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| May 03, 2013 |
Coach's Note from Lance Watson
Thought Patterns, and Dealing with Pressure
When you are out training, it is empowering to start becoming aware of your thought patterns. Obviously the way we think and the things we focus on in practice become habitual over time, and that place we regularly visit in our mind and spirit become an automatic response... |
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Swimming: How to Draft like a Genius
by Paul Regensburg |
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| May 28, 2012 |
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Drafting is an essential element to a triathlete's performance in open water swimming. The skill and art of drafting is to place yourself directly behind another swimmer, ideally one that is slightly faster than you, so you will be towed along in their wake. Like cycling, which creates an even bigger drafting effect, staying in another person's draft on the swim can create a slipstream resulting in an 8% efficiency gain that can be a 30s to 2 minutes time savings on a mile swim so it is well worth the small time invested in practicing this skill.
To become comfortable and good at drafting, practice drafting the swimmer in front of you in longer pool sets where you have ample lane space. You can try a drill where you start with 4 swimmers in 2 lanes. All leave the wall at once side by side and you have to sort yourself into 1 lane by the time you get to the end wall. From here you will change the order of the swimmers by swimming to the front or back throughout the interval so different swimmers can lead the group. Continue this for 200-400 yards or meters or for 3-6 minutes. This will give you practice in experimenting with drafting in the following methods:
1. Hip
Position yourself approximately half way down the swimmer's body beside you; with your shoulder parallel with the lead swimmers' hip – you want to be literally "surfing" in the wake created beside you. You may find that it disrupts your stroke, but keep in mind that swimming on the hip does slow down the person you are drafting, which can be a great strategy if you are struggling to stay with another swimmer.
2. Side-By-Side
Side-by-side swimming is the worst drafting scenario. It will not only slow you down, but also the person you are swimming next to. It forces the swimmers to "steal" each others water and they will hit each others arms far too often. Try to avoid this scenario but experiment with it to see how much it slows you down.
3. Feet
Swimming directly behind the swimmer in front, near their feet, is the most efficient way for two to three people to swim creating the least amount of drag in the water. You will not impede the swimmer in front of you as they create a draft in the water. Remember to keep your head down, keep close, and follow the bubbles created by the swimmer that you are following or it can be quite easy to lose sight of the feet. A little tip – try to follow strong, larger swimmers that don't kick – the draft is much stronger.
When you are 4 weeks out of your race, get some swimmers together and head for the open water. Give these workouts a try to practice your drafting and tune up your open water threshold work:
Set #1: Consistent Pace Set
Warm-up (10 minutes):
• Arm swings and stretch on shore
• 5 minutes of easy, loose swimming
• 2 minutes of building freestyle from easy to race pace
• 2 minutes of choice drills that make you feel the water
Main Set:
• 12 x 50 fast strokes with 20 seconds recovery. Focus on high stroke rate
• 2 or 3 intervals of 10 minutes at goal race pace with 3 minutes recovery. Use a landmark if possible
Cool-down: 5-10 minutes easy swimming
Set #2: Descending Pace Set
Warm up: 600 (10min)
Practice race warm-up
Include 10 pick-ups (20 stokes fast / 20 strokes easy)
Main Set:
2 x 300 (5min) with 60s R at steady building pace (80-85% effort)
1 x 600 (10min) with 2min R at mid race pace (85-90% effort)
2 x 300 (5min) with 60s R at starting pace effort (90-95% effort)
Cool Down:
5-10min easy, feel good drills
Paul Regensburg is a senior coach at LifeSport and an Olympic, Pan Am Games, and Ironman Coach. He and has coached athletes from beginner to world championship athletes at all distances. Visit www.lifesportcoaching.com or contact coach@lifesportcoaching.com for more information or to get a great training program.
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