"What do YOU need to do to have a major swimming breakthrough?"

so your legs sink when you swim, I swam past an elderly gentleman in warm up at nationals whose legs were way too low in the water when he was swimming freestyle. Many people have "low leg" problems in breastroke. What are your events? Your profile pic gives me the impression you're a distance/triathlon type swimmer. You asked: "Assuming swimming on top of the water is better, how do I keep myself in that position?" I think it is better to swim on top the water, the faster a boat goes the higher it is on the water. I'd really need to watch you swim to give you accurate advice or corrections that would work. having "a very large arc in your back" won't help. I think the real issue might be your kick, you probably need to learn the two beat flick kick to maintain proper body position while you swim freestyle. The two beat flick kick is where your legs are at rest most of the time and your feet make a tiny flicking motion at the end of each stroke to keep your legs where they are supposed to be. I was swimming repeat 50 free today. I know that I have bad body position in the water--my legs sink. Today I worked on trying to improve that. First attempt, I swam with a very large arc in my back that put strain on my neck. Second attempt was the same but with a more normal head position. Then, I popped up on top of the water. I'd never done it before, but it felt fast. I couldn't hold it long before I sank back down.:drown: Assuming swimming on top of the water is better, how do I keep myself in that position?:bow: I figure a lifted head will cause my legs to sink, but even with my head in a neutral position, I couldn't hold it. I even tried pushing my head down so the water came over the back of my head (made it hard to breathe), my legs came up, but it felt like I was plowing through the water.:notworking:

I was swimming repeat 50 free today. I know that I have bad body position in the water--my legs sink. Today I worked on trying to improve that. First attempt, I swam with a very large arc in my back that put strain on my neck. Second attempt was the same but with a more normal head position. Then, I popped up on top of the water. I'd never done it before, but it felt fast. I couldn't hold it long before I sank back down.:drown: Assuming swimming on top of the water is better, how do I keep myself in that position?:bow: I figure a lifted head will cause my legs to sink, but even with my head in a neutral position, I couldn't hold it. I even tried pushing my head down so the water came over the back of my head (made it hard to breathe), my legs came up, but it felt like I was plowing through the water.:notworking: You're head should be looking down. It'll feel weird but it's the most efficient way, don't lift it up, keep it in a neutral position. www.limmatsharks.com/svlimmat_balance.html If you're legs still sink try and press your chest down in the water a bit, don't arch your back it's more like the chest press in butterfly if anything. It's a very gentle press. EDIT: Are you familiar with the different arm stroke timing in the freestyle? www.limmatsharks.com/.../index.html The front quadrant style helps some people float a bit more evenly by putting more mass in front of the lungs to sort of counterbalance the veritable anchor's that are the legs.

Head position, balance of course can be controlled by head position. But we must not follow the instruction of keeping the head too low when swimming. Thorpe does not bury his head completely, the slight up tilt that he uses actually lifts the legs to the proper position. We may be coming too TI.

www.youtube.com/watch This a great swim to see what Ande was explaining about a two beat kick.

I was swimming repeat 50 free today. I know that I have bad body position in the water--my legs sink. Today I worked on trying to improve that. First attempt, I swam with a very large arc in my back that put strain on my neck. Second attempt was the same but with a more normal head position. Then, I popped up on top of the water. I'd never done it before, but it felt fast. I couldn't hold it long before I sank back down.:drown: Assuming swimming on top of the water is better, how do I keep myself in that position?:bow: I figure a lifted head will cause my legs to sink, but even with my head in a neutral position, I couldn't hold it. I even tried pushing my head down so the water came over the back of my head (made it hard to breathe), my legs came up, but it felt like I was plowing through the water.:notworking:

that's it there's some decent underwater footage 39 sec into the race (or around 75 seconds into the youtube timer) www.youtube.com/watch This a great swim to see what Ande was explaining about a two beat kick.

now's a good time to think about what you need to do to breakthrough for the SCM season and the SCY season. I hope you swim faster faster and break on through to the other side a

First breakthru: Making to to the bottom of the workout board yesterday!!!!!! I think what I need to do to establish some decent times in events is as follows: 1) Explode off the blocks. 2) Maintain a solid SDK position for at least 3 kicks. 3) Concentrate on not crossing over with my right arm - this has been a major issue since I started back in mid-Sept. 4) Nail my turns - need to remember in warm ups to get dialed into the turn. 5) DO NOT HOLD MY BREATH!!!!!! 6) Relax and have fun 7) Oh yeah, kick SwimStud's ***!!!!!!!!! Paul

?!?!? Jeez I offer out a friendly grudge match and Vince McMahon shows up to promote it... ;) Sorry, was that a little over the top??? :thhbbb: Paul

First breakthru: Making to to the bottom of the workout board yesterday!!!!!! I think what I need to do to establish some decent times in events is as follows: 1) Explode off the blocks. 2) Maintain a solid SDK position for at least 3 kicks. 3) Concentrate on not crossing over with my right arm - this has been a major issue since I started back in mid-Sept. 4) Nail my turns - need to remember in warm ups to get dialed into the turn. 5) DO NOT HOLD MY BREATH!!!!!! 6) Relax and have fun 7) Oh yeah, kick SwimStud's ***!!!!!!!!! Paul ?!?!? Jeez I offer out a friendly grudge match and Vince McMahon shows up to promote it... ;)