SWIMMING TECHNIQUE ERROR: THE LOSS OF SUPPORT

The loss of proper support in swimming results in all kinds of extra movement which impede the desired movement forward. To efficiently and effectively move forward, all moves executed have to be precise and compact.

Excessive movement up and down signifies an error in swimming technique connected with the incorrect perception of support. The entire significance of support is to allow for movement to happen. So it's not about the support per se, it is about movement where correct support is a vital component.

Exaggerated up/down movement in swimming could be equated to active landing or/and push off in running. Proper support results in what we see as "gliding". Remember, glide is not created, it is a visual result of proper support. There is a world of difference between pushing down with your hand and raising your body on your hand, starting with the active movement of shoulder, in an attempt to find fleeting support in water. While the first will slow you down, the latter will speed you up. Which one are you after?

It is important to drill, to instill the correct movement, because once in action, the movement should happen on its own, and it will, but only if you practiced it and learned it. In actual swimming, just like in running, the fraction of a second that it takes for a number of things to happen, is not enough time to put those same things through the thought process, so they have to be on a natural autopilot.

These errors in swimming technique can be addressed by doing these two drills: p.303 Fig.48.29 and p. 306 Fig.48.33 in the Pose Triathlon Techniques book.

Article by Dr. Nicholas Romanov
Composed by L. Romanov