Triathlon swimming made easy (12 page)

Drill #1: Balance on Your Back

Why we do it: This is the easiest way to relax and enjoy the support of the water. You don't have to worry about breathing, so you can just lie there and experience balance.
Effortlessness and stability
are the key sensations of balance; learn them here then maintain in other positions.

Follow this sequence (kicking gently at each step):

1. Hide your head. Ask a partner to compare your head position with the picture. Your face should be parallel to the surface, with water wetting your chin, and the corners of your goggles. Tuck your chin
slightly
to keep your head aligned. Minimize distraction from waves in your face by wearing nose-clips.
This is your head position whenever you'
re nose-up.

2.
Make a "hull shape" with your back. Round your shoulders
slightly,
keep your ribs "closed" so your back is shaped something like the hull of a boat. Keep your shoulders neutral.

3. Lay back. Lean on your upper back until your hips feel light. Feel a "dry patch of thigh" on each kick. Keep your kick quiet and gentle; your knees and toes should just ruffle the surface.

4. Arms to your sides. The true test of balance is being able to
do nothing
with your arms. If you need to brace yourself or scull with them, you aren't balanced. When you are really supported by the water, you can use your arms just to help shape yourself into a torpedo.

5. Don't overdo it. Once you've mastered the head position and general sense of balance here, this isn't a drill you need to keep practicing long-term. It's only intended to set you up with the right head position for Drills 2 and 3 - which do have long-term practice value.

Drill #2: Sweet Spot

Why we do it: You'll start and finish every drill cycle in this position. When you master Sweet Spot, you'll drill with ease and fluency; if you don't take time to master it, you'll struggle instead.

Follow this sequence:

1. Start as in Drill #1, then
roll just enough
for the knuckles of one hand to barely clear the water. (If you're lean or densely muscled, your Sweet Spot may be almost on your back.) Your goal is to find a position where one arm is dry from shoulder to knuckles and you're just as comfortable as you were on your back. If you feel any discomfort, return to your back and try again with less rotation.

2. Check that your head is still as above, with the water at the corners of your goggles.

3. If you feel any tension, return to your back and start over with less rotation.

4. Once you feel at home in Sweet Spot, focus
on feeling as if you're being towed by a line at your bead and slipping through a small hole in the water,
then on making stillness, quiet, and effortlessness feel natural.
5. Repeat on your other side. You may feel more comfortable on one side than the other. I call this having a "chocolate" (better balance) and "vanilla" side. Improving your vanilla side will usually bring greater dividends. Alternate one length or minute on one side with a similar distance or time on the other side.

Drill #3: Hand-Lead Sweet Spot - Lengthen Your "Vessel"

Why we do it: To experience how balance feels with an arm extended and to imprint your most
slippery
body position. Hand-Lead Sweet Spot is also the position in which you'll start and finish every drill. Finally, it's one of the best positions for practicing flutter kick. (Skating - Drill #5 - is the other.)

Follow this sequence:

1. Start as in Drill #2, then "sneak" your lower arm to full extension.
Your band should be an inch or two below the surface.
Your arm should feel as if it's just floating forward.

2. As you extend your arm, focus on lengthening from the
back
of your body, not the front.

3. Practice until you could glide blissfully in this position on either side indefinitely. Take the time to make your "vanilla" side feel as good as your "chocolate" side; patience here will pay big dividends later. Choose one of these focal points for each length:

• Create a long clean line from extended fingertips to toes.

• Slip through the smallest possible hole in the water. Make sure your head slips through the same "hole" that your body is traveling through.

• Glide silently and effortlessly. Kick gently, keeping your legs long, supple, and within the "shadow" of your body. (Use fins if this is impossible.)

• If you lose balance or comfort, put your arm back to your side and start over.

Drill #4: Fish

Why we do it: Fish will help you learn to balance directly on your side in the nose-down position (the only time you'll be balanced on your side is when you
are
nose down). It's also the easiest way to learn to the proper head position - directly in line with your spine - for Skating, all Switch drills and - most important - for swimming.

