I'm a relative newbie, 70 yrs old. Lifelong runner, but arthritis put a stop to that. Now trying to improve swim technique. I have a waterproof camera so I had someone else shoot me for a lap so I could see what I was doing wrong. I have no kick, which I've mentioned before, but worse than that, the legs sink 1-2 feet below the surface. I look like a dying walrus. What I want to do, whether the kick provides any propulsion or not, is raise my legs toward the surface to get more streamlined. What needs to be done???
I would guess your head position is probably too high and upright. You need to be looking straight down to even slightly rearward. I would go so far as to say that if you can have your head such that some water goes over it, it would be even better. When you breathe, you want to be looking slightly behind you, so say at your 4:00 on the right and 8:00 on your left, and be looking where your elbow comes out of the water. Most people I see just lap swimming looking anywhere between slightly ahead, and way ahead.
I've seen littler kids taught how to do this by placing a tennis ball under their chin and making them hold it there. Obviously it is hard to do that for any period of time as you need to breathe. Someone makes a foam ball for that purpose, I think either TYR or Dolphin, can't recall which, and I can't find the darn thing. At any rate, perhaps using one wiht a snorkel may help you keep your head down. I actually use a snorkel with a kickboard to help make sure my hips are high during the set.
I would guess your head position is probably too high and upright. You need to be looking straight down to even slightly rearward. I would go so far as to say that if you can have your head such that some water goes over it, it would be even better. When you breathe, you want to be looking slightly behind you, so say at your 4:00 on the right and 8:00 on your left, and be looking where your elbow comes out of the water. Most people I see just lap swimming looking anywhere between slightly ahead, and way ahead.
I've seen littler kids taught how to do this by placing a tennis ball under their chin and making them hold it there. Obviously it is hard to do that for any period of time as you need to breathe. Someone makes a foam ball for that purpose, I think either TYR or Dolphin, can't recall which, and I can't find the darn thing. At any rate, perhaps using one wiht a snorkel may help you keep your head down. I actually use a snorkel with a kickboard to help make sure my hips are high during the set.
