So much faster with a pull buoy

I found swimming with just the band very difficult at first, but with practice and a focus on using my abs to keep my legs high and balancing by pressing my chest down, it has gotten much easier (and has really helped my swimming beyond the drill). Another thing I found helpful when I first started the drill was rotating my whole body when my legs started to sink, so that I could translate that downward motion of the legs more into rotational momentum. That's not a very good description, but that's the way I thought about it while I was swimming and it helped. Swimming with the band might come really easily to people who have swum their whole lives and feel completely impossible to people who haven't. I have found that to be true of a lot of drills and advice from veteran swimmers. The nice thing is that as I work at swimming and develop the muscle memory and little stabilizing muscles that lifelong swimmers have, advice that made no sense for a long time can become clear all of a sudden.

Do those of you with strong kicks feel a connection between the timing of your kick and the timing of your stroke, or are they independent? Either/or. I 6-kick as a habit, although I can bump it up when I have to. When I'm swimming my best, everything's coordinated. When I'm fatigued, I notice my kick pace can become disconnected from my stroke pace. My advantage in the kick is that I have a long torso and short legs, so I can expend less energy for a faster kick.

here's a T I BEFORE & AFTER Video YouTube - TI Freestyle Before and After 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!

I found swimming with just the band very difficult at first, but with practice and a focus on using my abs to keep my legs high and balancing by pressing my chest down, it has gotten much easier (and has really helped my swimming beyond the drill). Another thing I found helpful when I first started the drill was rotating my whole body when my legs started to sink, so that I could translate that downward motion of the legs more into rotational momentum. That's not a very good description, but that's the way I thought about it while I was swimming and it helped. This is a great description I find, absolutely. The purpose of this drill is to get you to find YOUR own way to improve body balance. You know, with several drill come several side effects. So called Catch Up may favor dropped elbow bug. With the band around, there's not any side effect that I can think of. Translating leg sinking momentum into rotational momentum is great (it just can't be bad). However, like you smartly pointed out, the real benefit becomes apparent when you remove the band and experiment a smoother than usual full stroke. Congrats!

here's a T I BEFORE & AFTER Video Ande, thanks for pointing out the videp. I was thinking that his "before" swim looked pretty good. Until I saw the "after". Now I'm going to have to think about what I'm doing, and where I'm wasting energy with "slop".

in the "AFTER" he's moving with much less effort & much more ease, which allows him to hold a better pace over longer swims, his legs are still most of the time and he's doing a quick flick kick to get a little propulsion & maintain body position.

I wonder if the problem IS the bouy itself, by becomming dependant on aft quadrant floatation. I tried a bouy once for the hell of it, and sure enough, swimming was effortless. I immediately stopped, thinking this can't be productive. I'm sure it may be beneficial with certain drills for concentration in other areas though, but I'm staying away from pull bouys.

I'm faster with the buoy - and *totally* eff'n frustrated by it. As far as that TI before & after video - I'm totally the 'before' swimmer which sucks. I guess I need to get the TI book and learn and do what it says - I sooooh want that style. Help! Thanks! I've always been faster with a buoy & paddles. Its all about that extra floatation you get with the buy to lift your hips and butt....you are expending any energy to keep them up. As far as the stoke, pull "can" make you swim a little too "flat" rather than really working on the extension of your hands/arms and rotation of the hips. As far as the kick, being a distance swimmer I've always swam little the "after" swimmers with the little flick kick. Having just started back 18 months ago after 15 years off its starting to come back to me.

hey Steve, don't give up on the pull bouy yet, they can be pretty useful. there are probably a lot more good reasons but here are a few. you will learn how it feels to swim with proper body position. then you can use different head position or other technique change to get that feeling back when swimming full stroke. after a tough set, pulling is one way to keep the aerobic work going without your stroke falling apart from fatigue. using a bouy even without paddles overloads the arms. breaks up monotony of swimming thousands of yds freestyle. forces a faster turnover.

I'm faster with the buoy - and *totally* eff'n frustrated by it. As far as that TI before & after video - I'm totally the 'before' swimmer which sucks. I guess I need to get the TI book and learn and do what it says - I sooooh want that style. Help! Thanks!