In the overgrown jungle known as "the Fastest Age", this idea came up:
Originally posted by gull80
I thought that anchoring was more a figure of speech, although I did read in TI that your arms/shoulders are much less important than your core muscles (which I still find hard to believe).
I brought up the baseball pitcher analogy that is popular. Craig mentioned he knew of that example, but the pitcher gets to push off the ground. I gave a counter example of throwing in water polo (in an all-deep pool ;) ). At that point, we both got sucked back into... ah... another discussion.
I wanted to start this thread, to see if it would yield any interesting insights. I was talking to a Masters swimmer who went to a training camp at the Olympic Training Center, and she mentioned that the main emphasis was to engage the core muscles during your swim.
I'm certain that I am not using ideal power transfer. I hope that I am not misrepresenting Craig, in saying he is not sure about how this is done.
Former Member
Originally posted by lefty
Oh and this reminds me of something. Dolan was swimming a set of 1000s next to me.
Great--a different thread!
Lefty, I'm pretty impressed that you and Dolan swim sets of 1000's together (and you said you were a sprinter!). I prefer to think of a 1000 as a set in and of itself.
Seriously, I can see the value of hip rotation, but you still have to pull the water, don't you?
Excellent topic and discussion.
I can definitely atest to the value of a very well conditioned core.
As a 49year old (late bloomer, didn't learn to swim until age 33) now a competitive master and distance/ marathon open water swimmer , as well I do some 'splash and dash' indoor events too ;), my conditioning of my core has made an incredible difference.
In the pool, body balance has vastly improved, kicking is a huge improvement, efficiency of my pull is oceans better, and backstroke and fly have blasted my personal bests sky high.
By being able to transfer my power and stabilize my core, my ability to stay balanced in rough open water has also drastically improved. Hence my times for these swims (5kms, 10km, 26kms and 34kms) have also seen great improvements.
I include dryland in most workouts post pool, and these include shoulder exercises, core body work and stretching. And I cajoule others to join as this area is part of my regular job.
At first these exercises seem difficult, but very soon you will notice the difference. And there are endless variations of each exercise, guaranteed to take the boredom away. (And you thought a pull buoy was just for the water) :)
As a child I was a tennis player, and I learnt how to hit powerful shots by a 'whip' action from my body to connect with the ball and hit and place the shot. Maybe that training has helped me to transfer the core power to swimming.
Kiwi
Kirk, as an adult playing co-rec recreational softball one of the most frequent comments I used to get from the guys was "You don't throw like a girl!" I take that as a compliment! :)
Is the core stronger or are the shoulder/arms stonger? Hmmmm
I don't think it is about which is stronger, but how they are used together. You can make your shoulders and arms as strong as you want, but without a strong core they will never be as strong as they can be together.
The stronger or the more stable your core is, the stronger your arms and shoulders will be. The core is where the power starts. If your core is weak or under used and it only follows what your shoulders and arms are doing... then all you are doing is using your shoulders and arms.
I can't say which one is stronger, but if you don't use them well together then your losing power.
Originally posted by Scansy
I tried to really focus on this in a workout once. I figured I would do it for the whole workout - hah! I fatigued quickly :( - I guess because I was using my core muscles - larger than the muscles in my arms. BUT - I was faster for the first couple hundred before I fatigued.
Since then, I have tried to work it in more gradually. I have improved, but still have a long way to go. One thing that helped is that I do 1500-2000 yards over the course of a week of butterfly kicking without a board. This works the core muscles a lot - especially abs and lower back. So far, I have done this mostly on my stomach, but I want to integrate more on my side and back - the different positions work different muscles. Much like different styles of crunches work different abs.
This is so true for me as well, I just sort of got to that level couple of months ago. Right down to the butterfly workouts.
Working on your sense of timing and tempo can really help if you are trying to engage your core muscles with your pull.
My method is to have a significant body roll at the same time as I pull, and I am using my arms like a propeller blade hooked up to my core body engine. There are two key components:
1) Front Quadrant Swimming (at least one arm in front of my shoulders at all times): I am rotated on my side, leading shoulder closer to the bottom of the pool, recovering arm's shoulder on top. I delay initiating my pull until my recovering hand passes my ear. Then, I initiate my pull, and roll to the opposite side simultaneously.
2) Tempo: Have you ever watched a long track speed skater? Notice their timing: push & glide, push & glide,... Swim a few laps that feel like that: pull & glide, pull & glide,...
When you really have it down, it will show up in your pulling sets. If they felt like they were all arms before, now they will feel like you are still using 90% of your body. Just focus on where your recovering hand is when you start your pull, and rotating your hips. Suddenly, you will start passing people who are wearing paddles, and you are not.
Matt
