If you’re a triathlon swimmer, one of the biggest reasons you want to be able to swim with better technique is not just for a faster swim time. (But um, of course you want that!) You want to be able to swim with better freestyle technique so that you’re not unnecessarily wasting energy during the open water swim. Because wasting energy during the swim means less energy for the bike and less energy for the run.
What does this translate to?
It means if you swim with less wasted energy during the swim, you have more energy for the bike (faster bike time!) and you have more energy for the run (faster run time!)… and that means faster overall race time! All because you made some tweaks to your swimming technique! Now is probably the time to say “results may vary”… but it would seem that you really can’t go wrong with swimming with better body position in the water and swimming with better form. Not only do your chances of swimming, biking, and running better increase with proper freestyle swimming technique, but you also decrease your chances of getting injured during training!
Note: As an affiliate of Tri Swim Coach, tips below link to TriSwimCoach.com where you can find useful resources for improving your swimming technique!
Swimming technique mistake: Poor body position with sinking legs
In order to swim efficiently, you want to swim with a body position that will allow you to do so. So what is this ideal body position? You basically want to have a horizontal body position as you are swimming. By swimming in this position, you will waste less energy trying to move your body forward through the water.
Sinking legs: How NOT to swim.
Image: TriSwimCoach.com
Many adult swimmers who are new to swimming will swim with their hips and legs in a more dropped position in the water. Sinking legs or sinking hips is an issue that’s common for intermediate and beginner swimmers that prevents them from swimming in a horizontal position. What do sinking hips mean for your swimming technique and swimming efficiency?
Well…
If you swim without your feet ever, or hardly ever, breaking water, then you’re wasting energy. If whenever you kick, your feet are always below the surface of the water and hardly ever reach above the water, then you’re wasting energy. If you swim with sinking hips and sinking legs, it’s as if you swim with your legs dragging. Who wants to waste energy swimming when you’ve got some biking and running to do after your swim! 🙂
When you swim in this less-than-ideal body position, you are basically dragging your legs behind you, instead of having your legs work with you to help you move forward. This means that it requires more work and more effort to propel yourself forward when you are swimming with your legs sinking in the back.
Basically, you are creating a considerable amount of water resistance as you try to propel yourself forward with your upper body.
You want your legs to follow the streamline in the water created by your upper body. If your legs are quite a bit below the water surface, that’s a whole bunch of water resistance you have to work hard to move your body through. By having your whole body in a horizontal position along the surface of the water, there is less water that you have to work hard to swim through. On the other hand, by having your legs deeper in the water, that’s much more water resistance you have to swim through.
Just like with lifting weights, less resistance means less work. In weight lifting you may want more resistance to build muscle, but in swimming, you want less resistance so you can be more efficient in the water and save energy.
Tips for kicking technique.
Image: TriSwimCoach.com
Side note!
See about the best shoes for hiking in Hawaii and what to wear snorkeling in Hawaii! And for Hawaii vacation ideas, see the best things to do in Waikiki that will give you Hawaii vibes!
Improve body position and balance for legs that don’t sink
So what can be done to help you improve your body position so you can swim with your legs closer to the surface of the water? Tri Swim Coach recommends working on this through drills that improve your balance.
One of these balance drills includes practice kicking on your side:
- You extend your bottom arm ahead of you
- Have the rest of your body rotated so it’s facing the side wall of the pool
- Kick in this position of facing sideways
- Your face will be completely in the water, so rotate your body up to take a breath when necessary
Tri Swim Coach says that at first it may feel a bit difficult, so it won’t be a problem to use swim fins to assist you. You want to eventually work towards doing this drill unassisted if you do start off using swim fins.
The goal of this balance drill is to improve your body position in the water as you get a feel for better positioning in the water. And you know what that means! Less effort to put forth to move your body through the water!
For more elaboration on this balance drill and others, you can get the free 3-day e-course at Tri Swim Coach delivered delivered straight to your inbox. This will get you a visual demonstration of what you might be doing wrong, and you can also see examples of drills in action that you can work on to fix it! For each of the 3 days, you’ll get some swimming tips, as well as specific drills to work on, along with a suggested workout for the next time you make it to the pool.
Keep on swimming!
There is no simple way to improve your swimming technique. But over time if you keep working at it with specific drills to work on your inefficiencies, you are sure to see some improvements!
HAPPY EFFICIENT SWIMMING!
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🐠 Here are things you must consider packing!
- Swimsuit or swimming shirt aka rash guard
- rash guard: swim set for women and swim shirt for men
- Water shoes
- Waterproof phone case (so you can capture pictures of fishies underwater!)
- cheapo phone case OR waterproof camera
- I also have this "camera" wrist float to attach to my cheapo waterproof phone case so my phone won't sink to the bottom of the ocean in case I somehow let go of it. (Mine does stay afloat - test this for yourself before completely trusting it!)
- Swimming goggles or snorkeling mask set
- Reef-safe(r) sunscreen
- lightweight travel towel:
- walking sandals:
I also don't go snorkeling without a personal swim float buoy. Not only does it help to keep me visible, but it makes for a perfect way to rest out in deeper water! Oh, and it also serves as a dry bag so I can take stuff into the water with me.
Another way I have taken valuables into the water with me is to wear a travel money belt that I don't mind getting wet with salt water (it's not waterproof but I have several so I just use one of them) and then I put things in a ziplock freezer bag, and put that freezer bag in the money belt.
There are also designated waterproof waist pouches that you can store your valuables and take into the water with you.
see more:
- What to wear hiking
- What to wear snorkeling