How to start fast in an open water race

We all know that starting fast can give athletes a great advantage in any race. In an open water race where a lot of people are competing is even more essential because it will help you get a better place in the racing terrain. That means that if you don't start fast you will find yourself stuck in the middle of a huge group of swimmers without the ability to slip out of this situation without getting bumped or tripped and losing a great deal of time and precious seconds of your time. A fast start is also good for triathletes too, although many of them approach the swim as a warm up for the bike and wun work they have to do later on their race. A part from the psychological boost they'll get, keep in mind that a few seconds lead in swimming translates into a lot more seconds in the bike part of the race because cycling is much faster than swimming.

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Sunday's motivational quote 10

Swimming workout: Find your balance point in breaststroke

I know that a lot of you enjoy a nice swimming practice on Sundays. So, I have a special workout for you that will help you find your balance point in breaststroke. Before you get into the water you would like to try a dryland exercise that will hep you get the feeling of the basic rocking motion in breaststroke. The exercise is called rocking drill (obviously you can find the same drill under a different name) and you lie on an exercise mat on your chest (prone). Then you alternately rock your head and chest up as you bend your knees and raise your heels toward your buttocks, then you rock you head and chest downward as you straighten your legs. I would love to hear your comments on the workout, and let me know what would you like the focus of the next workout to be. Enjoy!!!

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Mistakes to avoid during the release and recovery in backstroke

Although the release and recovery in backstroke seems as an easy job to do, swimmers make many mistakes during these two phases of the armstroke that can lead to an increase in resistive drag or disrupt the rhythm of the stroke. These mistakes are: to bring the arm out of the water with the little finger up and the palm facing out, to bring the hand out of the water with the palm facing down, to initiate recovery by lifting the hand rather than rolling the shoulder up, and to swing the arm low and to the side.

Let's take a closer look to each one of these mistakes that can affect your swimming technique.

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Low profile breathing swimming workout

A lot of swimmers, especially young ones and beginners, tend to rotate to much or they rise their heads up while breathing in freestyle. Swimmers who do that mistake lose balance and they don't swim straight which leads to neck pain and loss of speed. We all know that the better the technique the better we work out. With that in mind, I'll post various swimming workouts that will help you improve your swimming technique as well as challenge you aerobically. If you have any questions about the workout or the format that I'll use to write it, please make a comment or pm me. 

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Leg cramps in swimming

A cramp is an involuntary, painful contraction of the muscles that does not relax like it should. Cramps that occur while swimming often originate in one of three places: your toes, the arch of the foot, or the calves, with the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles of the calves being more common. The pain has a quick onset that is usually severe enough to force swimmers stop because of the tenderness they experience in their leg. A calf cramp will usually disappear on its own, but tenderness can remain even after the cramp vanishes.

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Mistakes during the second upsweep in backstroke

We've already talked about mistakes backstrokers do during the entry, first downsweep, and first upsweep of their armstroke so it's time to move on to the second upsweep and discuss what can be done wrong during this phase in backstroke. Swimmers who use this phase of the armstroke for propulsion are prone to commit three mistakes. They may pitch the hand up, instead of back, they may press the water too long as the arm travels toward the surface, and they may pitch the hand in rather than back.

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