with legs, but when racing the wetsuit fixes it and I tend use legs as little as possible to save for bike/run. Anyone any ideas/opinion on whether I should train full time with / without the pull buoy ?

Thanks...

peter kern

a certain balance never hurts and how the balance could work would depend on your goals and what you need to get better overall ... its not swimming cycling and running but triathlon and you have to find your mix that works for you to get you to the finish line the fastest not for one split .

ie if you get dropped at the start of the swim and that costs you places at finish line you need to be able kick more or get the arms stronger etc etc

if you lose places because you get passed at the run but you make the front pack in the swim why would you work on kick if the wet suit works....

but then what would you do if you want to do a non wetsuit race ..... which might never happen or often depending on where you race ...

what i can tell you 12 to 15 seconds per 100 is a huge gap between pull bouy and not at your speed and its not just a leg kick issue its a full body balance issue. but then if it works and is not your main limiter , dont think you have to change it if you have other things that give a better return for investment.

Kurt Godelfish

(If Peter Kern is posting again then this forum has a lot of value)

Munsterfan2 they are good times, but obviously a huge discrepancy between swim/pb. Peters advice is on the money, but I'm going to advise as someone who used to swim faster 100 pace with pb, but has gotten over that and now am slower with pb.

Sorry to use the copyrighted "it depends", but... it depends... are the other swimmers in your club lane triathletes, or masters swimmers? Do they mind you leading off sets holding 1:40, dropping to 1:30 with pb? Is the "comfortable" 140/1:45pb comparable to a comfortable 1:28/1:30 without?

Peters advice is better than anything I could give- its a triathlon and the finish line is far after the swim- but your line about saving legs for the bike/run stands out. If you want to get faster in the swim, you should work on your swim kick helping position/form, and that shouldn't take any time from your legs on the bike or run.

munsterfan2

Did 1/2 IM in Portugal last year, 32m swim 2:54bike and a 2:08 run. Not much gain to be made on swim, maybe some on the bike but definitely gains to be made on run. Did a winter turbo set and FTP has increased from 220 to 240. Doing 4 run sessions a week with a target for Bohermeen 1/2 1:38 or so.

Races for 2023, hopefully Camlough sprint, Hell of the West and Youghal 1/2 IM. Target for youghal is sub 5:30 which I would be very happy with (50+ age category)

Thanks for the advice.

griffin100

Just to add if your differences over 100m are 10 seconds plus with / without a PB then your hips and legs are probably sinking which means you need to engage your core more to raise your hips and also work on your kick - engaging your core more in the swim leads to benefits all round as it strengthens the body and allows you to engage core muscles when cycling and in particular when running at the end of longer race when good technique is important. That’s my experience anyway!!

munsterfan2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120277458#Comment_120277458

Trying at the moment, coach has me doing 25 backstroke kicking only, flip and swim front crawl. This get me to engage core, lifts hips/legs.

mossym

you're getting advice from the right guys on here to help with swim, i'd add though based on that last post if you have a coach who is actually getting to see you swim i'd trust in them if they know their stuff, the advice is solid but someone looking at you is going to see the exact issues