Follow this sequence:

1. Start in Sweet Spot. Swivel to nose down position, rolling to your side as you do, as shown below.

2. Check that your nose is directly down and shoulders are stacked, as in photo below.

3. Lean on your lower shoulder to keep your hips and legs feeling light.
4. Try to follow a "laser line" as you rotate back and forth between noseup and nose-down (to breathe) with your head remaining right on the spine-line as it rotates.

5. Slip through the smallest possible "hole" in the water, with the least water disturbance.

Drill #5: Skating

Why we do it: This teaches you how balance should feel when you begin swimming. Skating also helps you learn to breathe by rolling your body to where the air is - rather than lifting or turning your head. The act of rolling your body to air imprints the critical habit (when drilling) of finishing every drill cycle in Sweet Spot.

Follow this sequence:

1. Start in Fish, then extend your lower arm forward, as shown below, so your hand is below your head with fingertips angling downward.

2. Continue to angle your hand deeper until your hips and legs feel light. Lock in the hand position that gives you the best sense of balance.

3. Stay for a comfortable interval, then roll
all the way back to Sweet Spot...
leaving your arm extended as you do, but allow it to float up. Pause in Sweet Spot for at least three yoga breaths before rolling nosedown again; avoid feeling breathless or rushed.

4. Try to follow a laser-like line as you rotate from nose up to nose down and back again.

Common Questions about Kicking

Why do I go backward when kicking and drilling?

Inflexible ankles are the most common cause and triathloning "adultonset" swimmers are the classic case. We all lose flexibility as we age (unless you follow a dedicated stretching or yoga program) and if you didn't start swimming young you may spend 20 to 40 years gradually losing ankle flexibility. Years of running usually accelerate the stiffening. If you started swimming young, and continued, that's usually sufficient to maintain ankle flexibility.

The second cause is simple lack of coordination. The correct flutter-kicking action is counter-intuitive. Your other kicking experiences (soccer balls, tires, your kid brother) teach you to kick with about 90 degrees of knee flexion. But an efficient flutter kick uses only about 30 degrees; the kick happens mostly from the hip flexor and quadriceps. Kids learn it fairly spontaneously; the adult-onset swimmer often has to consciously unlearn incorrect habits in order to learn the right way.

How do I fix it?

Three ways have proven to work best:

Vertical kicking. This won't do much for flexibility but it is effective for learning coordination. Float vertically with arms folded across your chest, mouth just above the water. If you feel yourself sinking, tuck a pull buoy under each armpit, or hug a kickboard to your chest. Focus on keeping a long line from hip to toes as you kick. Your leg should be long and supple, never rigid. Use the muscles at the top of
your thigh, moving your whole leg like a pendulum. (A good exercise for beginners: Sit on the edge of the pool and try to move the water solidly back and forth with an almost-straight leg, mainly using ankle flexion and extension to move the water forward and back. Try "stirring" the water with one foot to develop a bit more awareness of how to feel the water with your feet.) Practice vertical kicking for several periods of 15 or more seconds, resting for a similar amount of time. Then kick with the same feeling in the side position below.

Side kicking (and towing) Any time you're kicking in Sweet Spot, you're a lot less likely to use a "bicycle kick," because your knees don't flex in the direction gravity is working. The TI "buddy system" of tow-and-release can also be helpful in correcting inefficient kicking habits. The least-effective (but most instinctive) response to a nonpropulsive kick is to kick
harder.
While being towed by a partner, it's much easier to focus on kicking gently; maintaining a long, supple line from hip to toes; and on keeping your feet inside your torso's "shadow." After release, keep your kick a
s it was while being towed. Towing and Vertical Kicking are illustrated in the
Freestyle Made Easy
DVD.

Stretching This won't do anything for coordination, but can moderately improve the range of motion in your ankles. It won't suddenly turn you into a fast, easy kicker.

Will fins help?

The primary benefit of fins is that the blade will flex easily, compensating for the ankle that won't. In order for the kick to be propulsive,
something
has to flex, in order to move the water, similar to the pitched blades of a propeller. When your ankle refuses, it's only natural for your knee to substitute. That only makes the problem worse. First because a right-angle knee causes your lower leg to protrude from your slipstream - turning the leg into another source of drag. Second it triggers the pawing action of a runner's kick - which causes you to go
backward.
With fins on your fee
t - and your body on its side - pretty soon you're helping both flexibility and coordination.