“The biggest problem I think I am having is with rotation of my hips. I swim really flat and despite conscious effort to roll the hips, I’m only able to muster maybe a 10-15 degree deflection from a horizontal plane. When I look around, I see swim team kids rolling their hips (and torsos) at 30-40 and more degrees. There have been times when I felt I was getting it, and could feel the speed improve and effort diminish, so I know it’s the right thing to do, but no sooner do I get there than I’m at a wall and have to start all over. I watch your two-beat kick video once a week but I just can’t put it all together. Now that I’m doing actual workouts, I am learning that my pull bouy splits are about the same as a regular swim split, so my kick is not doing much. In fact, when I first started doing kickboard, I could barely propel myself the length of the pool! I can now do 50′s without dying, so I think that is also a factor.

I’m sure there are a hundred other flaws with my stroke, and would eventually like to get bi-lateral breathing down, but I think if I can figure out the rotation thing I will be able to make some progress. I am open to any suggestions or coach recommendations you may be able to offer.”

Lots of people talk about generating the rotation from the hips, but I don’t think the hips are the starting point. stand up, put your hands in a streamlined position, and rotate from your hips like you would in a pool (no arm movement). Basically a twisting motion. Now hop in the water, streamlined position and try and rotate your hips. It’s impossible. The reason is that on land your feet are planted on the ground and your hips can leverage off of that. in the water your feet are not planted to anything, making it impossible to twist. So you need to be able to plant your feet..aka.. have a good kick. A good kick allows your hips to have something to leverage off of. So the fact that you say you have trouble rotating and you have a poor kick are not independant of each other. One is the reason for the other. 

My best advice without seeing you swim is to work your kick. Get some simple, rubber fins (not zoomers) and spend some time flexing your ankles. As you become a better kicker, it will become easier to rotate.

…..

“How do you do your swim training? I am a former swimmer myself and so I really don’t need to work on my swimming  as much as the bike/run. I’ve tried just swimming 2-3 days a week and that makes me lose my feel for the water. Currently I am swimming A LOT and I feel amazing in the water just about every day. I don’t think swimming 4-6 times a week is ideal since swimming is my strongest point by far, but I don’t like losing my feel for the water. How do you balance that out?”

I used to be the same way, but changed the way I do my workouts now. Because I’ve been swimming since the 70′s and have a pretty good stroke, I have almost completely eliminated drills. I also give myself only about 500 yards to warm up, whereas when I was just swimming, it would take me 1500 yards or so to warm up. The main reason I changed was because of the short amount of time we are given to warm up at the races, so I thought I would try and adjust my habits. So now basically I get right down to business. Might not be for everyone, but seems to work for me.
 
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“How do you keep your elbow from dropping during extension?”

Closed fist drill can help. Close your fist and try and swim with your forearms as your paddles. Getting a deeper pull also helps. bend your elbow only about 10 degrees in your initial pull. Other than that, make sure that after your arm enters and extends, that your hand/forearm is the first thing to start pulling and not your entire arm. There are also some gadgets out there that claim to help, but I’ve never tried them so won’t comment.
….

“How do you eliminate bubbles during entry and pull?”

Think of your hand as a person. You want that person to dive into the water (i.e. fingertips first) just above your head and then extend underwater to shake any remaining bubbles. Don’t let your hand slap the water!

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“You seem to have great flexibility during your extension and pull, is this from years of swimming or do you do additional stretching?”

 Both. All the swimming helps but I still stretch the shoulders before every workout. Doesn’t take long, but could be the easiest way to get faster in the water. This  is key for someone like yourself. certainly a top 3 in importance.

…..

“What would be some good main sets for a Half Ironman?”

One of the keys to swimming is consistant pace. Newer swimmers especially tend to be all over the place when it comes to pacing. Swimming 2000 yards without stopping is fine if you are needing to build some confidence, but you won’t learn pace. Repeat efforts with short rest and a tight leash on pace will make you a better swimmer in a hurry.  I would say that repeat 200′s up to repeat 500′s are great. A set I may do to get in shape would be 5X200′s with a 2:30 interval. That means I am pushing off the wall at 2:30. There is no set rest. As you get tired you get less rest. It really forces pace. 5X200′s with 20 sec rest isn’t nearly as hard or focused as you will get the same rest no matter what your pace is. Athlete’s with a running background have a real hard time with this as they grew up with a goal time and a set amount of rest in their track workouts.

