Help needed to improve 100 Free

You originally said that you wanted to join a Masters program. Judging by what you have reported about your performance, you are far ahead of most people in training yourself. Why are you waiting to join a club? Mission Viejo is probably the closest program to you. Mark Moore is a fine coach who will help you with any stroke/speed work you may want to explore. Sometimes the extra added attention of teammates will get you to do things you would not have considered when training by yourself. Good luck!

Kudos to you for that 16 second SDK. I am working on exactly the same areas as you are now. I can't go under 20 for a 25m SDK - yet. And my fastest 25m flutter kick is a 21.xx. I have weak legs, too. I just hate lifting weights though. I have been promising to do it for ages, but just can't bring myself to walk up the stairs from the pool deck and go into the gym. Your story might just be the inspiration I need! Syd Syd, I finally accepted the fact that I naturally have puny legs. Lots of kicking in the past has helped my kicking endurance, but I've never really had any power back there. They always just seem like they're along for the ride. And let's face it, kicking in the pool does help with kicking in the pool, but it doesn't do much for true leg strength. My goal is to build strength in the trunk so that I'll have better command of my legs in the pool. By the way, at my gym I don't think I've seen anyone besides myself in both the weight room and the pool (which is a good feeling for me). It's odd that's there's not much crossover here. I started swimming my senior year in high school and it was when my coach started making us lift weights before swimming that I realized what a benefit this combination is (even if its extremely taxing at times). I will say, however, that I'm very cautious with my lifting to avoid stressing muscles and joints that get stressed in the pool - such as the shoulders. I keep a sharp eye towards maintaining flexibility and increasing functional strength.

It's interesting, your times are quite similar to mine, my best from a push off in training is 1:02.4 for SCM 100, best in a race is 59.4. Like yours, my kick is also not so good, 1:44 for SCM 100 kick, 44 for SCM 50 kick. I can do 40 for SCM 50 SDK, popping up to breathe as necessary before submerging again. I think the kick is vital for sprinting, because with small training fins I can do SCM 100 kick in 1:12, which some people can do without fins! If I swim 100 free with fins I can do 57 from a push off, so I assume if I could improve my kick without fins from 1:44 to 1:12 I would take 5 seconds off my 100 free and be racing sub 55. You must be achieving your times very differently to me, as I take more like 20 strokes per length for a max effort 100, but I'm about 7" shorter than you! For interest, Andrew Manley, who recently set a new Masters WR in the 30-34 age of 50.24 for SCM 100 free, looks to be stroking very long and slow compared to most people, but even he takes 17-18 strokes per length. You must only be taking a stroke per second or something like that, which is very slow. I think if you increased your weekly training meterage you could get your stroke rate up and swim faster. I know it's tempting to try to increase power through weights, but I've always personally found I swim faster the more time I spend in the pool. Any time in the gym is time I could be spending in the pool instead. I got a lot faster when I stopped going to the gym and started swimming 25-30km a week instead.

Kudos to you for that 16 second SDK. I am working on exactly the same areas as you are now. I can't go under 20 for a 25m SDK - yet. And my fastest 25m flutter kick is a 21.xx. I have weak legs, too. I just hate lifting weights though. I have been promising to do it for ages, but just can't bring myself to walk up the stairs from the pool deck and go into the gym. Your story might just be the inspiration I need! Syd Question: Am I understanding that you are doing an underwater SDK from one side of the pool to the other in 16 seconds? (SCY)

