I swim freestyle just fine with the pull buoy in between my legs. Then when I drop the buoy and kick my form falls apart and I slow down. Could my kick be that bad? I dont think I am sinking or swimming uphill as I am very upright swimmer. And it gets lot harder to swim without the buoy. Any ideas?
Laurie
Shamrock marathon March 2016. Burlington full or relay if I can find a partner May 2016. Wine and Dine half Nov. And a tri or two thrown in just for the hell of it.
yeah I think I will start with the smaller one and get used to that first. Thanks Wagner.
Blog
I am the same way, but after 3 years of triathlons, I did get better, but my form is better with a pull bouy. I try and split my pull sets and do at least a couple intervals or sets without the bouys, so that I can focus on better form. It takes some time, but you will get better. Plus, if you do some wetsuit legal races, they make it feel like you have a pull bouy
I tried switching to the smaller bouy, but it doesn't feel comfortable
Pull buoy can be good if used the right way to force your hips to rotate with each pull. If you are using it to keep your legs up, then that is a different story. You need to work on your kick to help balance out horizontally. Try not using it for all your workouts going forward.
Swim , Bike, and Run A LOT
Work on your core and ditch the pull buoy. Try to swim with the feeling that you are pushing your chest to the bottom of the pool while swimming, engage your core and that should help to bring the hips up.
I've been working really hard on getting my hips up and I think I've come along way. I tried to use the pull buoy a few weeks ago and it felt totally awkward. It felt like I was over rotating with it and my pull was way too deep with it.
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
2014 Goals:
Stay healthy
Enjoy life
I hardly know what a pull buoy is....
But, I do like how you describe the value of the pull buoy.
I don't struggle much with keeping my hips up. However, (later in my swim sessions), I find myself swimming without rotating the hips properly.
So, I may need to dust off my pull buoy, and give it a try to determine whether it might help aid me in rotation.
Cheers,
Life Goals:
#1: Do what I can do
#2: Enjoy life
Just for grins, try using flippers. The kind you find on the internet with a wide flipper and molded footpod. Not the smaller zoomers. I used to do a masters swim ... coach was Olympian ... and she had us use those. She claimed it would help one have the correct body carriage in the water. Also, take care of your breathing, breath to the side, not tilting your head up like a turtle. Breathing like a turtle brings your legs down, slows you down and ruins any semblance of form.
http://www.ellyfosterphotography.com/
Work on your core and ditch the pull buoy. Try to swim with the feeling that you are pushing your chest to the bottom of the pool while swimming, engage your core and that should help to bring the hips up. I've been working really hard on getting my hips up and I think I've come along way. I tried to use the pull buoy a few weeks ago and it felt totally awkward. It felt like I was over rotating with it and my pull was way too deep with it.
Yeah I never tried a pull buoy to be honest but I don't think it's something I want to get used to really.
Pushing your chest down is a good tip - it's one I heard often, and thought I was doing, but I was more pushing my Head down - once I actually started pushing my chest down, I had a much better position - and hardly need to kick at all to stay flat.
I can see maybe how the buoy might help with rotation, but I think the rotation should come from the hips (core), rather than the hips turning as a result of the pull.
once I actually started pushing my chest down, I had a much better position - and hardly need to kick at all to stay flat.
Same thing for me. I hardly kick at all as I use a two beat kick, One kick for each arm stroke. I have very muscular legs (calves and thighs) and find that if I try to kick more (four or six beat), I just tire myself out right away and actually slow down. Those muscular legs just take too much oxygen when I kick more then once per stroke.