THE OVERGLIDER GUIDE INDEX [1] 1. Swim Types Introduction Pg.3. Development Session 2 Pg The Overglider In Water Pg.4

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1 VERSION o1.2 version 1.0 THE OVERGLIDER GUIDE INDEX 1. Swim Types Introduction Pg.3 2. The Overglider In Water Pg.4 3. Stroke Correction Process Pg.6 Development Session 1 Pg.10 [1] Development Session 2 Pg.15 Development Session 3 Pg.18 Development Session 4 Pg Tools For Overgliders Pg.21

2 Disclaimer: Before undertaking any exercise program you must ensure you are fit and healthy to do so by consulting with your doctor. Swim Smooth is not responsible for any injury or loss sustained as a result of using this training guide or any advice given herein. All persons using this guide do so at their own risk. [2] Swim Smooth 2010

3 1. SWIM TYPES INTRODUCTION YOUR INDIVIDUALITY EXPLAINED Welcome to Swim Smooth's Swim Types System! By now you will have explored the Swim Types website, read the type profiles and watched the example videos. The profiles, together with the online questionnaire and observation sheet have allowed you to accurately determine your type, perhaps with the help of a friend or coach. Congratulations, you are now taking the second and most important step of working to refine your swim stroke based on your individual needs as a swimmer. This guide will show you how to improve your speed and efficiency in the water and feel a whole heap better as a result. Most swimmers and triathletes have trained or been coached to conform to an 'ideal' irrespective of their sex, build characteristics, previous swimming experience and personality. That approach is very much one-rule-fits-all. For mass market swim coaching, a simple message was sold - make your stroke long and gliding. As we'll explain below, this overly simplistic approach limits the achievements of most swimmers and makes things harder than they need to be for that majority. Meanwhile, the very best coaches in the world have taken a very different approach - tailoring the strokes of their swimmers and triathletes to their own unique attributes. This is why many of the best swimmers in the world swim with significantly different strokes - and all move very efficiently through the water. Our Swim Types System is a much more complete, authentic way of developing a swimmer's stroke technique. The system provides you with an ideal development pathway for you, by recognising you as an individual within a more specific group, or Swim Type. The Six Types If you study swimmers of all abilities, initially it appears that everyone swims completely differently to each other with their own unique style. Strictly speaking everyone's stroke is unique, however when you study a lot of swimmers you soon see how stroke characteristics clump together into classic styles - making up the six Swim Types. You too have a level of experience, personality and physical characteristics that contribute to your style. By emphasising your natural strengths in the water whilst systematically tackling your weaker areas you will improve at a much greater rate, to a higher level, than if you simply wipe the slate clean and start trying to conform to a so-called 'picture of perfection'. Most swimmers never get anywhere near this perfect stroke - and these days most coaches agree it doesn't actually exist - there is no one perfect stroke! Doing What's Right For You The power of Swim Types is that it gives you an overall blueprint for your stroke - showing you how it fits together as a whole. The system shows you your strengths and weaknesses, to get you very focused on what you need to do to improve. Many swimmers and triathletes have tried to improve their strokes and haven't become as fast or efficient as they would like. Some haven't improved at all and have become very frustrated as a result! For each Swim Type there are individual reasons for this frustration and underachievement - and unique pathways to improvement that might not work for other swimmers. Swimming technique really is all about the individual. Let's take one classic example so that you can see what we mean: The Bambino And The Smooth Take Lucy, a classic Bambino. She's quite short, has a light build and has only been swimming for three months. Like all Bambinos she lacks a little confidence in the water. Lucy has joined a swimming group and like many swimmers we know has been told by the coach that unless she can swim 40 strokes per 50m she may as well give up! This is equivalent to about 18 strokes per length in a 25m pool - taking account of the push off. Lucy tries to swim with a longer stroke, reaching out and gliding but with her limited feel for the water and short arm length finds this nearly impossible. Maybe you've had this experience too in a group or squad - it's dejecting isn't it? For Lucy, with her low swimming confidence, this experience is shattering. For the tall, skilled Smooth Swim Type, 40 strokes per 50m is a realistic goal and could be an ideal stroke length for them. However, the pathway to improvement for a Bambino is a lot different: Rather than slowing their stroke and trying to glide, a Bambino benefits greatly from adding a little punch and rhythm to their stroke. Lifting their stroke rate gives them a sense of stroke timing - and the faster movements create more pressure on their hands and limbs - letting them feel what's going on. This builds their confidence and allows them to become attuned to their environment. With her shorter arm length, Lucy is unlikely to ever swim at her optimum at 40 strokes per 50m but by improving her feel for the water and stroke rhythm, there's no reason why she can't become a very competent, fast swimmer. This is just one example of how each swim type needs to approach their swimming in a significantly different way. Are you confident that the time, energy, drills and money that you have invested in your swimming is best suited to you as an individual? If not, you are in the right place now - finally! [3]

