Thanks to all who responded to my other post...don't stop! I appreciate what you all have to say, even if it's the same as everyone else.
I think I have a good idea of what you all think about my question, but I'm slow and I like numbers, so this poll is just an addition to my original post.
The question, again, is - can I, a beginning swimmer, benefit from shaving down in order to get a better feel for the water and be more aware of my movements in the water? A former swimmer / good friend suggested I do this.
Thanks in advance for your continued response.
Parents
Former Member
Shaving has very little to do with the amount of hair on your body, unless, like someone said, you look like robin williams. We had one guy on my college team who looked like he was wearing a 'hair suit' after he shaved, ... Never mind.
The feel you get, is from exfoliating those layers of dead, unfeeling skin we all collect. Why do competitive swimmers shave every day they have an event at a championship week. It's not to get the stubble left over from the previous shave. It's to remove any dead skin which may have formed since. I shave my palms (HEY NOW, NO JOKES) and bottoms of my feet. One would think this might cause your hands and feet to 'slip' through the water, but in actuality, it gives your hands a higher sensitivity to water pressure and 'slipage'.
We had a theory that the overall advantage to shaving, was about 30% psychological and 70% physical, and the shave was always good for 2 seconds per 100yds. 100 breaststroke, I could just break a minute tapered/unshaved, with taper/shave, another 2 seconds(57). 200, 2:09 tapered/unshaved, 2:04 tapered/shaved. Roughly the same with the fly 52/50 1:56/1:52
To GloBuggie, I suggest you refrain from shaving for 4 months prior to championships, then come back and tell us the difference. Our college women's team, the girls were not allowed to shave the entire season. There was this one girl, eeeww.... Forget that too. :)
Shaving has very little to do with the amount of hair on your body, unless, like someone said, you look like robin williams. We had one guy on my college team who looked like he was wearing a 'hair suit' after he shaved, ... Never mind.
The feel you get, is from exfoliating those layers of dead, unfeeling skin we all collect. Why do competitive swimmers shave every day they have an event at a championship week. It's not to get the stubble left over from the previous shave. It's to remove any dead skin which may have formed since. I shave my palms (HEY NOW, NO JOKES) and bottoms of my feet. One would think this might cause your hands and feet to 'slip' through the water, but in actuality, it gives your hands a higher sensitivity to water pressure and 'slipage'.
We had a theory that the overall advantage to shaving, was about 30% psychological and 70% physical, and the shave was always good for 2 seconds per 100yds. 100 breaststroke, I could just break a minute tapered/unshaved, with taper/shave, another 2 seconds(57). 200, 2:09 tapered/unshaved, 2:04 tapered/shaved. Roughly the same with the fly 52/50 1:56/1:52
To GloBuggie, I suggest you refrain from shaving for 4 months prior to championships, then come back and tell us the difference. Our college women's team, the girls were not allowed to shave the entire season. There was this one girl, eeeww.... Forget that too. :)
