Effortless Swimming: Recent Episodes
Brenton Ford
Today, we’re joined by Craig Lewin, founder of Endurance Swimming, who discovered his passion in the open water. Though he started as an average swimmer in the pool, Craig found his stride in marathon swimming, where endurance and mindset matter more than speed. In this episode, he shares his journey and insights on tackling challenging open water swims.
01:24 Journey into Marathon Swimming
06:01 Building a Support Network and Mentors
13:05 Training and Recovery Strategies
15:25 Patience in Progress: The Long-Term Training Mindset
18:15 Embracing the Flow: Letting Go of Pace in Long Swims
20:45 Tempo vs. Stroke Length
22:30 Mental Preparation and Long Swims
27:35 Building Confidence Through Repetition
28:36 Finding the Right Coach for Long Swims
31:05 Get in touch with Craig!
Conference Name: Beyond The Breakers
Conference Website: Swimbeyondthebreakers.com
Conference Instagram: @swim_beyond_the_breakers
Conference Date & Location: November 9th & 10th at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts
Check out Endurance Swimming at Liquidtri.com and follow their Instagram @enduranceswim!
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
Try PILLAR today, head to pillarperformance.shop and enter code EFFORTLESS for 15% off, or for any North American listeners, enter the same code at TheFeed.com.
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How To Get Started In Marathon Swimming with Craig Lewin appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The complete guide on how to swim freestyle
Improve your swimming here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
8 Week Faster Freestyle Course:
https://effortlessswimming.com/8wffc/
00:00 Introduction
00:16 Breathing (Relax)
02:10 Reduce Drag
04:04 Posture
04:38 Head position
05:22 Legs
09:10 Rotation
12:36 Breathing
15:12 Recovery
16:56 Entry
19:08 Train tracks
19:58 Stroke timing (front quadrant)
22:00 Catch
26:05 Anchor and hold
28:22 Finish of stroke
29:04 Breathing pattern
30:53 Rhythm and timing (the dance)
The post Transform your freestyle in 33 minutes appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
We asked Olympian Kiah Melverton how she swims so fast.
Improve your swimming here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
8 Week Faster Freestyle Course
https://effortlessswimming.com/8wffc/
The post Olympian Reveals Her Freestyle Technique appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, we sit down with Ash Delaney, coach of Olympic Gold Medalist and 100m freestyle world-record holder Kyle Chalmers. Ash shares his approach to coaching freestyle and offers valuable insights into how swimmers can improve their speed and technique in the water.00:13 Introduction
00:37 Body Position and Kick Mechanics
01:58 Coaching Kyle Chalmers
03:01 Recovery and Entry
04:41 The Importance of Video Feedback
04:47 Setting Up Your Catch
5:46 Favorite Drills
7:56 Breathing Techniques
10:05 Coaching Philosophy and Common Mistakes
12:25 Challenging Training Sets
13:50 Memorable Races: Best and Worst
15:27 The Best Advice
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 20% off wetsuits at Great Ocean Wetsuits with code ‘EFFORT20’:
https://greatoceanwetsuits.com/
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How to Generate Speed in Freestyle with Ash Delaney appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Jaimie Fuller is the founder of EO, the creators of the SwimBetter device, which measure the force and direction of a swimmer’s hand movements. These devices were used by gold and silver medalists in the 100m freestyle, Pan Zhang Lee and Kyle Chalmers, in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics. Tune in now!
00:00 Introduction
02:08 Top Swimmers Using eo SwimBETTER
05:55 Downward Force in Swimmers: What the Data Reveals
9:34 Measuring Force and Direction for Stroke Improvement
16:31 Remote Coaching and Real-Time Feedback
20:29 Analyzing Brenton’s Swim
25:40 Finding Your Unique Handpath
28:04 Understanding Force vs. Time
39:04 The Role of Hand Size in Performance
40:27 Launching a New Program
Grab your own eo SwimBetter device today:
https://www.eolab.com/swimbetter
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESSSWIM‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post The Technology Behind The Men’s 100m Freestyle World Record with Jaimie Fuller appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The women’s 10km open water race at the Paris Olympics was a thrilling and grueling event that saw Sharon Van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands and Moesha Johnson of Australia showcase extraordinary endurance and strategy. Taking out the gold and silver medals, Sharon and Moesha put together a race for the ages. In this episode, we dive into the details of the race and how it played out.
