Zoomers Fins- Your Key to Swimming Success?
Today I want to talk about a classic conversation piece around pools: Zoomers fins. I have written about them in the past but wanted to update and reiterate!
One of the most common questions I hear as a coach is, “Should I use fins?” The answer depends largely on your goals, your skill level and the type of fins. Often times, especially in masters swimming, swimmers wear fins merely to keep up with other swimmers in their lane, or to advance to the fast lane and make tighter intervals. If you are strictly swimming for fitness, and do not care about your stroke technique, swim time, or energy conservation in a race, then this is a perfectly acceptable reason to use fins. Fins, especially the Zoomers-type, can help you go faster in a workout and burn more calories.
Most of us in the triathlon world are concerned with more than just fat burning. There are certain situations when it’s appropriate to use fins during a workout. Fins can help build strength in your legs. They can also allow you to consume more oxygen during your swim, which enables you to support the use of more muscle mass at greater intensity, and for a longer time. However, using fins on a regular basis for the desired effects of swimming faster and keeping from sinking in the water is ill advised.
If you have little or no kick, or your kick makes you go backwards while kicking on your back (not uncommon among runner-types), using fins will help your stroke and speed. The shorter fins (Zoomers are the best) are the way to go. Using the fins allows you to concentrate on improving your upper body technique, as well as your overall endurance, without having to think about your kick at the same time.
Since 90% propulsion comes from upper body in swimming, as a beginner it’s wise to concentrate your training on this aspect of the stroke. After stroke improvement and endurance are built, start weaning off fins, and do more and more of your swimming sets with bare feet. You may find that not only have you made faster improvements in your stroke and speed, but your kick improved as well, due to improved ankle flexibility.
The new Zoomers Z2 fins are really the best thing out there. These actually promote a higher body position in the water! Using in combination with the Freestyler paddles is an excellent way to experience proper freetyle- including a long stroke, hip rotation, short kick, and perfect hand entry. Don’t worry about getting “addicted” to fins! Use them to perfect drills and take them off as you progress to full stroke swimming with intervals. Then put them on for kicking sets (no boards!) to improve balance and propulsion, and in combination with the Freestyler paddles to work on stroke technique.
To get the Zoomers Z2′s at a 20% discount, go to http://www.triswimgear.com and use dicount code ‘aggies20′.
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Swimming straight in the open water
How do I swim straight in the open water?
This is a major challenge to open water swimming (and even swimming in a pool with lane lines!), and the key lies in one of our other fun challenges in swimming: breathing!
Here’s a quick guide to swimming straight:
1. Simply doing alternate (or bi-lateral) breathing would go a long way towards making you swim in a straight. If you are comfortable with this, breathe every 3 strokes and you will be much more in line with where you want to go.
2. If you cannot get enough oxygen while breathing bilaterally, this can be a big problem on a distance swim. Practice swimming and breathing 2 strokes on the left, 2 on the right, then go to 3 breaths left, 3 right. Then try 2 on the left, 1 on the right, 3-1, etc. Find what works for in keeping you in line and stick with that plan in your race.
3. Practice sighting less often, as this will disrupt your stroke rhythm and balance.
4. Keep your strokes long and extend that arm out in front on each stroke and drive it forward.
5. Practice the One Arm Drill (in the Complete Guide), and pay attention to your arm pull, making sure you are not crossing in with your hand.
6. Practice open water swimming. Just being used to the environment will get you more comfortable, and you will intuitively pick up on
swimming straight out there.
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Underwater view of my stroke in the Endless Pool
This was from my experience swimming at the Endless Pool at Triathica Academy Triathlon Training Center in Irvine last month. Check it out! For southern California locals I highly recommend checking out the training center and getting videoed.
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Learning to Reduce Your Stroke Count Will Make You a Better Swimmer
In the past, you’ve probably had coaches that asked you to count strokes during your workout, either by incorporating it into drill sets, the primary set, or at the end of a workout. Indeed, many coaches advise their swimmers to make a habit of keeping track of the stroke count. After years of experience coaching both triathletes and long distance swimmers, I have come to the conclusion that stroke counting is an essential part of achieving success with the vast majority of swimming workouts.
If you keep at it and don’t give up, counting your strokes while you swim is a great way to improve your DPS (short for distance per stroke). Swimming’s top competitors reach that level because their bodies go further with every stroke- not because their arms travel faster through the water. By remaining cognizant of the quantity of strokes you take per lap, you’ll begin to lengthen your stroke, adding the speed and distance you crave while lowering your heart rate. This in turn will save you the much needed energy you require for the final push towards the finish line.
