So what I’ve recommended to a lot of swimmers lately is to experiment with those couple of things. How do we play around with those three components to find the right amount of each of them and the right amount for you? Welcome to the Effortless Swimming Podcast to show that help swimmers and triathletes love the water, become a better swimmer and live a better life. Here’s your host, Brenton Ford. Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of the Effortless Swimming Podcast. On today’s episode, I want to cover a couple of things that’s going to help you increase your speed. Now, in a lot of videos that I’ve done in our course, like the five-day catch challenge, we focus a lot on the position of the arms, how to get a high elbow catch, how do you move through the power diamond, all those technical positions, which are very important. That really determines the size of the paddle that you’re working with. One thing that we

don’t cover in a lot of detail in that course, and often in some of the videos, is what are the other steps to generating propulsion? After doing some underwater filming with Annie Donetson, the Ultramarathon Swimmer, who we featured on last week’s episode of the podcast, and also just hearing a few things from Coach Andrew Schafe, I realized that I was neglecting two key things that can really help increase your speed. When we think about what generates propulsion, it’s a combination of things, but primarily it’s what your arms are doing underneath the water. That is where most of your propulsion comes from, and how do you tie that in with your rotation and your kick and the timing of the rest of the stroke? That is what primarily generates your propulsion. Now, there’s three main things that we want to consider when it comes to that. The first one being the size of your paddle. Making sure you’ve got your hand

and forearm facing mostly behind you as you move through the underwater phase of the stroke, so having that big surface area that’s pressing back. We cover that in the five day catch challenge. I’ve covered that in quite a few videos, making sure we get into something that resembles almost a high elbow catch. The way I’d normally think about doing that is after we finish reaching forwards and we’ve rotated onto our side, we then want to do two things, which is point the fingers down and get the elbow to bend a little bit, almost hinging at the elbow. We get this little bit of internal rotation of the arm where it’s like the elbow is going out to the side, so we need to set up our catch in that way. Another way you can think of it, and a friend of mine who’s a coach, Ben Gidd, talks about this. He says that you want to think about getting your arms around a swiss ball, one of those big blow-up exercise balls, a swiss ball. Get your arms around it like you’re giving in a big hug,

but your arms are over the top of it. That’s how your arms should be when you’re at the end of the catch. So we need to make sure we’ve got a big paddle to work with. A mistake that a lot of people often make there is that they will try to pull straight back when they’re moving through that catch. So they don’t move downwards with the arm, they just pull straight back, but quite often they’re not getting deep enough to get enough surface area to work with. Now, on the other side of that though, a lot of people pull through with a very straight arm and they’re too deep. So it’s good to maybe watch the arms and just see where you think you might be with it, but we want to make sure at the right depth. So not too shallow, not too deep, but somewhere in between. And it’s probably, just think about that now, the depth of it would be something like probably 50, 50 centimeters, 60 centimeters with your fingers below the

body. That would be about the distance away from your body. So we need to make sure that we set up our catch and power down and get our hand and forearm angling in a way where we’re pressing back towards our feet. Now, that’s the first thing. That’s the size of the size of the paddle. But outside of that, what else generates your propulsion? Well, it’s the power that you’re applying and it’s making sure that you accelerate through the stroke. So with the power of it, we want to make sure we’re not overpowering the beginning of the stroke. So as you move through the catch, that’s not the power phase. That is the setup phase. So as you’re going from reaching out in front, being fully extended to then getting your fingertips to point down, I would think about that as being usually like a three or four out of 10 in terms of effort, the amount of power I’m putting into it three or four out of 10 in that initial phase of the stroke. So we’re not going really soft and really gentle,

but we certainly don’t want to put too much into it because that overhead movement is not that strong. We’re not using our primary muscles there, our stronger muscles. So that’s the first thing is the catch is a setup phase. We put a bit of power into it, but not too much. Where the power really comes in is under the body. As your hands moving through the catch and moving underneath the body, so your hands are passing under your shoulders to moving just past that. So it’s that middle section underneath the body where it’s out. That’s our main power phase of the stroke. And the more power that you put into it, the faster you’re going to go to a degree. So we want to make sure that power is just gradually built up. It’s the most as our hands are going underneath our shoulders through there. And then it will just ease off a little bit out the back. So we don’t want to rip super hard out the back because firstly, we’re really just using our triceps in that last

