Is swimming very high volume the only way to get better?

hello, your title asked, "Is swimming very high volume the only way to get better?" NO, there are many ways to get better. you said you're "barely a real swimmer & come from a middle distance running background then injuries forced you into the pool. You couldn't swim at all until 2013, but seemed to improve fairly quickly (at freestyle). your question: "Can I keep improving without doing super-long swims?" YES you can you do not seem to recover or cope well with long swims you've done up to 3500 yards in a single workout (took almost an hour), but it basically wipes you out and you wrote "I don't think I'm good enough at form to keep good form for the whole swim." But when I reduce my workout volume to 1800 - 2800 yards per workout (but lots of hard sets that a great triathlon coach writes for me) you swim 6 times per week You've improved, your 100 yard time started at 1:31 and now you can go 1:21 your 500 from 8:00ish, to 7:28. You already have good muscle strength and aerobic fitness from all the lifting and training you did when you ran you wrote: "I think mostly it's my form that holds me back in the swim." So should you 1) keep swimming shorter swims and wait for form to smooth out? Or 2) push the distance (maybe even just once a week?). Will I EVER feel good going long? ~~~> Maybe Health issues: 1) stress fractures from running & an 2) eating disorder history and tend to underfuel and that may be an issue too, though you're doing much better now and are at a very healthy weight. 3) feel exhausted, don't want to over exercise You asked: "how do I do a darn flip turn?" You feel like your times would drop if you could do flip turns. You kind of answered your own questions. I assume you're female? What is your age, sex, height & weight? What are you training for? you mentioned a coach, Are you training with a team or with his workouts on your own? You will continue dropping your 100 time by improving your technique and your swim conditioning! You must learn how to do flip turns. The best ways to improve improve your technique are 1) one on one swimming technique training, along with 2) Videos: you need to see what you look like when you're swimming how you push off & streamline, (you can make huge improvements by just perfecting these 2 things ) how you kick (BTW runners tend to over kick) how your move your arms (improve your distance per stroke how you breathe How you turn you need before and after videos BTW what you're doing underwater is way more important than what you do above the water. It also helps to watch videos of the best in the world and copy their technique. 3) When you complete your one on one technique improvement training the next and greatest challenge is getting these new improvements to STICK. The way you do this is you focus on 1, 2, or a few replacement habits. You can't correct technique by thinking about what not to do. You can only correct it by concentrating on the new correct motion and actually doing it over and over and over until it becomes your new habit. NOW here's the challenge, the moment you quit concentrating and doing your new habit you'll immediately start doing the motion the way you've always done it. It's impossible to tell you what you need to correct without seeing you swim. The best feedback would be at the pool, learning one thing at a time. 2nd best is make videos of you swimming, youtube em and provide us with the links and ask for suggestions. How long does it take to create a new habit and make it stick? It takes what it takes. Next, you must improve your swim conditioning Swimming long distances with open turns and funky form won't get you where you want to go. If you really want to improve, you must swim faster in practice, you must swim faster times on faster intervals, while you are slowly increasing your yardage. YOu will get used to more yardage and not be as exhausted. Lastly mix it up, work on everything, sprints, longer sprints, middle distance and longer swims. You can swim faster faster, Ande

hello, your title asked, "Is swimming very high volume the only way to get better?" NO, there are many ways to get better. you said you're "barely a real swimmer & come from a middle distance running background then injuries forced you into the pool. You couldn't swim at all until 2013, but seemed to improve fairly quickly (at freestyle). your question: "Can I keep improving without doing super-long swims?" YES you can you do not seem to recover or cope well with long swims you've done up to 3500 yards in a single workout (took almost an hour), but it basically wipes you out and you wrote "I don't think I'm good enough at form to keep good form for the whole swim." But when I reduce my workout volume to 1800 - 2800 yards per workout (but lots of hard sets that a great triathlon coach writes for me) you swim 6 times per week You've improved, your 100 yard time started at 1:31 and now you can go 1:21 your 500 from 8:00ish, to 7:28. You already have good muscle strength and aerobic fitness from all the lifting and training you did when you ran you wrote: "I think mostly it's my form that holds me back in the swim." So should you 1) keep swimming shorter swims and wait for form to smooth out? Or 2) push the distance (maybe even just once a week?). Will I EVER feel good going long? ~~~> Maybe Health issues: 1) stress fractures from running & an 2) eating disorder history and tend to underfuel and that may be an issue too, though you're doing much better now and are at a very healthy weight. 3) feel exhausted, don't want to over exercise You asked: "how do I do a darn flip turn?" You feel like your times would drop if you could do flip turns. You kind of answered your own questions. I assume you're female? What is your age, sex, height & weight? What are you training for? you mentioned a coach, Are you training with a team or with his workouts on your own? You will continue dropping your 100 time by improving your technique and your swim conditioning! You must learn how to do flip turns. The best ways to improve improve your technique are 1) one on one swimming technique training, along with 2) Videos: you need to see what you look like when you're swimming how you push off & streamline, (you can make huge improvements by just perfecting these 2 things ) how you kick (BTW runners tend to over kick) how your move your arms (improve your distance per stroke how you breathe How you turn you need before and after videos BTW what you're doing underwater is way more important than what you do above the water. It also helps to watch videos of the best in the world and copy their technique. 3) When you complete your one on one technique improvement training the next and greatest challenge is getting these new improvements to STICK. The way you do this is you focus on 1, 2, or a few replacement habits. You can't correct technique by thinking about what not to do. You can only correct it by concentrating on the new correct motion and actually doing it over and over and over until it becomes your new habit. NOW here's the challenge, the moment you quit concentrating and doing your new habit you'll immediately start doing the motion the way you've always done it. It's impossible to tell you what you need to correct without seeing you swim. The best feedback would be at the pool, learning one thing at a time. 2nd best is make videos of you swimming, youtube em and provide us with the links and ask for suggestions. How long does it take to create a new habit and make it stick? It takes what it takes. Next, you must improve your swim conditioning Swimming long distances with open turns and funky form won't get you where you want to go. If you really want to improve, you must swim faster in practice, you must swim faster times on faster intervals, while you are slowly increasing your yardage. YOu will get used to more yardage and not be as exhausted. Lastly mix it up, work on everything, sprints, longer sprints, middle distance and longer swims. You can swim faster faster, Ande