00:00 Introduction
01:45 Race Strategy
07:24 Preparation and Training
10:43 Adapting to Different Race Conditions
18:24 Navigating the Final Laps
24:06 Crossing the Finish Line
25:30 Moesha’s Makes History for Australia in Open Water
27:50 Finding Strength in Loss
34:59 The Mindset of Champions
36:09 Post-Race Experiences: Media Attention and Future Plans
41:37 Get in touch with Sharon and Moesha!
Open water swimming masterclass with Sharon:
https://my.weezevent.com/open-water-swimming-masterclass-by-sharon-van-rouwendaal-2
Email: sharonvanrouwendaal@gmail.com
Follow Sharon on Instagram
Follow Moesha on Instagram
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESSSWIM‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post The Real Story Behind The Women’s 10km Open Water At Paris with Sharon van Rouwendaal and Moesha Johnson appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Do you lose your swimming technique when you retire from competitive swimming? We ask retired Olympic swimmer Dan Smith.
Improve your technique with the 8 Week Faster Freestyle Course:
https://effortlessswimming.com/8wffc/
Join a freestyle clinic in Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
Get your stroke analysed and join our online swim squad for workouts:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
The post Do You Lose Your Technique When You Retire? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Did you know you might only use 30% of your lungs when swimming? Find out how to improve your breathing technique and avoid feeling exhausted in the water. Note: Don’t do any of these exercises in the water without supervision or someone else with you.
00:00 Introduction
00:26 Breathing Mechanics and the 30% Rule
01:28 Are You Using Your diaphragm?
03:05 What causes the urge to breathe
04:34 BOLT Score
06:33 How To Develop CO2 Tolerance On Land
07:20 The Snorkel Hack
08:28 CO2 Tolerance Builder (Under Overs)
09:43 FRC Sprints
10:35 Breath Holds
11:29 Takeaways from the session
Improve your technique with the 8 Week Faster Freestyle Course:
https://effortlessswimming.com/8wffc/
Join a freestyle clinic in Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
Get your stroke analysed and join our online swim squad for workouts:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
The post You’re Only Using 30% Of Your Lungs appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Join former 6x Ironman Distance Champion and high-performance triathlon coach, Bek Keat, as she shares her insights on adapting your swimming stroke from the pool to the open water. Discover the changes triathletes must make to swim effectively in challenging conditions such as chops, waves, and crowded environments. Beck also reflects on her journey as a professional triathlete, discussing the lessons she learned and the transition into coaching. Tune in now!
00:00 Introduction
02:43 The Differences Between Open Water and Pool Swimming
05:48 The Importance of an Open Arm Recovery
11:40 Back to Basics: The Fundamentals of Breathing
17:52 The Impact of Changing Stroke Techniques
25:21 Bilateral Breathing and Breathing Patterns
29:58 Mobility, Flexibility, and Triathlon Training
35:09 The Pitfalls of Following Fitfluencers
39:21 The Accuracy of Metrics and Electronic Devices
41:51 Using Perceived Effort and Tuning into the Body
44:59 Getting Out of a Rut in Swimming: Ditch the Tech and Just Swim
49:07 Wetsuits and Buoyancy Shorts
51:30 Getting in Touch with Bek!
Follow Bek on Instagram and Facebook
Siri and Bek Squad:
https://siriandbeksquad.com/
Horses in Our Hands:
http://www.horsesinourhands.org
Believe Ranch Rescue:
http://www.believeranchandrescue.org
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
Try PILLAR today, head to pillarperformance.shop and enter code EFFORTLESS for 15% off, or for any North American listeners, enter the same code at TheFeed.com.
