Body position in swimming is the foundation for any freestyle swim stroke. Paul Jones and Kate Charlton are talking about freestyle swimming technique.
Episode 1 is all about body position in the water.
We see so many triathletes struggling with their swim technique, desperately trying to keep up with their piers through the water. Killing themselves to hang on to the group in front of them. It is one those things as a coach, when we are not coaching we sit on a pool deck watching people swimming freestyle, constantly analysing, thinking if only I could have five minutes with them to help them be more efficient in the water.
You can not win a triathlon in the swim, but you can certainly lose it.
Within the F4L Triathlon Coaching Squad Sessions in Northumberland our athletes get plenty of endurance and threshold work done. However, we spend quality time working on technique and providing key coaching points to each athlete throughout the session. Our faster swimmers complete about 3000m / hour – plenty of opportunity to work on their technique.
As coaches, throughout the session I’ll encourage more focus on technique with weaker swimmers. That just means working on efficiency & technique rather than fitness.
Body Position
Without a solid foundation of nailing the body position you will be struggling from the beginning. We see so many triathletes trying to constantly ‘cheat’ by using a pull buoy. You can’t use a pull buoy in a race so you must learn to swim without one. If you are not engaging the right muscles to lift the legs into the right position, then you will be swimming with an anchor on your feet!
For all those triathletes looking to develop their swim... this is a MUST listen...
We also include some videos in this episode which you can view by clicking on each one:
You can also read more about swim technique on the F4L Triathlon Coaching website