swimming question: kicking and leg buoy

I like the above advice.

If you've got to focus on one, look straight down at the bottom of the pool while you swim (not fwd) and swim with only the top 1" of the back of your head out of the water (versus having waterline hit you 1" above the eyes.

My swim coach has told me that the kick in distance swimming is not as important as in sprint swimming. In sprint swimming you use a 6 beat kick and distance swimming a 2 beat kick. In other words, the arms do most of the work.

Once I got the hang of "floating" or pressing my "bouy" my swimming took off. It seemed to be the single most important discovery I had. If you press your chest towards the bottom of the pool, the feet pop right to the surface. This elimates alot of drag. Its a pretty cool feeling.

Randy

Alright, I know that this is going to sound extremly 'noobish', but could someone explain a little bit about "pressing down on your bouy"? I've heard this several times but it's confusing for me to visualize, let alone apply. Thanks!

Its a TI (Total Immersion method) swimming term.

Basically it consists of actively pressing your chest deeper in the water (many say its feels like swimming downhill-not to me) to raise your legs closer to the surface.

Your hips to your head should be a straightline and your head is also lower in the water, eyes looking down towards the bottom of the pool.

TI has some other components including an exaggerated roll side to side (less water resistance when you glide on your side during air intakes) alway keeping one hand extended out in front of your body (lengthening your waterline) and in general exists to fulfill the purpose of reducing drag on the swimmer.

With your legs up, you're swimmming through the top 1 foot of water, not through the top 3.5 feet.

I'm sure I missed a few key points there, but you get the idea. Author of book is Terry Laughlin- get it at your local library.

Thanks!

This makes sense. I read somewhere that it was called "pressing the T". It seems like this is the same thing. I will try it on my monday swim. I try to look down not forward, but I seem to have a harder time breathing when I look down (my head is further under water). Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong? I don't pick my head up out of the water,, I roll to the side, but I tend to drink more pool water when I look down instead of forward because my head is deeper in-This is probably a good thing for drag, but maybe I need to work on the breathing. Thanks for the great advice. If I can get this it will make a huge difference in my swimming. I am swimming 6 minute 300's right now (no idea if that is good), but I think endurance wise this would shave a ton off my load.

EDit: Sorry for spelling bouy wrong. I don't write it very often.

Edited by lablover 2005-01-22 6:13 PM

I think if you work on your reach and roll, your breathing will get easier. I have to turn my head almost all the way to the side to get air, but I'm also breathing when my opposite arm is in the forward reach part of the stroke, and my same-side arm is just coming out of the water (recovery). The reach helps you rotate your body, and then brings your shoulder out of the way and somehow makes it easier to find the air.