4 2. INTRODUCTION: THE OVERGLIDER IN WATER You like to do things right. Why wouldn t you if something s worth doing, it s worth doing well! You also like to do things by the book and have no doubt invested a lot of time and energy on researching correct techniques for swimming efficiently. Well done this will have all paid real dividends getting you to where you are now. just have to count how many strokes you do each length) and for this very reason has historically become the benchmark for testing someone s efficiency in the water the longer you can make your stroke (supposedly) the more efficient you become. This is not to say that we all need to ramp up our stroke rates very high and start actively shortening our strokes this is another common misconception. Instead, we need to be mindful of this balance between these two factors, SL and SR and find the most efficient balance between the two. Everyone's optimal point will be different - you can check a starting point by visiting: You might well have started off in swimming as another type (e.g. an Arnie) who found progress in your swimming by slowing things down and lengthening out your stroke. There s nothing wrong with that but sometimes in the freestyle stroke, it is possible to overdo certain ideas and concepts and inadvertently plateau your potential or even start to slow yourself down. This is a very frustrating place to be and merely by taking the plunge and using this guide you ve probably identified that you ve made some good headway up until now but that progress has now stagnated. Many Overgliders find when swimming in the open water during triathlon events that they re not as fast as they predicted they would be. Not to worry help is at hand but you have to be willing to look at these necessary changes in an objective manner. This shouldn t be hard though as many Overgliders seem to like to measure things and enjoy an analytical approach! Be prepared though, some of these changes are going to feel a little weird (even wrong initially) but understanding why this might be the case will motivate you nicely to make those changes. It s probably best we start with a simple example here. Ultimately what determines how fast you move through the water is a combination of the length of your stroke (i.e. strokes per length or SL ) and the rate of your stroke (i.e. strokes per minute or SR ). SL is very easy to monitor (you But where does this end? It is very easy to overdo this concept to the detriment of SR if SR drops too much then the whole rhythm, timing and momentum of the stroke is compromised. This is the single biggest reason why as an Overglider you may feel like you have plateaued with your swimming. You can perform 25m of freestyle in a low stroke count but is this necessarily the most efficient way to cover that distance if your stroke rate has slowed to a snail's pace and you lack any sort of momentum? Arguably not especially for open water swimming when you need drive and momentum to get you through the chop and washing machine effect of so many other swimmers around you. Indeed, many of the world s best swimmers will swim very quickly with each lap taking 21 to 25 strokes per 25m and think nothing of it. The difference here is that their stroke rate is much, much higher. We ve been led to believe that high strokes rates are inefficient as they are wasting too much energy. And yet many of the world s best distance pool and open water swimmers have stroke rates between 85 and 105 SPM (Strokes Per Minute) which is hugely quick and twice that of the average Overglider. They wouldn t be able to maintain these rates if it were inefficient to do so, and they certainly wouldn t be winning medals in their respective events either! So what happens when you glide and why is glide as a word quite misleading? We are conditioned to believe that we should glide between strokes as this is a way to conserve energy, however, each time we glide we decelerate and then have to go through a continuous cycle of accelerationdeceleration-acceleration-deceleration. This is in itself both fatiguing and inefficient, especially when being buffeted from every angle in the open water. When viewed from underneath the water, a classic Overglider can be seen to be really reaching forward (often crossing-over) and in doing so dropping their elbows and wrists and showing the palm of their hand towards the direction in which they are wishing to travel. This effectively applies the brakes and slows them down. Just by eliminating this dead spot at the front end of the stroke (without shortening anything) will naturally elevate SR into a more optimal and effective range for the Overglider. Much of your stroke is already well developed (body position and body roll in particular) and this small tweak is enough to lift you off your plateau and to really enhance your proficiency in the open water. But if it s so simple, why don t you already know about this method? Because the text book doesn t mention it and historically swim technique advice has been so centred on developing the length of your stroke without due concern for the effect on the rate of the stroke. As you like to do things by the book you have really excelled at doing this in a sense albeit overdoing the concept. What we now need to look at is bringing back the other side of the equation SR. Chances are you may have heard in the last couple of years that this is something that you might need to address for open water swimming - certainly if you ve read any of our Swim Smooth material before. But there s a big reason why you might not have already made that change simply because it felt wrong initially. The good news though is that if you are willing to make this change you re going to really improve very well indeed! continued on next page. [4]

5 So, why does it feel wrong to remove the glide from your stroke and will it always feel that way? No, it won t always feel wrong but it will take a little time to adjust. You have developed this glide in your stroke and it feels nice it feels nice to have a pause, to glide along for a bit between each stroke. If you are tall and fairly powerfully built with a good reach you might be able to handle the relative stress and force this places on the shoulders. But if you re not powerfully built this whole style requires a good deal more muscular effort than you might believe. This is akin to riding your bike up a hill in a gear that is slightly too big to push comfortably. You probably know that the catch phase of the stroke and feel for the water there is an important aspect of efficient freestyle. Ironically, when you over-glide at the front of the stroke and apply the brakes with the palm of the hand facing forward, you effectively drop the elbow and wrist and make it very difficult to get into a good catching position. When you present the palm of your hand in this way you push forwards against the water. Your proprioception tells you that you are getting a good catch as you feel that there is a lot of water pressure on the palm of the hand. This would be a good thing if you were pressing this water back behind you, but pressing it away from you just slows you down. By learning how to remove this dead spot you ll maintain the length of your stroke, be stroking slightly quicker, and require less muscular force from having a more fluid stroke just what you need for effective open water swimming! One further point on the catch. By having a pause in your stroke, when you start the catch you have to rush it, which harms your feel for the water. Coming back to those elite swimmers with fast stroke rates, since they don t have any glide in their stroke they start the catch earlier. Despite the faster stroke rate this gives them longer to latch onto the water more effectively. A hurried catch technique is one reason why glide tends to harm your feel for the water. Whenever you are making adjustments to your technique you can monitor the changes both objectively and subjectively. Subjectively you are picking up on biofeedback about how a change feels. In many cases this can be a very good thing and after all you want to feel good with what you re doing as this sensation is very motivating. However, we need to be objective in the short-term too exactly how fast are you now covering each length versus before? What is your heart rate after a given distance with the new stroke compared to the same distance with the old stroke? Initially many of these answers may suggest that your new stroke is less effective than the old stroke and at this point it would be very easy to say well, that can t be working then! But we d encourage you to stick with it. It takes a little time for your body to adapt before a new stroke style clicks. If you have plateaued with your swimming then you need to heed the old adage: If you always do what you ve always done, you ll always get what you ve always got! Sometimes the path to improvement is not always the most obvious! Most Overgliders can perform low stroke counts over short distances (50 to 100m) and feel good doing it. Due to the high force nature of this style, they often cannot sustain this and stroke rate starts to creep upwards as they swim further. Keeping that gliding style going becomes a lot harder the further you swim. When removing glide, don t compare the first lap of freestyle when it feels good compare it in the second half of a 400m swim or when you ve been swimming continuously for several minutes. A final tip you may recognise that bilateral breathing is a good way of developing symmetry within your stroke but could never quite make it feel right. Breathing technique plays a big part, but aside from this, your low stroke rate means that bilateral breathing will always be difficult. It s simply too long between breaths. By removing your dead spot and increasing your stroke rate, bilateral breathing becomes possible. This will help your symmetry and so automatically enhance your ability to swim straight in open water. Overgliding: Low drag but unfortunately low propulsion too. We have put a lot of effort into making this guide as easy to digest and as visual as possible. However, sometimes you can't beat seeing these things on video. If you haven't yet done so, we highly recommend downloading our animated swimmer Mr Smooth to your computer: If you are serious about improving your swimming we'd highly recommend purchasing the Swim Smooth DVD Boxset. Three disks packed with explanations, drills, training methods, demonstrations by Olympic Gold Medallists and open water technique. The ultimate stroke correction resource when used in tandem with this guide: This amazing visualisation is supplied to you completely for free. The download allows you to view his 'ideal' freestyle stroke from any angle, clearing up any questions you might have about how the stroke should be performed. Find out more at: Get it now at: [5]

