20 lengths doggy paddle at lunchtime and I didn't drown!
The water was a bit rough and I have a stiff neck now (I think that bit's because I swim like a girl), but roll on Ullswater!
All I need is a b(u)oy to hang on to every 25m and I'll be fine.
20 lengths doggy paddle at lunchtime and I didn't drown!
The water was a bit rough and I have a stiff neck now (I think that bit's because I swim like a girl), but roll on Ullswater!
All I need is a b(u)oy to hang on to every 25m and I'll be fine.
I used to be like that. Could barely swim 50 meters without drowning. After months of hard training and dedication, I'm still sh!t
if you are trying to do lots of lengths front crawl......... the best tip anyone ever told me was to not use your legs - at all - just let them hang there - its your arms that drive you forward and splashing your legs just tires you out - try it someone please and report back - i dont go swimming anymore
but really dont use your legs at all - nothing - zilch - niente - ok?
You might need to use your legs a tincy little bit or your legs sink and you end up trying to swim at a funny angle.
But its a very good point when i start doggy paddle I was f**ked after 25 mins and 50 would leave me like an asthmatic in a pet store!
You think that because you can run you should use your legs as much as poss as they are strong, which is carp!
If you want to try without using your legs AT ALL then get one of the those pull bouys (an hour glass shaped float) stick it between your knees and away you go!
mmm interesting - thinking about it I suppose your legs stay up without much effort because of the position you swim in ..........with your 'bum' quite high in the water - i think thats what our (60 yr old male) swiming teacher used to tell us - his ladies swiming team (we were all in our twenties) and he used to grab our waists in the water to put us right - you did it right to keep him off you!
A dodgy old man used to grab your waists in the pool and he told you it was to improve your swimming technique.......
My neck always hurts, I can;t get used to having my whole head in the water for the majority of the time
'That's what you get when you suffer - you get results'
YES my neck always hurts too, glad it's not just me...
So I packed in swimming
I don't kick my legs very much at all. You are right that leg-action is not critical, nor, to a certain extent, is arm action (bear with me!) but it is the movement of your body as one through the water, the twisting of the torso, stretching the arms far in front of your head and so on...
Angle the body so that it cuts through the water like one of those racing yachts, don't lie flat in the water pushing through it like a barge - was how I had it explained.
I tried swim practice with some fellas that really knew how to swim. They strapped these thick black rubber bands around their ankles so their legs were never gonna kick, then they swam lengths. My life! I had to put a pullbuoy between my legs to stop my feet craashing through the pool tiles...
Mud - if you swim in ullswater, swim behind someone, you can get in the equivalent of their bicycle slipstream... it does work.
Daleside - I agree with you on the leg/arm thing. My excuse was that a runner's legs are muscle, thus heavy, thus harder to keep afloat.
Why walk when you can run.
The short blade allows all the advantages of strong fast kick development, improves leg development and improves leg strength and endurance. Recommended as a first class teaching aid for strokes. Available at an extremely reasonable price.
Last edited by sunnysideup; 23-01-2007 at 10:16 PM.