Your ultimate goal should be to reduce the average stroke count each time you’re in the pool. The best swimmers (and the names you recognize, such as Ian Thorpe), glide through the water at approximately 30 strokes per 50 meters. This incredibly low stroke count is certainly admirable, but doesn’t have to be the number that you shoot for. Initially, figure out what your personal range is. Attempt to swim the majority of the time at the lower end of this range (or, alternatively, below your lowest recorded stroke count). Don’t concern yourself with speed, at least in the beginning-you can improve on this later, after you come to realize your “ideal” stroke count. Below, you’ll find a good example of the kind of set that will lengthen your stroke, while building up the muscle endurance you need to win races.
50+100+150+200+200+150+100+50
-Take a 10-30 second break in between sets
-Maintain a record of the number of strokes as you work your way up
-Make an attempt to lower the stroke count as you work your way down the backside, while maintaining the same pace.
Another popular set is called free golf. Below is an example:
6×50′s Free on 1:05. For each 50 meter length, count up your strokes AND keep an eye on your time. Combine these 2 numbers to see your golf score. You’ll want to to lower this score over the course of the set. The difficult part, of course, is trying to increase speed without adding additional strokes, or reducing the number of strokes, but in turn not sacrificing any speed.
Give it a shot at your next workout!
Practice drills or build endurance?
What should your focus in swimming be?
It really depends on what level swimmer you are.
If you’re:
-A new swimmer
-Still swimming flat in the water with no hip rotation
or
-Plateauing or having a tough time making gains
then I would recommend 90-100% of your time spent in the water to be practicing drills! It sounds extreme, but if you want to make significant improvements in the water, you have to make some short-term sacrifices to make bigger gains in the long run.
This massive amount of drills isn’t meant to last forever. True beginners will likely have to keep drill work at a high level for several weeks. More advanced swimmers may just need a few days of intensive drill work to get past a hurdle. Think of it more as a “boot camp” for your swim stroke.
As you begin to improve, you can start backing off on the drills and start adding on more yardage and endurance work. Never let go of drills altogether, there are benefits to doing the more advanced swimming drills even if you are Michael Phelps!
I recommend even if you have your swim completely handled to continue doing about 10-15% of your workout as drills.
Swimming in Cold Water
I’ll be the first to say, I hate the cold! Cold air, and especially cold water.
14 years of competitive swimming, I never once got used to or enjoyed jumping into a cold pool.
These days, I prefer open water swimming to pool swimming, but refuse to get in our local Pacific Ocean until it gets up around 66 degrees or so. Anything below that and I’m known to turn various shades of purple!
There are many triathlons where cold water is part of the challenge- especially the early season ones, like April and May. What can you do about cold water? There are several things. Here is a list of tips to minimize the negative affects and the uncomfortableness of cold water swimming.
1. Wear two caps. You lose most of your heat through your head, and doubling up your capage helps keep you warm.
2. Wear a neoprene cap. Neoprene is meant for cold water more than standard latex.
3. Wear a wetsuit, but more specifically, a full suit. The sleeveless suits allow heat to escape through your armpits.
4. Put in earplugs. When the water drops below 60 degrees, I think earplugs become necessary- and they do work well in keeping your core temperature up.
5. Practice swimming in cold water before your race. It can be a shock to your system that can lead to hyperventilating or a panicked feeling. You will want to swim slowly until you get your breath. The first time you experience this it can throw you off, but with practice, you will get used to it- and be able to relax into your swim.
Arm Recovery in Freestyle
I found this great video by New York coach Doug Stern. He does a great job describing the arm recovery in freestyle. Some of it is a bit technical but if you just get the gist it you will learn quite a bit here.
LSD for Swimming?
Endurance athletes are often familiar with the concept of LSD- Long Slow Distance.
Swimming training for triathlons definitely requires some LSD training. But how long and how much?
Partly it will depend on the distance of your race. At minimum, I recommend swimming the distance of your race straight at least once per week (after of course you have mastered your technique!). Even better if you can swim in the open water once a week, but a long swim in the pool will be sufficient when it’s not feasible to get out in your nearest body of water.
When you do a long swim, make sure to include some stroke technique focus, flip turns, and stroke counting. However, remember to only focus on one thing at a time!
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Tri Swim Coach Podcast #4- Freestyle Swimming and Golf
In this episode, we’ll cover:
Swimming and Golf: How are they similar and what can triathletes learn from this?
Question of the week: How to avoid sinking hips
References:
Fins, snorkel, and Freestyler paddles can be found at www.finisinc.com for 20% off using discount code ‘aggies20′.
The Triathlon Summit, free interview with Kevin Koskella Triathlon Summit Interview with Tri Swim Coach
The Tri Swim Coach Newsletter Signup: www.triswimcoach.com/newsletters.php
Music:
No Doubt- “In My Head”
Transcript: http://triswimcoachonline.com/tri/transcripts-tsc04-freestyle-swimming-and-golf/
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