movement. We don’t get a whole lot out of the exit. So we want to make sure that we press back past the hip, but we’re not going super powerful out the back. We just get it going past the hip and release it. We let it go from there. So we need to increase the power as we go to increase our speed. But that’s very incremental. And speaking with Annie Donson from last week’s podcast, what he was mentioning is that when he thinks about going faster, he’s looking to add just that little bit more power to it. And I think a good way to picture it and something that’s really helped me in the last two weeks, I’ve been, I’ve been swimming the last two weeks and hitting some really good times. Whereas for the six weeks, seven weeks before that, I was, I was going quite slow. I’d been sick. I’d hurt my back and I could hardly swim for a while. And then the last two weeks, I’ve been really, really good. And for me, it’s been a

combination of thinking about the size of my paddle, just being more mindful of that, because when I was watching and filming Andy, what I noticed is what he’s just very good with his catch and pull. He’s not trying to force it in any, any way. He’s just keeping that big hand forearm underarm there, just underneath the water. So that’s helped a lot. And particularly the power, just making sure that I’m applying the right amount of power and just increasing that as I’m looking to go faster. So being really measured with that power, but the mistake that I, I see and the reason I really wanted to make this podcast was that because we quite often focus so much on the positions, the high elbow catch and the power diamond, often we neglect the power side of it. So if we’re going very slowly and weakly through those movements, it doesn’t matter how good the movements are, if we’re not putting anything into them. So we have to make sure we balance it with,

with the right amount of power. This podcast is proudly sponsored by Form Smart Swim Goggles. Form have recently released their new Gen 2 version of the product, which includes an integrated heart rate monitor, as well as a swim straight digital compass for open water navigation. They’ve also updated the ice seal. So they’ve got a new proprietary ice seal that accommodate a wider variety of facial structures and they ensure for a more comfortable and secure fit. I’ve been testing these new goggles for the last couple of months and I’m a huge fan of the new heart rate monitor. This is the first time that I’ve been able to see my heart rate in real time when I’m swimming and that’s allowed me to adjust my effort and my output based on my training zones. So if you’re a triathlete or someone who wants to make sure that they’re not going too hard or too easy within a session, this is a really good way to do it. You can see your heart rate in the top corner of the goggles.

So it’s always there right in front of you and that can make sure that you are actually training in the right zone where I find a lot of swimmers do go either too hard or too easy. So this has been a real revelation for me in terms of the effort that I’m actually putting in when I’m going at certain speeds and certain paces. So if you’d like to grab yourself a copy of the new Gen 2 version of the FormSmart swim goggles, go to formswim.com forward slash effortless to get yourself a pair of the new Gen 2 goggles. If you’d like to get the Gen 1 goggles, you can save 10% going through that link at formswim.com forward slash effortless. So that’s the second one. Now the third one is go to accelerate through the stroke. So in order to generate that propulsion, we need to start slow, finish fast. We need to have that gradual acceleration through the stroke. And again, we’re not looking to go so fast out the back that our hand flicks

out back behind us and sends all this energy back that way and out the water. Now again, just more, you want it to be measured, gradual acceleration. So what I’ve recommended to a lot of swimmers lately is to experiment with those couple of things. How do we play around with those three components to find the right amount of each of them and the right amount for you. So in training, if you’re going to the pool this week, and you’re doing some hundreds or 200s and you’re getting timed or you’re looking at your times and you’re tracking that, play around with each of those things and see what helps you move the needle with your speed. And I think a really good way to do this is to do some build or descend sets. For example, maybe you’re doing three, two hundreds and you’re going one at 70%, one at 80% effort and one at 90% effort. It’s kind of like easy, medium, hard. See what you need to do to make sure your speed increases

across those. And I would imagine that it’s going to be a combination of adding a little bit more power to those strokes, that stroke rate coming up slightly and perhaps a little bit more acceleration through it. So if you keep the same catch and pull, so the same number one aspect of it, that’s important, but it’s really the power that’s going to change. And with that, the stroke rate will probably come up a little bit as well, but really it’s just more force. And I was doing this, I was on a webinar for coaches and Michael Sage, who’s coached Chelsea Gubeca, who’s on the Australian team,