“I’ve got a few questions to ask.  If you hadn’t noticed this is my first season, and while it’s too late to improve my stroke for now, I’d like to put in some good time over the winter.  I admittedly haven’t been doing much stroke work since I don’t want to teach myself a drill incorrectly from reading it over the internet.  Right now it seems like getting some paddles and either a pull buoy, ankle lock or both would be a good idea since they seem to be a bit more self-explanatory.  Any advice here for a newbie?  I’m not a complete beginner swimmer, but my experience is very limited.  Also, last workout I was able to get in some good times doing a 2-beat kick, close to my previous times using a 6 beat.  Not quite as fast, but within a minute per 500 yards. ”

Bilateral Breathing – Learning how to breathe comfortably on both sides will help you in open water in two ways. First and foremost, bilateral breathing helps to keep your stroke balanced. This means that both arms are pulling with about the same force and one arm isn’t doing anything drastically different than the other arm. Doing this will keep you swimming in a straight (or straighter!) line.One of the biggest problems in open water swimming is trying to stay on course, so the straighter you teach yourself to swim in a pool, the better off you will be in the lake. Bilateral breathing also gives you the ability to switch your breathing to the side that you can sight better from and/or have the fewest obstacles with. Often in ocean swims (or any rough swim for that matter) you will find the need to breathe away from the source of the waves. It gives you a clearer shot at a breath without swallowing water. It will also allow you to switch sides when you have the sun in your face and are unable to see anything.  This can be critical for sighting the course.

Head Up Swimming – In order to keep yourself lined up with the buoys, you will need to lift your head every so often and target the next buoy to swim towards. While I don’t recommend swimming for any extended period of time in a race with your head up as it can be exhausting, from time to time it will be needed. To prepare for this, pick a small object at the other side of the pool and swim the length of the pool with your eyes locked on that object. Try not to throw your head from side to side as this can lead your body and get you swimming off of the straight line you’re striving for. Repeat this drill a number of times, changing the object each time. Don’t always pick an object directly in front of your lane either. Rare is the day in an open water swim that every buoy is directly in front of you. Track an object off to your left and right as well.

Drafting – Probably the easiest way to pick up some free speed is to learn how to draft behind someone. Just like cycling, the person in front of you breaks through the water and creates a current around and behind them. Slip into that current and it can have the effect of swimming down a river. Learning to draft in a pool can be achieved in a few different ways. If you swim with a group and circle swim, then instead of leaving 5 or 10 seconds apart, leave right on the feet of the person in front of you. Be sure to ask permission so they know what you are doing as some will get annoyed pretty quick if they don’t understand your objective. Try to stay within a few inches of their feet without touching their feet. I have seen fights start over people touching other’s feet too often. As you’re swimming, try and feel the immediate current that rolls off the person in front of you. That little pocket is where you want to stay. As you get more comfortable in the draft, try closing your eyes while staying in the draft, using only the feel of that current to keep you close/behind the draftee. This will become very important when you hit the open water, as most bodies of water tend to be cloudy and you may not be able to see the person’s feet in front of you.

If you’re practicing drafting as a group try forming a pace line. As everyone gets better, a great set is to rotate the pace line in reverse. That is to have to person at the end of the line sprint to the front in one pool length and then maintain the group pace for the next length as the next person overtakes them. Once overtaken, sit in and recover until you are at the back of the line again. You can also try pack swimming if you have enough people. Cram everyone together and swim one length at a time on a short rest. Be sure to alternate who swims in the front and who drafts.

Darkened Goggles -  For those who have trouble swimming in a straight line or get a little spooked when they can’t see anything in the open water, you might want to swim a couple of sets in some darkened goggles. Coat the out side of an older pair of goggles with black spray paint so that no light can come in from the front or sides. Then, take a key or knife and nick the paint (once it dries) so that all you have to see out of is that little scrape on the goggle. Now go swim in a straight line. If you can still easily see the black line at the bottom then you made the scrape too big.

Start Imitation -  The swim start is often the scariest part of the entire event. Arms and legs flying in every direction in an area that’s far too crowded. While there is no way to prepare for everything that can happen at the start, getting yourself comfortable in that environment will prevent you from panicking if you get in a tough position on race day. Get a bunch of your friends (the more the merrier) and get in the deep end, ideally in the middle of the pool (you may need to take a lane rope out for this). From the middle of the pool race everyone to the wall, leaving all at once. The fewer the rules the better. Don’t be scared to grab the person in front of you and dunk them or whatever it takes to put your hand on the wall first. Repeat this a number of times, but be sure not to get too mean out there and hurt someone. The idea is to get more comfortable in a crazy environment not to create enemies.

While each one of these drills can help with certain aspects of an open water swim, there is no substitute for the real thing. If you have a lake or river you can practice in safely, try and add that in periodically as a part of your training.

Enjoy your swim!