Practice vs. Competition

I definately vote for "to few competitions" choice. When I was young we had a meet every weekend...the feel of swimming really fast was always there. As a master I am happy to compete more than once every second month...no wonder it feels strange competing....every time. /Per

I had this problem at the first meet I swam this year. I felt like I was fighting the water on fly and had no grip in free. My coach told me that more likely than not it was because I hadn't done much actual race pace swimming and needed to remember "how to race". Sometimes we spin and our form goes to hell ... Yes! It felt like I was fighting the water (it was like I hadn't practiced at all)! I'll just have to get my butt moving on backstroke more at practice... that is probably it. Thank you everyone for your comments - I've got some work to do!

That sometimes happens to me in the 50 *** and then I try to slow my self down a little,stretch out a little and regain feel for the water. You are probably just stroking too fast and losing your grip on the water. Lifting weights will help your power ,but won't help your feel for the water,so I doubt it would solve this problem.

I think it could have something to do with tension. Whenever I can't relax before a breaststroke race, my stroke comes apart and I feel like a beginner. Try some slow, deep breathing before you race. Also read the NYT article referenced in the Free Your Mind thread.

I had this problem at the first meet I swam this year. I felt like I was fighting the water on fly and had no grip in free. My coach told me that more likely than not it was because I hadn't done much actual race pace swimming and needed to remember "how to race". Sometimes we spin and our form goes to hell ...

How -- and when -- you warm up may have something to do with it. Wow! Thank you so much for all of that info! I will definitely be putting that to use at my next meet. I've been good at cooling down after my events, but I'm terrible at hopping in to warm up before all of my swims. I also do visualize my events before I dive in... it's such a big help - but I like what you wrote... When you mean "3 cycle bursts" - are you saying do 3 fast cycles of the stroke you're going to swim during some fast 25's during warmups for my 50 and 100 events? What do you recommend for a 200 IM? Thank you for your time! Sarah

Sarah, You may be aware or you may not, but your description of this problem sounds familiar. Sometimes, a swimmer is way too over-anxious at the start and spins in the initial part of the race without the performance feedback. Terry was very correct in mentioning a proper warmup; and the better condition a swimmer is in, the longer the warmup needs to be. And that warmup will help to alleviate tension. Also, visualization of the race, usually all through a taper up to the race itself, will help immensly. I have always used visualization for anything I do, way ahead of time, and what seems to happen is that the picture in my brain does eventually match the swim itself. My body follows the picture in my brain because my body is already trained; I am just trying to get my mind around it all. I also think with being over-anxious even if you are totally not aware of it, a swimmer loses control and sense of pace. And in any swim race, acceleration is built, not instantly obtained right out of the shoot. Maybe you are trying too hard in the beginning? Just a thought..... Some of the races I lost, I lost because I tried to go from zero to 100 during the midportion of the start. Failure happened. Tough lesson. Donna

When at meets: The second I dive in (this is primarily on backstroke, my best stroke) - and I feel like I'm out of control, I feel like I slip on every pull - not going anywhere but my arms are going fast. If your arms are spinning too fast...you may not rolling enough. This is important for swimming fast backstroke and staying skinny in the water. www.limmatsharks.com/backstroke.html Lenny had a very fast turnover and his technique was fantastic. He rolled always. And a thanks to Terry for writing this article.

I also enjoyed Terry's (Kaizan) comments about the three-phased tuning. Only one question left for me... In smaller meets where there is no real opportunity for pre-event warm-ups, do you suggest the sprint tuning be the last thing you do in the general warm-up cycle?

Practice going fast. Do sprint sets in practice where you're focusing on going as fast as you can (for that moment), but being very mindful of your stroke. Practice longer stuff (ie 150's and 200s) for your 50's and 100s - work the last half of those longer swims hard, but maintaining good form. Do a 50 or two off the blocks at the end of practice. After the workout is done, do a 50/100 ez, then stick around a few minutes doing a couple 50s for time. Slowly but surely, your race-time form will start getting better as you work on your speed AND form during your practice times. Another tip - got a video camera? tape a few swims in practice, and take the camera to all your meets. look at the tape after the meets with your coach and talk about what you could be doing better. work on that in practice. I have been using the camera for years, and even today, I go back and look at certain races to see what I was doing right or wrong.