6 3. OVERGLIDER STROKE CORRECTION PROCESS OVERVIEW STEP 1: BREATHING Probably the most common error to see in a swimmer s stroke (irrespective of swim type) is breath holding underneath the water. Swimmers do this for a variety of reasons, some of which are conscious and some of which are subconscious. The conscious decision to hold onto your breath might simply be because this is what you thought you were supposed to do or that you were taught to do. The theory behind holding your breath underneath the water seems to be centred around the belief that holding onto your breath improves your buoyancy and ability to float well. Of course, holding onto air in the chest and lungs will increase buoyancy but unfortunately not in the area of the body where you typically need it - the hips and legs. As you have no doubt read, getting the body horizontal in the water is very important to improving a swimmer s streamlining. However, you may have been led to believe that this is only possible through totally submerging your head under the water, looking straight down and actively pressing your chest into the water; whereas in fact the most efficient way to do this is to simply remember to exhale the whole time your face is in the water. Doing so will automatically distribute your buoyancy more favourably as well as allowing you to feel more aerobic at any given level of intensity. Stroke Correction Introduction In this section we look at the common pitfalls facing your swim type and how to go about fixing them. Specific drills and methods will be explained later during each stroke development session. If you re a Classic Overglider who has had very little swim coaching, or are new to swimming in general, then you ll identify with this whole guide very strongly. However, if you have studied stroke technique or have received some coaching then you may well have experimented with some of these areas before. The thing to point out here is that this guide is a process as opposed to just trying to tackle a host of individual aspects of the stroke and throwing them all together in a haphazard way. It s always worth at least going through this process like a check-list and ensuring that you feel competent with each stage before rushing forward to the next step. We always need to be mindful of making as few adjustments as possible to your stroke to simplify the process. Too many changes and you will feel inundated with tasks to work on and things to think about! A benefit of having better balance in the water is that you re then afforded a little more latitude with where the head can be positioned without a detrimental effect on the body position. This will prove very beneficial when working on your hand entry / alignment in the water (Step 5) and also for improving your drafting ability in the open water (Step 9). To fix this issue of holding your breath, we ll work on a couple of specific exhalation exercises which will make some good improvements for you. STEP 2: BILATERAL BREATHING As an Overglider you may well have found the ability to breathe bilaterally very challenging indeed, even if you know it to be a beneficial thing for improving your symmetry and balance in the water. Bilateral breathing is also useful for open water swimming and the ability to swim straight from point-to-point, thus improving your navigation without a black-line to follow. Needless to say this can save you a lot of time in the open water. But why does bilateral feel so hard? One of the reasons is that you may be holding your breath under the water (Step 1 above) and so learning to exhale when your face is in the water like a long, heavy sigh will really help when attempting bilateral breathing. The stroke correction steps are in the order in which we recommend they should be addressed for your type. Follow the process and stay centred on just that one area. It's almost guaranteed you ll start asking yourself if everything else is holding up or if you re forgetting to make sure you re still doing a previous step. Don t do this, stay focused on what you are working on and everything will come together much better. It is very common to see swimmers being able to skip quickly through some of the later steps of this guide because of the positive impact of the earlier steps on your stroke. Remember the freestyle stroke is a continuous chain of kinetic events all linked together find the best place to start on correcting your specific issues and we simplify the whole process. Diligently following this guide and getting to the root cause of an issue rather than just fixating on the effect will save you much time and frustration down the line. Another reason is that you may have read about or been taught to make each stroke as long as you physically can. continued on next page. [6]

7 STEP 2: BILATERAL BREATING CONT. STEP 4: OVER-THINKING! Supposedly these long, slow strokes are more efficient than a slightly shorter, more rhythmical stroke rate. The issue for your breathing is that if you have overemphasized the length of the stroke and ended up with a dead spot as you reach ever further forward, this will have resulted in a very slow stroke rate indeed. This results in the time between breaths being quite long - long enough to make anyone feel blue in the face! As a consequence for most Overgliders, bilateral breathing seems too hard and very often they conclude that it can t be beneficial to swim this way. We'll introduce bilateral breathing in this step in the development sessions, as we go forwards this will feel progressively easier as we lift your stroke rate in the later steps of this guide. STEP 3: HEAD POSITION Being conscientious about your swim training and technique is a good thing. However, a stereotypical Overglider tends to overthink about things and be a little too self-critical sometimes. To some extent this is part of your nature and as such it s going to be a little bit hard to change this. Being overly analytical and concentrating very hard can result in added tension and frustration in your stroke which is hardly efficient swimming. There is no such thing as perfection when it comes to the freestyle stroke and sometimes replacing hard concentration with a softer focus can really pay dividends. Your ability to be analytical and focus can be a real strength and it has got you to where you are now which is a good level of proficiency in the water. However, not every session that you do needs to have the specific goal of improving your precise stroke movements. We ve already touched on this in Step 1 but suffice to say that head position is a very individual thing. Some people will need to look straight down in order to keep their hips and legs high but everyone should first address the fact that they may be holding onto their breath and see if it is this that is causing excessive buoyancy at the front of the stroke (Step 1). After developing your exhalation technique, it's time to experiment a little with head position and assess the impact on your body position. Later in the development sessions we'll ask you to swim a set where you test this out. If you can maintain a good body position with a higher head there's some advantages to doing that. A higher head improves your spacial awareness and balance and it allows you to see further forward, great for open water racing where you want to draft effectively. Since drafting saves 18-25% of your energy expenditure, this is a very worthwhile benefit to have. Mr Smooth demonstrates a head position looking midway forwards: Looking forwards is a big advantage for drafting: (source One thing we'd encourage you to do quite often is not actively think about any particular part of your stroke, instead simply feel good and rhythmical in the water. This is very important. We have worked with a lot of very fast swimmers - take it from us, a lot of them don't think very much at all! What they all share however is a great feel of what's going on around them in the water and for the rhythm of their stroke. Pure concentration can only achieve so much - after all you can only really think about one thing at a time. Letting your body find a natural way to swim can be a powerful learning process in its own right. With a bit of intelligent steering on the way this can really move you off a performance plateau and on to faster swimming. Much of what we're going to do in this guide is give you a set of body and stroke experiences. Give each a good try and see how it feels and how it changes your swimming. Some of the tools that you could use to achieve this might be a Wetronome pacing device set to Stroke Rate Mode where you simply follow the beep of the unit for lap after lap without actively thinking about anything specific. Or using the Finis Waterproof MP3 Player to tune into some of your favourite music and enjoy being in the water. Your stroke now is not a million miles away from where it needs to be and dedicating a little bit of time just to zoning out without the fear that your stroke technique is going to fall apart will pay you real dividends. [7]

