Can anyone suggest drills to help me swim as fast without a pull buoy as I do with one?
I work hard at practice 5 days a week and make incremental gains every so often. But my improvement over the past year can't compare to the amount I improve when I grab a pull buoy.
So - I need to be working on my body alignment? Keeping my legs high in the water? Strengthening my abs? I try to work on all of those things but I would really appreciate any drill or workout ideas.
Thanks!
For me, and it's a repeat of some of the other astute posters above, it's all about head position. If my head is up, as happens in short course crowded 5-second sendoff workouts, my back/butt sags so that when I rotate, there's an automatic fishtail. It's hard to feel, but makes me so "angry" when I can tell, usually happens as I tire out towards the end of a workout. The buoy exaggerates that feeling if you try to keep your legs in alignment, so it makes it easier to feel the corrective action of putting your head down and pushing down a bit with your chest. Personally, spine alignment seems to be the key concept, and kebab seems the appropriate visual metaphor.
Good luck, happy laps.
For me, and it's a repeat of some of the other astute posters above, it's all about head position. If my head is up, as happens in short course crowded 5-second sendoff workouts, my back/butt sags so that when I rotate, there's an automatic fishtail. It's hard to feel, but makes me so "angry" when I can tell, usually happens as I tire out towards the end of a workout. The buoy exaggerates that feeling if you try to keep your legs in alignment, so it makes it easier to feel the corrective action of putting your head down and pushing down a bit with your chest. Personally, spine alignment seems to be the key concept, and kebab seems the appropriate visual metaphor.
Good luck, happy laps.