sounds like you're on the right track apply swim faster faster tips too Keep us posted on your progress ande Hi Everyone, I’ve been snooping around for some time, but just now getting around to posting. I’m looking for some advice in regards to “hitting a wall”. I’m eventually looking to join up with a Masters team and enter competitions. 50 and 100 Free would be the focus first and grow from there as I get in better shape and work on other strokes. But first, I’m trying to push myself on my own due to a busy schedule. Anyhow, I’ve hit a wall with the 100 free that I can’t seem to break through. I swim in a 25 meter pool and from a push off the best I can do is 1:00.xx. My current schedule is about to start lightening up, so I’m hoping to formulate a plan of attack in hopes of breaking that 1 minute barrier. I consistently swim 11-13 strokes per length (depending on intensity), which, as far as I can find, seems to be ok. My flip turns have actually become decent over the past few months, but I’m restricted to a glide and then flutter kick off the wall as a dolphin kick seems to slow me down (though I’ve been working on it as well). My kick, however, seems to be the real problem. I do 25m repeats on the :45 with a kickboard and usually come in at 28 seconds. My ultimate goal would be to eventually kick a 100 SCM with a kickboard in 1:20. But this seems soooo far off!! My PB 50 SCM kick is 47.xx and my PB 100 SCM kick is 1:49.xx. If I remember correctly, I think I take between 38 and 40 kicks per 25M (does this seem excessively high?). I’m not sure if I’m not getting enough distance per kick or if my kick rate is just way too slow, or both. I’ve read of couple of threads by Ande regarding kicking and collected some good ideas, such as doing 4x (3 x 25 swim on :45 and 1 ALL OUT kick for time). I also think I’m going to commit to his recommendation of kicking 25s until I get under 20 seconds, then focusing on 50s until I get under 45seconds, and so on. In the past, I think I’ve jumped to quickly to the 50s and 100s. Does anyone have any other kicking sets like this that have worked well for you? I’m beginning to realize that I must go to the pool with these sets in mind, otherwise, when it comes to kicking, I’m just not good at making it up as I go. I also end up swimming more and kicking less. Right now, I’m putting in between 5,000 and 6,000 meters a week. I’m guessing that 800 to 1,500 of that is kicking, either with a kickboard or just 1 arm extended and kicking on my side. Finally, part of my workout program includes weight lifting. I’m currently including leg press, leg extension, and leg curls in my routine. Anyone know of any exercises beyond these that have benefited them with the flutter kick? I’m unfortunate to have a weak lower body and I feel like this is hurting me. It’s amazing how much effort it seems to take just to get my lanky legs kicking at full speed. Anyone actually gotten into squats and seen improvement, or does pool-only work seem best? Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any responses.

It sounds like your kick is pretty well developed. I would worry more about the big motor at the front end. This is where your speed will come from. I my self, if I was working on SDK I would not come up for a breath you will ruin the streamline. What I would suggest is do your SDK and combine it with the break out to the swim. The break out is more important than coming up for a breath and going back to an SDK.

I don't remember seeing this from anyone else, but the main thing I would focus on is your training volume. 5,000-6,000m is a good amount for a practice, not a typical week! Sprinters seem to be doing less volume than they were 20 years ago, but this is still a very low number. I guess this would work if a huge percentage of your training was all out sprints. In my opinion in order to improve you'd need to get this up to at least 10k/week as a minimum. I agree that the volume is very low. However, while attempting to gain strength and mass in my legs, it's more important at the moment that I take in enough clean calories per day -- without burning them off in the pool -- to encourage growth. That's why my time is the pool now is spent dealing with a laundry list of what I think are my weakest areas (swimming wise). As strength gains are seen, I will move into a muscle maintenance phase where I increase the swimming volume as you suggested. Eventually, I will join a master's program that will likely force me into a third phase of even higher swimming volume, and little emphasis on weights, in preparation for meets.

You originally said that you wanted to join a Masters program. Judging by what you have reported about your performance, you are far ahead of most people in training yourself. Why are you waiting to join a club? Mission Viejo is probably the closest program to you. Mark Moore is a fine coach who will help you with any stroke/speed work you may want to explore. Sometimes the extra added attention of teammates will get you to do things you would not have considered when training by yourself. Good luck! I hear Mark is a great coach. Right now it’s just a schedule issue. I start work at 6AM and am also in school full-time. The 7-8:30 evening practice is all I might be able to make, but that’s really too late. Even there, I’d be lucky to make it twice a week, which isn’t enough to justify the $55/month fee. So I’ve kind of resigned to trying to improve on my own until my schedule lightens up enough that I can really take advantage of the Master's workouts.

You must only be taking a stroke per second or something like that, which is very slow. I think if you increased your weekly training meterage you could get your stroke rate up and swim faster. I know it's tempting to try to increase power through weights, but I've always personally found I swim faster the more time I spend in the pool. Any time in the gym is time I could be spending in the pool instead. I got a lot faster when I stopped going to the gym and started swimming 25-30km a week instead. I did 25 sprints from a push off today, all were 13-14 seconds and I never went over 13 strokes per length. So yea, I guess it is about a stroke per second. It’s probably a matter of increasing stroke rate to the point that the distance covered per stroke doesn’t suffer. Concerning the weights, I don’t plan on stopping the lifting because I think it’s important to see through my intuitions and figure out what works best for me. My experience has been just the opposite of yours. I’ve noticed that my pull weakens when cutting out weights, even if drastically increasing time spent in the pool. The weight lifting and swimming is not new to me, but what is different is the new emphasis I'm putting on leg development.

Question: Am I understanding that you are doing an underwater SDK from one side of the pool to the other in 16 seconds? (SCY) MAC, Yes. I push off and do the SDK with no breaths for 25 SCM (not SCY). Today I went a strong 15 seconds.