I need seriously help for how to improve my SCY times. My LCM times are so much better than SCY by comparison, I know this might sound a little weird, but it's true. I suck at short course, and love racing in long course. I don't know what's causing this, but would like to go faster in both SCY and SCM. Currently I am not swimming for a masters team, because we don't really have one near by where I go to college. I do swim with our school swim club sometimes, but they practice at night, and I am more of a morning, afternoon swimmer, since I mostly have to work on projects for my classes at night. Just a little background on my swimming if that gives you a better idea of where I come from and how to possibly give me some advice. I started swimming when I was almost 3 years old, and first taught by my father. Since I was not born and did not grow up in the swimming power house-the US, I did not get to do competitive swimming until I decided to go to high school in Texas. I was a really solid distance freestyler, and breaststroker, and I have fairly decent butterfly too. I did suck at backstroke, and still do. :frustrated: But I had to almost completely stop racing/competing after only one year swimming on my high school team due to severe back injuries, and heart condition (I kindda have the same problem like Dana Vollmer's, my heart could stop at any random moment). Plus I was still picking up English, and had to complete my high school in just 3 years as I did not want to fall behind, (I entered high school as a sophomore). Now I am a junior in college, and I just recently started swimming everyday again, and found out just how much I miss racing and competing in the water. I make up my own workouts most the times, and sometimes use the masters' workouts you guys posted here. They seem to work pretty well for me, and I do feel I am getting stronger and faster every now and then. Distance freestyle is still my favorite, and I am starting to get closer and closer to my personally best time I set in high school almost 5 years ago! I just looked up the top 10 times for my age groups (18-24), and my 800m and 1500m (LCM) times fall within them!! It's pretty encouraging for me to know that. I am planning to also get faster for my fly and breaststroke and IM.
Dang, I can't believe I just typed such a long, lousy paragraph thingy about me and swimming. Sorry for making you guys read through all of that. But any advice for getting faster in SCY? Thanks so much! I have enjoyed reading through all of your comments (most of them are hilarious) here, and my dad just joined a couple weeks ago too! I can't wait to join a masters' team after I graduate. Should be tons fun!
All the best,
-Anlynn
P.S. What exactly is a "natural swimmer"? I have been told that I am one, but have no idea what it really means, though it sounded a lot like a compliment. lol. :joker:
Former Member
I'll jump in with Streamliing. I do a front crawl and a very pedestrian rate but I work my open turns and streamline hard with no kick and come up well past flags...a little kick I'm halfway down the pool before I come up.
I'll only attest that I was lane sharing with a guy swimming much faster than me but who had a very short underwater portion. He flip turned and pushed off, whereas I streamed on an open turn and over took him and held a lead for a short period.
Obviously he may not care...probably just swimming for the exercise, and not worried about conserving energy or such. It just gave me a great first hand proof of how important it is to streamline.
All the emphasis on turns is good. I think it worth pointing out just how much difference there is between LCM and SCY. I read an article (I can't find it right now) that say a 50 race in SCY only involves about 35 yards of actual swimming. A dive eliminates between 5-10 yds, the approach to turn maybe 1-2, and the push off the turn can eliminate another 5+ yds. A 50 in LCM is probably a 40+ meter race.
This article pointed out that LCM places a premium on long, efficient stroking. SCY racing places a premium on power and good turns.
So some other things to think about:
- train for more power in SCY - do more high quality sprint sets
- consider slight faster turnover in SCY races, especially short ones, because you can afford to with 10% less wall to wall distance and even less actual swimming
- make sure you are not losing speed in the approach to the turn
I agree with Hoffam...SCY is almost all swum under the water. Consider the 100 back as an extreme example: 12-15meters off each wall and you have less than 10 yards of swimming per lap! So 60% of the race is underwater!
Now of course this doesn't apply to the distance races (as most distance guys come up at the flags), but swimming SCY at least doubles your turns, making them twice as important.
My advice would be to work both in and out of the wall. Think of it as throwing a tennis ball against a wall, the harder you through it the harder it bounces off. So the harder you go in, the more momentum you have coming off the wall (but remember that momentum will be wasted if you aren't in streamline!!;)).