8 STEP 5: HAND ENTRY AND ALIGNMENT When you over-reach at the front of your stroke it is very common for the Overglider to inadvertently cross-over in an effort to make the stroke as long as possible. If your head is way down, your spatial awareness of what this lead arm is doing in front of your head is going to be compromised. This cross-over can then really throw your stroke off balance, cause the hips to snake and the legs to scissor-kick all of which add drag to your stroke. You ve probably already worked to establish some good body roll within your stroke. To fix this cross-over and alignment issue will involve us modifying some of the side-kicking exercises you might have already tried but with a heavier emphasis on the position of that lead-arm. Much of this can be corrected by thinking about drawing your shoulder blades together and back and pushing your chest forwards, like you d do if someone asked you to stand tall and proud. STEP 6: INITIAL CATCH: REMOVING THE DEADSPOT Following on from improving your hand entry and alignment (Step 5) is developing a better initial catch. The thing that really typifies a classic Overglider underneath the water is that when they reach forward they tend to lean on their arm, drop their elbow and wrist and effectively apply the brakes by showing the palm of the hand in the direction which they are travelling: You might be doing this in an effort to be "patient" with your catch but it's ultimately slowing you down. Working with the kicking exercises from Step 5, ensure that the palm of the hand is facing towards the bottom of the pool, with the finger-tips angled below the level of the wrist and the wrist below the level of the elbow: Once you start swimming full stroke, the focus will be on visualising your middle finger extending straight forward in front of the same shoulder and taking care not to cross-over at this point. You would also find the use of the Finis Freestyler paddles very beneficial as they will simply fall off or feel uncomfortable if you extended across the centre-line - immediate and powerful biofeedback: This can be a quite subtle change but will ensure that you re setting up for a better catch and pull through. Transferring this into your stroke will mean that you re then able to pull through with a high elbow. You ll be pressing water back behind you rather than pushing it down. Pushing down only lifts your front end high and drops your back end low. What s more, you ll have started to remove that dead spot in your stroke, your stroke rate will be naturally higher and you ll have done all of this without too much over-thinking (hopefully!). Using the Finis Freestyler hand paddles again in this step, you ll be able to tune-up this phase of the stroke very specifically. Even when wearing the paddles, Overgliders like to drop their elbow and wrists in the water and aquaplane with the fingertips towards the surface. To fix this, the focus needs to be on applying a little more subtle pressure underneath the finger-tips and less leaning on the wrist. A fine balance is required here as overdoing it will see your lead arm shoot to the bottom of the pool without any hold at all! Another exercise which you can use periodically to help remove the dead spot is swimming with a rubber band around your ankles. [8] Swim Smooth 2010

9 STEP 7: STROKE RATE VS LENGTH If you haven t seen one before, the Wetronome is a great little tool for ensuring you strike the right balance between the length of your stroke and the rate of your stroke (how many strokes you take per minute). It beeps a stroke rhythm to you, simply time your strokes to the beep: STEP 8: TRAINING SETS / PACING In the past you may have been sold on the idea that swimming is 100% technique based and fitness from other sports (e.g. cycling and running if you're a triathlete) will transfer across into your swimming so that all you need to work on is making your stroke as smooth and perfect as possible. Unfortunately this is a fallacy. Whilst you will see some cross-over in fitness between sports, it is very minimal into swimming. As such, becoming a technique hermit and only doing gentle technique sets is going to severely limit your progress. To swim quickly you need to maintain good technique over a long distances and at pace. The only way to do this is to practice swimming further and faster. Remember the combination of Stroke Length and Stroke Rate ultimately determine how fast you will move through the water. In the past your focus may have always been on the length of the stroke as this is easy to monitor but this is very much akin to riding the biggest possible gear on your bike without any consideration of the fluidity of your cadence. Stroke Rate is that cadence and your Wetronome is the best device to use to develop it. By working through Steps 1-6 using the development sessions, your stroke rate should already be a little higher, but it s interesting to use a Wetronome and set it at your old average stroke rate and see how much slower and less rhythmical this now feels. We now have an little test you can do which experiments with a range of different stroke rates in a progressive fashion to allow you to identify your optimal rate. Everyone has an optimal balance or 'sweet spot' between their Stroke Length and Stroke Rate at any given point in time. You can determine yours by heading over to and giving the ramp test a try. A Wetronome isn't essential the successful completion of this guide but will help greatly to improve your stroke's rhythm. STEP 9: OPEN WATER So how is it possible that the Swinger type and even some of the Arnies, who look quite ungainly in the pool, can swim as well or better than you in the open water? This boils down to two things: stroke rate and oomph. When it s rough at the start of a race or in the rougher conditions of the sea or ocean, the key to efficient freestyle is rhythm and momentum. That long, slow stroke that you have worked so hard on isn't as effective in the open water. Believe it or not, even the Smooth types can suffer somewhat in the open water for the same reason. By working through Steps 5-7 you ll already be swimming with a little more rhythm. Now in the development sessions well do some very specific open water stroke rate work to ensure that you adapt well to this environment. A slightly straighter arm recovery will help you get more clearance over the chop, help your arms and shoulders feel less fatigued in your wetsuit and give you even more momentum. Sometimes the prettiest stroke isn t the fastest stroke - there are no style points in open water swimming! No, you don t suddenly have to throw everything you ever learnt out of the window, start attending squad sessions and smash it up and down that black-line. But you do need to find a good balance between your stroke technique work and your specific fitness work. All Overgliders really stand to benefit from some structured interval sessions targeting the development of your threshold swim speed. At Swim Smooth we refer to this as your Critical Swim Speed (or CSS) and it can be defined as the average speed (or pace per 100m) which you can maintain for a distance of between 800m and 3000m, depending upon how fit you are. CSS pace is calculated by looking at your current 400m and 200m Time Trial results from a push start in the pool and is a regression of your swim speed over the two distances to calculate your sustainable threshold pace over a longer distance. By targeting much of your interval training sessions at around this pace you will systematically start to increase your sustainable pace and ability to swim quickly over longer distances. But hang on, I thought this was a technique guide, not a training guide?! It is there is quite a bit of technique involved in getting this pacing correct and initially the pace may feel a little too slow to be achieving anything useful. But the key is in the consistency and repeatability in which you are able to perform these sessions. If you already have a Wetronome, you can use this in the lap interval mode, dial in your pre-determined CSS pace, follow the beeps per 25m and ensure that you hit the correct target time. As an Overglider you re going to love the technicalities of this type of workout - trust us! [9] Swim Smooth 2010

10 Overglider Development Session 1 This is a great little technique session you can repeat as often as you like. It should feel quite easy but it's very important for your stroke. Fit it in during a lunchtime swim! The session kicks off with breathing technique exercises. Really relax and let go of all the stresses of the day during this gentle start. WARM-UP: THEN: NEXT: LASTLY: 3x Sink-Downs 200m Freestyle with Your Normal Breathing Pattern 3x Sink-Downs 200m Freestyle Unilateral Breathing Bilateral Breathing 3x Sink-Downs 200m Breathe-Bubble-Bubble-Breathe 4x 100m Head Position Contrast Set (1) Tuck chin to chest (2) Look straight down (3) Look 60cm (2ft) in front (4) Look 1 to 1.5m in front Investigate which position gives you the best balance between spatial awareness and improved body position. Further fine tune this between the four positions above. or Stroke Rate Ramp Test (8x 50m) 8x 50m as 15m Scull #1 + 35m Freestyle avoiding overgliding don't overpower the water when sculling 2x 200m Fins Kick on Side Left Side Right Side 200m Fins & Finis Freestyle Paddles if you have them, tipping fingertips down. Steps 1 & 2 ' means up the pool ' means back down the pool Step 3 Steps 4, 6 & 7 Step 5 All of these methods and drills are described in detail on pgs Finis Freestyler Paddles were our find of A fantastic technique paddle to develop your alignment in the water and avoid dropping your wrists. The arrow shape places you hands into the right position and so points out your stroke flaws. You can't go wrong as they're well priced too! [10] Swim Smooth 2010

