Swimming Workout For Beginners
Dear Friend,
Often in the “no pain, no gain” world of Triathlon and competitive sports, swim training gets lumped in with this philosophy, and many triathletes are going about training for the swim all wrong. It is said that swimming is “90% mental.”
I take this to mean that all the technique work that is involved with swimming is the mental aspect, and the training (distance, intervals, sprints) you put in makes up the other 10% (physical).
Today’s article compares two finesse sports: Swimming and Golf. They have more in common than you would think!
Enjoy,
Kevin
“If you set a goal for yourself and are able to achieve it, you have won your race. Your goal can be to come in first, to improve your performance, or just finish the race. It’s up to you.”
-Dave Scott, Triathlete
Swimming vs. Golf
Recently, I have taken up golf, and I can’t help but notice the similarities between golf and freestyle swimming. Both are finesse sports that require large amounts of concentration and practice to get right, and it is unnecessary (and ill-advised) to gain great amounts of strength to make major improvements in either sport. Let’s look at some specific ways golf is like swimming:
1. It Starts with Head Position. In golf, you must keep your head still and look straight at the ball while you swing in order to make contact. In freestyle swimming, you must keep your head still and look straight down at the bottom of the pool while you rotate in order to get the most out of your stroke.
2. Concentration is Key. The moment you start thinking about more than one thing when you are about to hit the ball is the moment that something goes wrong. If I get 2 tips on my golf swing and I think about both of them the next time I tee up, I tend to have an underwhelming result! The same goes for doing the swimming drills. As a coach, if I give a swimmer several things to think about, inevitably, nothing will go right. The idea is to concentrate on one aspect, practice it, master it, and move on.
3. The Fewer Strokes, The Better. When improving your score in golf, you want to take fewer strokes to get the ball in the hole. To improve your swim (especially open water), you want to take fewer strokes per length, in order to utilize your energy for the entire swim or triathlon.
4. Follow Through is Important. When you hit the ball, it is important that you follow through all the way with your club. In freestyle swimming, to get the most out of your stroke, you must extend your arm and glide.
5. Power Comes from the Core. Your arms and legs themselves do not need to be incredibly powerful to have success in either sport. With both sports, the power comes from the core- abdominal muscles, lower back, and hips. Legs are used more for stabilization than to propel you forward in swimming. Legs in golf are also used more for stabilization, rather than for more powerful strokes.
Both sports can also be frustrating, but with practice, patience, and persistence, swimming and golf can both present you with a meditative-like form of exercise that I have found to be both fulfilling and fun!
Drill of the Month: Swim Golf
Along the lines of today’s article, here’s a fun set you can do to help lengthen out your stroke and lower your
stroke count in freestyle:
Free Golf
Do a set of 6×50’s Free with around :20 rest.
Count your strokes on each 50.
Also, check your time.
Add these two numbers together to get your “score.”
For each round (each 50), try to lower your score- by either going slightly faster and lowering your stroke
count, lowering your stroke count and keeping your speed the same, or a combination of both.
See how low you can go!
More Tri Swimming Mastery in 2 Weeks!