a lot of really good distance swimmers. One of the things that he mentioned was that someone asked how to think about the catch when you’re thinking about when someone’s going faster. And he says, I think they just put a little bit more power into it. They put a little bit more pressure on the water. And if you play around with that, you’ll probably find that you start to really get that dialed in knowing how much you need to put in. And if it’s too much and you are gassing out after 50 meters, then obviously you need to back that off. So it’s very incremental. So finding that ability to just move the needle a little bit each time is what can really help make the difference. A couple of drills that I think can help you work on each of these things. One drill I really like is what I call keyhole drill. Now this is typically a butterfly drill, but it applies really well for freestyle. And in this keyhole drill, I’ll get swimmers to be faced down in the water. If they’ve got a

snorkel, I’ll get them to put that on. So faced down the water, you push off the wall, you’ve got your hands in front of you, just shoulder width apart. And then when you’re ready, you pull through from the front all the way to the back. Now it’s called keyhole drill because your hands will make the shape of an old style keyhole where it’s kind of circular at the top. And then it’s almost like they’re a bit of a triangle at the back. So make it circle as it goes from out in front of your head to just past your shoulders. And then as you’re going past your navel, that’s where it will come in near the body and then finish out a little bit wider at the hips there. So that old school keyhole shape. Now when you go through one of those pull-throughs, you will be able to experiment and find what’s the most effective way at sending myself forwards. How do I shoot myself forwards and cover the most, cover the most distance

with each pull through that I’m doing. So if you repeat that for 25 or 50 meters, experiment with where your arms are. Make sure one mistake I see people do here is they’re starting in front and they go out really wide with their hands like a breaststroke stroke. But when you do that, you’re not getting your fingers to point down. You’re not getting your hand and forearm to be this big surface area underneath you. So when you’re going from out in front, get the fingers going down, get those elbows to bend out to the side, move in that keyhole shape. So it’s a little bit of a cool with each arm or a semi-circle with each arm and play around with those things. And whichever gives you the most amount of distance forwards is probably going to be the best possible path. Now the other things you can experiment with there is the power. You’ll find that if you try and go too hard in the beginning, it’s not very comfortable and you don’t shoot yourself forwards very well. So you’ll

need to when you do that, start somewhat gentle and then build into it so that the maximum power is coming from when your hands are coming underneath the shoulders and not at the very beginning. And you’ll also find that you’ll need to build up in speed. So I find that’s a really good way to train that in the stroke and get a sense of it. So next time you go to the pool, play around with the power that you’re applying. And if you really focus on the catch in the pool, make sure that you’re not focused just on the shape of the arms but also the power and the acceleration. I’ve found it’s helped a lot with my own stroke in the last couple of weeks and I’m looking forward to just continuing to develop that. And one thing I’ve actually noticed that this happened this morning, we were doing some stroke count 50s. I actually had my lowest ever stroke count in a 50 freestyle. So in this side I normally set

the rules as three underwater kicks and not stopping and pausing with the arm in front but just having a very light either two or kind of six-beat kick. But three underwater strokes, three underwater kicks I should say and yeah seeing how fewer strokes I can do for a 50. And I got down to 20, well 22 strokes with a big light at the end but that was the least I’ve ever done by I think two strokes maybe three strokes. And that was a combination of these couple of things we’ve just been talking about. And also just making sure that I’m keeping my hips and my legs high by just pressing my chest in the water and then engaging my core just sucking my tummy and drawing that belly button into the spine. Keeping some tension through my backside and hamstrings just to make sure I maintain that horizontal body position. And it worked really, really well. So I’m excited to see where this goes over the next few weeks

and next few months because it’s been a while since I feel like I’ve had a breakthrough in my stroke and this has certainly been one. So I’d like to see where this this goes with some fitness behind it because I’m probably not that fit at the moment as well. So I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did enjoy it, one way you could help is if you listen on Spotify or listen on Apple iTunes, if you could leave a review, that helps a lot. And if you know anyone who’s looking to improve their swimming, please share this podcast with them if you feel like it’s going to be helpful for them. So thanks so much for listening. I’ll see you next week with another episode. Thanks for listening to the Effortless Swimming Podcast. If you’d like us to help you become a faster, more efficient swimmer, go to www.effortlesswimming.com.