11 sink downs Most people think that buoyancy is a good thing for freestyle swimming. It is, when it is evenly distributed along the body, allowing them to lie horizontally in the water without their legs sinking. Many swimmers have a problem with their legs dragging low in the water, which is very inefficient. When looking for the cause of this, the first port of call is whether a swimmer is holding their breath under the water. We see this in at least 90% of the swimmers that we analyze - many having been taught to swim this way. However, when do you ever hold your breath in any other sport? You don t. Doing so creates tension, adds to anxiety and panic, and causes the chest and torso to sit high whilst the legs drop down low. All Swim Types will benefit from this Sink Down exercise because it lifts your legs up and helps you feel more relaxed, comfortable and aerobic when you swim. You may put down the fact that swimming feels aerobically challenging to be due to lack of swim specific fitness - which it could be of course. However, we should first address how well you exhale in the water before making any judgment calls on that. How To Sink Down: Ideally for this exercise you need to be in a pool with a depth of between 1½ and 2½m (5 to 8 feet). If you are a little nervous of deeper water, perform this exercise within reach of the wall. If you are totally comfortable then just scull or tread water about an arm's reach away. Take a big, deep breath of air in and then let out a big, relaxed sigh and see if you can sink down to the bottom of the pool. Remember to simply relax your arms down by your side, go all limp and avoid the temptation to keep your head above the water. Just relax and sink down - it's a bit like collapsing on the sofa at the end of a hard day. Keep that long, steady stream of bubbles going and then rise back up to the surface by pushing off the bottom of the pool. Don t stay down too long and avoid gasping for air when you come back up - just make it a nice, easy inhale. Experiment by exhaling just through your mouth (like you re sighing), just through your nose (like you re humming) or a combination of the two. Once you find a method that works well for you and helps you increasingly relax, do three or four Sink Downs in a row. Never hold your breath doing this exercise - either inhale above water or exhale underwater - no pausing! Now set off for a few steady laps of freestyle and think only about your exhalation - exhale in the same manner as during the Sink Downs whenever your face is in the water. What If I Feel Panicky Doing This? In this case employ the services of a partner or 'buddy' who is in the water with you and can support and assist you. Also hold onto the side of the pool during the first few attempts as your face goes under the water. Blow out and as you start to get rid of some of that air, you should feel like it s easier to keep your head down in the water as you re starting to lose some buoyancy. When you feel less buoyant, recognize the point at which that occurs and keep blowing out for just a few seconds longer. You may need to blow out a little quicker but all the time keep it smooth and relaxed like you are sighing. Once you feel comfortable with this tipping point between buoyancy and sinking, let go of the wall and see if you can sink down without holding on. Progress to doing the exercise without holding on. If this exercise does feel challenging for you, it shows that this is an area of your stroke that needs some attention. Don t give up - it will get better and even if you feel very buoyant to begin with, you should be able to sink down to the bottom of the pool once you have learnt to exhale efficiently enough. breathe- -bubble- -bubble- -breathe! Once you developed your exhalation, you can now look at building the rhythm behind an efficient bilateral breathing stroke. Bilateral breathing is where you breathe to both sides, usually every three strokes. What stops most people breathing bilaterally is the feeling they re going to run out of air and that it feels awkward. That awkward feeling is caused by a lack of body roll to the non-breathing side. This simple little exercise requires you to literally say BUBBLE very loosely in the water each time your hand enters. This sounds very basic but by saying BUBBLE you ll be exhaling on each stroke (especially important on the first) and also helping yourself with the timing of the stroke. Push-off for a lap of normal freestyle, take a breath in (to either side) and then say BUBBLE as soon as your first hand enters the water after the breathe, BUBBLE on the second hand and then rotate your head to breathe in again on the third stroke. This forms the BREATHE-BUBBLE-BUBBLE- BREATHE mantra that you repeat to yourself as you swim. After trying this a few times you should start to find it unnecessary to say BUBBLE into the water, so once you have the rhythm set, just think it. Remember, keep that exhalation like a steady sigh! This exercise is particularly useful for those developing their bilateral breathing and remember, if you take in some water to that nondominant breathing side, ensure you are rotating well to that side and it will soon feel easier. [11] Swim Smooth 2010

12 head position kicking on side There are generally two schools of thought on head position when swimming freestyle. HEAD-UP looking forward, using the water level on the forehead as a guide: This drill involves kicking on your side - perfectly at 90 with your lower arm outstretched and the other arm by your side: Or HEAD-DOWN in the water, looking down at the bottom of the pool: This simulates the position the body will be in when you go to take a breath, albeit with your body roll exaggerated to 90 as opposed to the norm of 30 to 45. The first method is more of the old-school way of teaching with the latter being more contemporary and typical of the coaching of pure swim coaches. Both have advantages and disadvantages: Head-Up: Allows you to look forward and as a triathlete this is beneficial for sighting in open water, it also tends to reduce tension in the upper back muscles (allowing for a more relaxed arm recovery) so long as the head position doesn t feel forced or strained. However, it may tend to lead to a poor leg position in the water if the head is raised excessively (like a water polo player). Head-Down: Corrects poor leg position in the water but tends to create more tension in the shoulders leading to a more rounded, swinging recovery. Also, a swimmer with poor hand entry is unable to concentrate on improvement if they are looking straight at the ground. This is best done with a pair of fins on, providing you with propulsion and allowing you to stay relaxed. If kicking with your left arm outstretched, your right arm should be down at your hip like it s resting in a front pocket and your chest and stomach looking perfectly across the pool. Your eyes should be looking down past your armpit (even though your body is rotated) and you should be blowing a long stream of continuous bubbles. To breathe in, just tilt your chin to the side enough to clear your face out of the water and then return to looking down and exhaling. We are looking to improve the support from the lead hand, to make breathing much easier. To do this, think about improving your posture as you kick by drawing your shoulders back and pushing your chest forward. This will immediately straighten you up and is a great exercise for those who cross-over at the front of the stroke when they swim. Rather than feeling like you are leaning on that lead arm and dropping your elbow - which would result in it sinking - aim to keep the elbow higher than the wrist and the wrist higher than the finger tips: Kicktastics, Smooths and Swingers will all typically prefer the Head-Up position and Arnies / Arnettes, Bambinos and Overgliders will respond well to Head-Down but there are exceptions in every case and every swimmer should be assessed on the merits of their particular situation. Furthermore, asking a swimmer to swim with their head down to combat poor leg position doesn't totally address the problem of a weak and inefficient leg kick, other things to consider are breathing, posture and even the catch phase. A good way of testing different head positions for your individual stroke is to do a small contrasts session. Pick four head positions: 1) chin tucked in looking down and slightly behind you 2) straight down 3) about 60 cm in front of you 4) about metres in front of you. See which position works best for you and allows the optimal combination of good sighting and postural awareness combined with a horizontal body position. This is a great position to be in to set up for a good catch and pull through. Try doing one lap on one side and then another lap on the other side. Work out which side feels best and then aim to mirror what you re doing with this side with your non-dominant side. As simple as this exercise is, it can work wonders for your body awareness in the water. If you re really confident you can try doing it with your eyes closed - so long as your posture and alignment is good, you should still be able to keep yourself straight. Be wary of walls, lane ropes and other swimmers when doing this! [12] Swim Smooth 2010

