Swim Camp
I feel a bit embarrassed asking but here it goes... I've loaded the Swim Camp workout per original plan and am trying to learn the workouts. Monday's instruction had: [MS1: Drill Position Progression - file this workout away and use it whenever you need to work on technique: 2 x 50 (15") Swim Golf, 2 x 50 (15") for each of the six Position Progression Drills (Download the Swim eBook) MS2: 2 x 50 (15") Swim Golf]
However, when I look at the Swim eBook, Section 3: Position Progression has 10 steps listed. Am I trying to connect 2 separate drills? What 6 Progression Drills should I be doing? Also, one of the later drills listed is [focus on shoulder rotation, 2 x50]. When and how does this differ from hip rotation? Is there a video I can watch?
Thanks for your help,
Eric
Comments
@Eric, thanks for starting the swim camp forum. as to your question, i was wondering the same thing about the 6 versus 10 position progression drills. i swam tonight and here's what i did: i noticed swim golf and hand lift are both listed twice. that brings it down to 8. i then also combined the right-arm and left-arm leads into 2x50 going down with my right arm forward and back with my left arm forward. that sort of brought it down to 7. i must admit i couldn't fully understand the difference between the single switch and the triple switch, so i "combined" those too. until someone explains these to me, this is what i will do.
btw, my several 50's doing the golf swim were scores of 76-79. my goal in this is to get down into the mid 60's.
@dawn. i don't use fins. in general, i don't think fins are that helpful for what we are training for, which is long distance swimming without fins. fins help develop power in the quads and speed for races in a pool. they can also help you develop a good stream line by doing faster underwater 25's. but i don't think we need to do those. that's my take on fins for triathletes.
for me in particular, they bother my achillies tendons. i think my achillies are a bit long, which helps my breaststroke kick, but the fins sort of jam them. i suspect this may sound strange, but that's been my personal experience.
YES, USE FINS FOR THE DRILL!!!!
Sorry, I thought I've made this abundantly clear in the swim ebook from which you're getting these drills.
In fact, for registration for my local clinics, I tell people about 3x to bring fins and if they don't I public shame them and have a pair available that they can rent for $600/hr
So, yes, use the fins for the drill
.
The reason is that using the fins gives you the speed you need to create the body position we're looking for. And many triathletes have such a poor kick that if they did these drills without fins...they wouldn't go anywhere
. So we NEVER use fins to make ourselves stronger kickers, but rather to help us get the most out of these drills.
And I'm going to move this tread into the General Discussion forum where more people will see it.
@ Robert - Good luck reaching your Golf score
@ Dawn - I hope your pool is well heated.
Golf score down to 72 (:38+34) and counting. I pulled my last 6x100's. I like to bring my legs up each workout to simulate the leg lift I get with a wet suit.
I think I figured out the Single and Triple switches. Single: 6 kicks on side, then take one stroke to other side, take 6 kicks and take one stroke to other side -- repeat. Triple: 6 kicks on one side, then take 3 strokes which puts you on other side, take 6 kicks and take 3 strokes to other side -- repeat. Maintain good body position and rotate hips and shoulders when changing sides. At least this is what I'm doing.
@Rich. Maybe my Achillies became sore because I was using Zoomers. I'll try regular, longer fins which have more flexibility. Anybody want some red Zoomers with my name on them?!
@ Robert - Keep up the good work!
Have a great weekend everyone,
eric
Link below
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/442278331
I've never been so happy to finish a run ever!
I like people to use Zoomers vs bigger fins because the "cadence" of the kick is more similar to finless kicking. And in my experience, fins can cause problems with the ankles / top of the foot (dorsiflexion), especially with large fins and with athletes who have inflexible ankles, usually from a running background.
Rich, I think Skip Kenney, ex-Stanford men's coach, would probably agree with you. He told me he only let his swimmers use Zoomers. Maybe I just won't kick too hard and make sure my Achillies are stretched back out before running. Thanks, Bob