Dont be lazy and glide in, attack the walls and you will see results. Think about that as you warm up and do your sets. Maybe even do some sets where the you are only going hard from the flags in and out. Or just take some time at the end of your workout to do a few good turns.
Thanks so much for all your comments! They've been really helpful and you are right, my turns are something I always need to work on. I think that my flip turns are actually pretty efficient, but I do have poor push offs sometimes. I am now trying a new flip turn--the one that Karylyn Pipe-Neilson (sorry for spelling her name wrong) wrote about in SwimmingWorld, spread you legs before you place them on the wall to push off. It was kindda awkward first, and I am slowly getting used to it. The other thing is my backstroke turns (well..which is just like a flip turn except push off on your back) are just miserable sometimes. lol. I can't seem to get off the wall fast or powerful enough and have trouble holding my breath for the under water dolphin kick right after the turn. I have been working on this ever since I got back in the water. :dedhorse: No wonder my backstroke is my weakest stroke after all.
Any more suggestions on that? Thanks again.
Stay wet,
-Anlynn
The other thing is my backstroke turns (well..which is just like a flip turn except push off on your back) are just miserable sometimes. lol. I can't seem to get off the wall fast or powerful enough and have trouble holding my breath for the under water dolphin kick right after the turn.
Anlynn,
I think a lot of folks struggle with keeping enough air to do a decent SDK to start off a leg of backstroke. Most folks exhale out their nose as they turn or while on their back to prevent water from going up their nose.
Some thoughts
You may be blowing out all your air as you turn. This may be uncomfortable, but you can try a few flips w/o exhaling at all to get familiar with exactly when and where the "water up the nose" feeling starts and stops. Then try exhaling only during that time on the flip. On the less extreme side, but simiilarly, exhale slowly as you flip, trying to save some air for your SDKs.
Also, a lot of folks on here a few weeks back were talking about a nose clip. That will help keeping in air as you flip (since you won't need to exhale), and you can save all your air for exhaling as you SDK off the wall (through your mouth).
As for you power off the walls, there are a lot of things you can do. On your next business trip, hit up the hotels "Olympic" sized pool and just do streamlines/turns. Since there's really no room for swimming, just practice getting a tight streamline off each wall, especially after a turn, and getting a strong push off each wall.
I like to push off on my side with my feet about shoulder width apart and pointed about 45 degrees away from either straight up or straight across - I find I get some good torque when I twist onto my stomach this way.
Also, any spinning/running/biking and a few trips to the weight room should help with your leg power.
Again I must apologize for my ignorance, but what are: SCY, SCM, and LCM?
Thanx,:bow:
Bill
Bill:
SCY - Short Course Yards
SCM - Short Course Meters
LCM - Long Course Meters (Same as the Olympics)
Jeff, thanks for helping out on my turns/push offs. Those are really helpful tips!
I hit the fitness room 6 days a week (I swim everyday except Tuesday when I have classes all day), and do weights 3 times a week. My workout schedule is something like:
Monday distance swim + weights
Tuesday no swim I do yoga + hiphop dance practice + squad jumps
Wednesday distance swim + weights
Thursday Stroke/Drills/Sprint + cycling/running + squad jumps
Friday Stroke/Drills/Sprint + yoga lesson
Saturday Stroke/Drills/Sprint + weights + cycling/running/rolling
Sunday IM/Drills + cycling/running/rolling + squad jumps
I do abs exercise every night before going to bed. My workout is pretty much planned about my classes, I get to do a little more when I am not terribly loaded with projects and papers.
Jeff, as you mentioned, I am planning to increase some dryland workouts just for my legs. I am a pretty fast kicker, but just doesn't really work with underwater dolphin kicks. Hopefully I'll get faster. :applaud:
I love your quote by the way, well..though I prefer something other than sharks, maybe dolphins? :wiggle:
Those are awesome tips! I am going to try the mid-pool drill as soon as I am allowed to return to the pool.
Yes, I went to the doctor yesterday and found out that I am sick, and better to stay away from exercising too much for at least a month. And because what I have is super contageous, I'd better stay away from the pool too. :shakeshead:
Just when I am getting faster eveyday, I have to get sick NOW!!!..Ugh! :frustrated:
I can't wait to get wet again!!!
Stay Wet,
-Anlynn