13 finis freestylers By working on your alignment with the side kicking exercises and then visualizing your middle finger extending forward in front of the same shoulder you should be now starting to rectify that cross-over. It s always nice to know just how well you re doing with this in real time. The Finis Freestyler Paddles were made with this very idea in mind. They are a technique paddle which will fall off as your hand enters into the water if you are anything but straight and aligned. They are not essential for the successful completion of this guide but make an excellent addition to your toolset to improve your swimming. This immediate biofeedback lets you make 'on the fly' adjustments to your stroke while you swim. Don t cheat and grip the outside, just keep the palm flat and aim to spear into the water with a slight emphasis on keeping the nose of the paddle down by applying a subtle bit of pressure underneath the fingertips. If you can do a lap and keep them on, you know you re heading in the right direction. Because these aren t a power paddle and they help you correct your cross-over technique, they should reduce stress on the shoulder rather than increase it like a conventional paddle. As such they are great for those swimmers trying to correct their stroke to avoid injury. scull #1 In order to better feel the water at the front of the stroke we can try some sculling. This is simply an exercise to build up your proprioception for what the water feels like. Once you have this feeling you re then better set for catching the water more efficiently as you go into your stroke. Perform Scull #1 in a prone position (head up), arms out-stretched as though hands have just entered the water at the front of the stroke. The legs trail behind with a small flutter kick or better still using a pull buoy without kicking. Gently scull the hands in and out together as though mixing hot and cold water with the hands about 30cm (1ft) beneath the surface. Try to raise your chest and shoulders up in the water. Always keep your finger-tips below your wrists and your wrists below your elbows to create forward motion. If you don t move anywhere (or even go backwards) the chances are you re dropping your elbows and wrists - pushing the water away from you and so pushing you backwards. Many people drop their wrists in this manner in their full stroke - especially when trying to glide. Remember, this is not breast stroke - you don't scoop the water back behind you. By changing the angle and pitch of your hand you can generate forward motion simply by moving the hands left and right. We normally perform sculling drills for a short distance, such as 15m, then immediately start into full stroke. Tune into that feeling of the water on the palms and fingers during the drill and then maintain it when transitioning into swimming. [13] Swim Smooth 2010

14 ramp test Here's a neat way to use your Wetronome to learn more about your individual stroke efficiency and find the right stroke rate for you. We call it 'The Stroke Rate Ramp Test' or just 'Ramp Test' for short. The Ramp Test gives you a full profile of your freestyle stroke and helps you find naturally occurring sweets spots in your stroke efficiency. Train and race at these stroke rates to swim faster and more easily. See a video demonstration of this test on our webpage here: You will need: A Wetronome and a coach or friend to count your strokes and time your swims with a stopwatch. The Stroke Rate Ramp Test is a series of 50m (or 50 yard) swims with a short break in between. The stroke rate during each 50m is controlled by the Wetronome and gradually increases. Take whatever rest is necessary between the 50m swims to change the stroke rate on the Wetronome, aiming for 20 to 30 seconds including a moment to think about the next lap. If you have been using your Wetronome regularly you will be aware of your strokes per minute for steady paced swimming. Start the ramp test about ten strokes per minute below this natural rate and increase it by two or three strokes per minute for each 50m swim. You can keep going as high as you like but normally beats above your natural rate is enough to experience your full stroke spectrum. Ask a friend or colleague to time each 50m with a stopwatch, count your strokes taken (counting both arms) and record how that stroke rate felt to you in terms of effort. It's a good idea to use a scale of 1 to 10 to record your effort level where 1 is no effort at all and 10 is eyeballs out! Also add any specific comments about how it felt. Here's an example Ramp Test table to complete for a swimmer with a natural stroke rate around 56 strokes per minute: Stroke Rate (Strokes Per Minute) Set by Wetronome Strokes Lap (50m) Perceived Effort Per Length Time Comments To keep the test as unbiased as possible don't try and assess the results or analyse things as you go along. Simply perform the set of 50m swims at the given stroke rate and record how each felt. After you have finished the test, take a look at the numbers and look for places where your speed is good compared to the effort level For an Overglider this normally happens where you've increased your stroke rate a little and swum quite a bit quicker for the same level of effort Very often you'll find more than one sweet spot up the stroke rate range - maybe one's in a good area for steady swimming and one's at a fast pace for threshold or VO2 max training. On our Ramp Test webpage you'll see examples where we've plotted up the test results on a graph - this isn't strictly necessary but it does make the sweet spots jump out at you: Once you've found the stroke rates where your technique really clicks you can start swimming your sessions at this rate(s). We suggest you perform a ramp test every three or four weeks when you're in a period of developing your stroke. As you use this guide and tune into a better catch and pull through, you're likely to find your sweet spot(s) move higher up the stroke rate range but without it feeling harder - allowing you to swim faster too. [14] Swim Smooth 2010

15 Overglider Development Session 2 A choice of two sessions, the first is all about getting out of the overgliding habit and working on setting yourself up for a better catch. The second has you tuning into your stroke rhythm during a longer continuous swim. 400m Freestyle Breathe-Bubble-Bubble-Breathe 2x200m With Fins: 400m Freestyle - Zone Out 4x 100m as 25m Doggy Paddle + 75m Freestyle 400m Freestyle - Zone Out 8x50m With Good Rhythm (use Wetronome set to Base Rate + 6 SPM if you own one) Step 1 Step 5 Step 4 Step 6 Step 4 Step 7 40 to 60 minutes continuous swimming. No active timing laps or counting strokes, preferably Zone Out with an MP3 Player or Wetronome set to base rate + 2 SPM Steps 1+4 Doggy paddle is one of the very best drills to work on developing your catch and feel for the water. As you extend forwards, tip your fingertips over and press the water backwards. You may feel the tendency to add a dead spot in here too - don't! Keep the hand constantly in motion, either extending forwards, tipping over or pressing back. When was the last time you did a continuous swim like this? A continuous swim, without any particular aspect of your stroke to think about, is a great way to get in touch with your rhythm and timing. Just like on a long run or ride, your body will find a pattern and rhythm that it's comfortable and happy working with. [15] Swim Smooth 2010

