First item: Over rotation. I was shocked at how bad it looked and never would have guessed it was that bad. Instead of rolling at about a 45-degree angle, I was rotating closer to 90-100 degrees, with my elbow coming almost straight up and over. Mike explained that I was creating a lot of drag in the water, which of course was consuming energy and slowing me down. In addition, he showed that because I was over rotating, my other arm was crossing over my centerline. To work on this, Mike had me practice a drill where I would momentarily pause with my arm in mid-stroke. This gave me a chance to actually see and feel my arm position during my stroke.
It was also obvious that I had issues with how my elbow and wrist were entering the water and how I was completing my stroke. I was bending my wrist in an attempt to “scoop” the water, and my entire arm was entering the water at the same time. Mike explained that my hand should enter the water first and be lower than my elbow, which should be lower than my shoulder. I could see that I was not bending my elbow very much, causing more pressure to be placed on my shoulder and also causing more drag. He explained that swimming should feel like you are literally pulling yourself through the water throughout the stroke and that the best swimmers’ hands will exit the water at the end of the stroke past the point where they entered the water.
To work on my inefficiencies, he had me put on fins and do a “shrug drill” — streamline position, kicking, keep hands still but quickly shrug shoulders and pull elbows up, then return back to streamline and repeat, breathing when necessary.
Overall, it was an amazing experience and one that I’ll never forget. I learned a great deal from one of the top coaches in the world. I know I have a lot to work on, but have tremendous opportunity to improve my swim. My new goal for the 1.2-mile swim is 31:30, which is a 10 percent improvement over my PR of 34:33.
FROM COACH NICOLE
The main component of Dustin’s swim that we will work on will be elbow position. We need to make sure he has an efficient catch in order to generate good power. Like Mike said, elbow position from entry to the start of the catch will be key.
Body position is another element we will work on. While overall his body position is good (his hips weren’t sinking much), we need to reduce his rotation, especially when breathing, as he was rotating almost past vertical. His legs also tended to flare on rotation, which causes additional drag so we’ll work on that as well.
Nicole Drummer is a USAT Level I certified coach and a USA Cycling Level III coach who also serves as a Training Peaks ambassador. Visit
http://neoendurancesports.com.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108