16 6/1/6 You can advance the Kicking On Side exercise one stage further and start to build the freestyle stroke back-up by swapping sides with one arm stroke every time you need to take a breath. pull buoy - or 'pull' Place a foam pull buoy between your legs (up as high into your crotch as is comfortable) and then swim normal freestyle with your legs held straight and toes pointed. Don't kick with a pull buoy - that is cheating - instead allow the extra buoyancy to keep your legs up. This is a great exercise for working on body rotation and also for the timing of your stroke. With timing, the challenge is to keep the lead arm extended until the recovering arm catches it up. If you find this difficult, try holding a Vitamin tablet tube or something similar out in front of you with the lead arm: Whenever swimming with a pull buoy it's always good to focus on maintaining good body roll. This is because most swimmers become flatter when 'pulling'. The added buoyancy of the pull buoy will lift your legs higher and you should feel much less challenged aerobically. If you are very kick-dominant and lack catch and feel for the water at the front end of the stroke, you may find that you go much slower with a pull buoy. Use it as a relay baton making sure it always stays out in front of your head as you swap from hand to hand: Arnies and Arnettes tend to love pull buoys as it masks their poorer body position in the water. Kicktastics find it frustrating that they are suddenly slower as they cannot use their leg kick. If you are a Kicktastic, try looking a touch further forward in the water to balance out your body position and avoid any feeling of being off balance or uncoordinated. For all Swim Types, avoid being too aggressive with your catch and pull through, doing so will cause you to slip and lose some of that feel for the water that we re trying to develop. Use the pull buoy in combination with the sculling and doggy paddle drills to isolate your arms as the sole source of propulsion. ankle bands Once you are comfortable performing this drill with the tube, you can progress to the normal 6/1/6 drill by performing it without the tube. In Swim Smooth World this drill is called 6/1/6 - you kick on the side for six kicks, take one stroke and then kick on the other side for six kicks. It's a great drill for alignment - if you start zigzagging down the pool you re probably not thinking about your posture and allowing that lead arm to drift across your centre-line. Try swimming with a thick rubber band tight around the ankles to prevent you kicking. This is typically used as a strength building exercise but also simulates perfectly the down-drag created at the start of a mass-participation race when everyone is swimming over each other. Do not overpractice this drill as it can lead to shoulder strain. Effective performance of this drill requires a higher than normal stroke rate with attention paid to holding the water as normal. Also ensure that you are fully stretching out to maintain high hips in the water. [16] Swim Smooth 2010

17 doggy paddle This is similar to the Doggy Paddle children use to learn to swim with both arms kept under the water at all time. This drill has a slightly longer movement than kid's doggy paddle, extending more at the front and finishing at the mid-riff. Roll a little from the hips as you swim it: Start in a prone position in water with head up and use a small freestyle flutter kick. Alternate extension of each arm out in front, cock the wrist and hold the water at the front. Imagine you have taken hold of a rope about 50cm under the centre-line of your body and pull yourself along the imaginary rope until the hand reaches just above waist level. wetronome mk2 A Wetronome is optional to the successful completion of this guide but is of such high value to Overgliders it's worth covering how to use one here. The Wetronome Mk2 helps you work on the rhythm and timing of your stroke and also your pacing per 100m. The device has two modes: 1) Stroke Rate Mode where it beeps to you every time you should take a stroke. 2) Lap- Interval Mode where it beeps every time you should hit the end of the pool, to help you pace the speed of your swims. Find out two things before using your Wetronome: 1. Your Natural or Base Stroke Rate To find your natural stroke rate, you need to swim continuously for approximately five minutes at a moderately hard speed (fast but not quite flat-out). Ask a friend or coach to count how many strokes you take in fifteen seconds (counting each arm as a stroke). Now multiply this value by four to give you a Strokes Per Minute (SPM) value. Every swimmer will see some variability in their stroke rate depending on the intensity and distance of their swim, however the test above will give you a good base rate to work from to develop your distance freestyle stroke technique. The Wetronome can be used to experiment with stroke rates above and below your base rate to define your most optimal balance between stroke rate and stroke length. Find out more here: and take the stroke rate ramp test here: 2. Your Threshold Pace Your lactate threshold pace is the key determinant of performance in distance swimming speed - or in plain English: the higher your lactate threshold pace, the faster you will swim in races. If you know what this pace is, you can target it and improve it, to move you up the field. Since taking blood samples is expensive, invasive and very tricky in a pool, we take this concept and define another way to find this threshold pace. At Swim Smooth we define a working threshold at the pace you can swim 1000m to 1500m in a time trial - we call this Critical Swim Speed (CSS). A long time trial like this is tiring and mentally challenging, so we suggest using a special calculation based on shorter 200m and 400m time trials to calculate CSS speed. For the calculation and test method see: (if you swim in a yard pool, simply enter your 200/400yd times and it will return you pace in time/100yd) To improve your threshold, swim your quality sets at this speed with short recoveries. It's easy to set off faster than this, or swim quicker with more recovery time but this trains different energy systems and isn't optimum for your distance freestyle development. Find out more and see some sample sets at: Sometimes over-thinking about your stroke technique can be detrimental, making your stroke more mechanical and less fluid. This is not efficient swimming. Don t be afraid to do some sets or even full sessions without any specific goal or thing to think about other than enjoying the water and feeling good rhythm in your stroke. A good way to prevent yourself from over-thinking is to use the Finis Water-Proof MP3 Player to listen to some of your favourite tunes and just zone out. Doing so will help you feel relaxed and your mind uncluttered. This is never a bad thing for an Overglider! zoning out [17] Swim Smooth 2010

18 Overglider Development Session 3 More technique work focused on developing your catch and some faster swimming in session 3! WARM-UP: 3 or 4x 100m Easy Freestyle 100m Pull + Bands - work on Rhythm & Timing - No Dead Spots! Steps 1 & 7 THEN: 6x50m + 20s as: Long & Smooth ( time the 50s and compare! ) Steps 2 & 7 CHOOSE ONE MAIN SET: Set 1: 15x 100m + 15s Set 2: 5x 300m + 45s Set 3: 2 or 3x 200m +30s 2x 3x 100m + 15s Swim each set at sustained CSS pace. If using a Wetronome take 1 beep (25m) rest after 100m and 2 beeps after 2/300m. Step 8 COOL DOWN: 200m fins broken arrow Freestyle with Fins Steps 5 & 9 CSS Pace Remember to keep exhaling into the water during this session. It's easy to forget when swimming quickly! What is your threshold pace? This is commonly defined as the pace you might be able to timetrial m at. Knowing or estimating this pace is a good thing because it then allows you to target your training pace very accurately to improve it. In the main sets above target this speed. Don't be tempted to start faster - you'll blow up and lose the training benefit of the set. In Swim Smooth World we refer to this as your Critical Swim Speed (CSS) and it can be calculated simply by performing 400m and 200m Time Trial swims. Enter your results into the calculator here: and it will give you a CSS pace per 100m to train at. If you use a yards pool, no problem, the same calculator will work for you. The Wetronome can then be used to pace yourself accurately at this target speed. So for example if your CSS pace is 1 40 for 100m, set the Wetronome to beep every 25 seconds and ensure you are at each 25m mark when it beeps. A simple but very structured way of pacing yourself well and not starting out too fast. [18] Swim Smooth 2010

19 unco Wearing fins, swim full stroke with one arm with the other arm always down by your side. Perform two or three strokes without breathing and then the next time this stroking arm enters the water, try rolling and breathing away from this arm to the side where your arm is by your side. It takes some practice at first and will feel quite uncoordinated (hence the name 'Unco') but once you have the rhythm required it is this coordination that will really help you develop your stroke. Really emphasise your body rotation with this drill, rolling the non-stroking shoulder out of the water to breathe and then really dipping this shoulder and same hip back into the water to allow the stroking arm to easily recover over the surface again. Aim to breathe every stroke as this helps develop the required body rotation. Try going immediately into some normal freestyle and seeing how much better your rhythm and timing feels. Its quite a technical drill this one. If you struggle at first don t give up - it will get better! broken arrow The Broken Arrow drill is a new drill that we ve designed to help those swimmers who tend to have limited upper body flexibility, especially in the neck, shoulders and upper back. We recommend you use fins and kick on your side as you would do with the 6/1/6 exercise. As you re doing this, slowly raise your arm straight up so it points to the sky: Pause here for 1 or 2 seconds and then break the arrow of your arm by allowing the elbow to now bend and the arm to then spear into the water in a nice, smooth and controlled manner. This straighter arm recovery allows those with poor flexibility to get more arm clearance over the top of the water and is especially useful for open water swimming when developing a straighter arm recovery for wearing a wetsuit and getting through chop. Perform the exercise in a similar fashion to the 6/1/6 drill, with the emphasis being on what the recovering arm is doing rather than on the body rotation. When you go straight into normal freestyle after this drill, feel a sensation of looseness in the shoulders and upper back as you swim with a slightly higher arm recovery. [19] Swim Smooth 2010

20 Overglider Development Session 4 Some open water skills development to prepare you for racing without a black-line! You'll benefit from this even if you don't intend to race in open water. It's great fun to do at any time of year. WARM-UP: BUILD: 2 or 3x 3x 200 or 300m as: 1) Easy Freestyle 2) Fins Unco 3) Moderate Pace Freestyle 4x 50 Freestyle at CSS Pace. Lift head and sight forwards every 6 strokes. 200 Fins Freestyle Straighter Arm Recovery 100 Fast Freestyle, High Stroke Rate Steps 7, 8 & 9 MAIN SET: If you are a triathlete, use a wetsuit in your pool for this set: Pace, drafting with a partner, no push-offs at each wall, turn on 'T' or 2m before end. 100m Easy 4x 50m Sprint + 15s Deep water start against partner! COOL DOWN: 200m fins 6/3/6 Freestyle Step 5 Not Touching The End Or Pushing Off Hopefully by now you have understood that you can be a very competent open water swimmer by removing that dead spot and developing your open water skills such as sighting and drafting. This is especially important if you train in a 25m (or shorter) pool. When you push off you sustain that initial speed off the wall for a good 10-15m. In a 25m pool that's most of the lap! Open water swimming has no push-offs and because of this the speed and effort profile is quite different. Not pushing off will help you become accustomed to the nature of open water swimming. [20] Swim Smooth 2010

21 FINIS PT PADDLES 4. SWIM SMOOTH TOOLS FOR OVERGLIDERS As an Overglider, we'd highly recommend these specialist tools to work on your weaknesses and improve your stroke technique. These paddles are a fantastic tool to help you develop your catch and feel for the water. Like an anti-paddle, they reduce the propulsive effect of the hand to near zero and force you to engage your forearm - essential for a great catch! For more information and to purchase: WETRONOME Mk2 Increase your stroke rate in a controlled manner to improve your rhythm and timing - essential for Overgliders to swim at their potential. Also use the new Lap-Interval mode to improve your pacing skills. For more information and to purchase: SWIM SMOOTH DVD BOXSET If you are interested in more information about the freestyle stroke and how to perform it, our Swim Smooth DVD Boxset is the Gold Standard resource on the market. Full of clear explanations about the freestyle stroke and great visuals - includes demonstration swims by Olympic swimmers. FINIS FREESTYLER PADDLES These unique paddles are a fantastic tool to help get straight and aligned in the water and develop your catch. The unique shape stop you dropping your wrist by pushing you into a good pre-catch position. Includes demonstrations of most of the drills described in this guide. For more information and to purchase: For more information and to purchase: [21] Swim Smooth 2010

22 5. GET MORE FROM SWIM SMOOTH Swim Smooth offers you many other ways that you can improve your swimming. OUR BLOG: Feel For The Water is our hints and tips blog which is delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe to it and once a week we'll send you advice on how to develop your swimming. With a readership of over twenty thousand, it's a fun and easily digestible way to learn more about fast efficient swimming: As a free joining gift to the blog you'll receive the very cool Mr Smooth Animation for your desktop. Understand an ideal freestyle stroke: OUR TRIATHLON TRAINING PLANS Need a structured training plan to get your swim ready for your triathlon season? Use one of our Waterproof Training Plans to take poolside every session: OUR INTERNET FORUM: Our forum is a communal site where you can ask questions and chat with other swimmers. You'll also get access to Swim Smooth coaches who will answer your questions directly and give you the benefit of their expertise. Check it out here: Each training plan contains 35 Sessions to develop your stroke and swim specific fitness training for your perfect race. Find out more: FEEDBACK This guide is written and published by Swim Smooth This guide, or any part herein, may not be reproduced, copied or distributed in any form, electronic or otherwise. Swim Smooth, Isfryn, Llangernyw, Abergele, LL22 8PP, UK If you have any comments or feedback about this training guide or anything Swim Smooth, please send us an to: feedback@swimsmooth.com We're always looking to improve and would love to hear from you.