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How To Adapt Your Stroke For Triathlon Swimming with Bek Keat appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Mitch Kibby is a professional triathlete who’s placed 16th in the 70.3 World Championship. He began his triathlon career without a swimming background, and has gone on to compete with some of the strongest swimmers in the pro field. This is how he did it.
Improve your technique with the 8 Week Faster Freestyle Course:
https://effortlessswimming.com/8wffc/
Join a freestyle clinic in Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
Get your stroke analysed and join our online swim squad for workouts:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
The post Try This Pro-Triathlete’s Top 5 Swim Tips appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, Dr. Sandra Harrell, a former 5-time NCAA All-American swimmer and physical therapy expert, shares her insights on injury prevention, strength training, and performance optimization. With over 25 years of experience, Dr. Harrell covers the importance of consistent strength training, nutrition, and recovery. Her tips are valuable for athletes and those looking to stay fit as they age. Tune in now!
00:00 Introduction
02:05 The Importance of Proper Treatment and Care for Injuries
06:06 Lessons Learned: How I Would Approach Swimming Injuries Differently
08:58 Common Mistakes in Nutrition for Athletes
12:02 When and How to Start Strength Training
16:46 The Importance of Progressive Loading
20:32 The Timeframe for Seeing Results in Strength Training
22:33 The Role of Nutrition in Muscle Building and Recovery
26:50 How to Make Nutrition and Training Effortless
29:14 Customized Programs: Tailoring Training for Athletes’ Goals
33:28 Finding the Right Balance: Training vs. Recovery
38:19 Success Stories: Overcoming Injuries and Improving Performance
42:46 Lifting Weights for Longevity: The Key to Enjoying Activities as We Age
48:33 How to Get in Touch with Sandra!
Website: https://www.theswimmersdoc.com/
Follow her on Instagram and Facebook
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESSSWIM‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Building Swim-Specific Strength The Smart Way with Sandra Harrell appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Kyle Chalmers is an Olympic Gold Medalist and the short course 100m freestyle world-record holder. We asked his coach, Ash Delaney how he teaches freestyle and how swimmers can become faster in freestyle.
00:00 Introduction
00:25 Head and body position
00:54 Kick
01:48 Coaching Kyle Chalmers
02:55 Recovery
03:55 Entry
04:45 Catch
05:46 Favourite Drill
07:01 Timing your breathing
07:54 Breathing Pattern
09:15 The best ‘cue’ for swimming
10:03 Coaching vs competing
10:54 Biggest mistakes in swimming
11:38 Hardest swim workout
13:06 Best race
13:47 Worst race
14:51 Best advice
Improve your technique with the 8 Week Faster Freestyle Course:
https://effortlessswimming.com/8wffc/
Join a freestyle clinic in Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
Get your stroke analysed and join our online swim squad for workouts:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
The post Olympian’s FASTER Freestyle Technique (Explained) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
We’re thrilled to have Chipper and Chris, the powerhouse duo behind the Löw Tide Böyz, join us. Based in Northern California, this dynamic SwimRun team is on a mission to grow the sport of SwimRun and bring it to the forefront of endurance athletics. In this episode, we’ll explore why many endurance athletes are making the transition to this sport. We discuss the reasons behind its rapid growth and provide valuable insights for those interested in getting started with SwimRun. Tune in now!
00:54 Introduction to Chipper and Chris, the Löw Tide Böyz
6:27 What is SwimRun? The Basics and Origins
8:29 The Evolution of Equipment and Gear in SwimRun
13:55 Training and Strength Requirements for SwimRun
16:55 The aha moment: falling in love with SwimRun
20:36 Unexpected Challenges and Overcoming Obstacles in SwimRun
26:35 The Success of the Löw Tide Böyz Podcast: Building a Global Community
29:41 The Future of SwimRun: Innovations and Changes
35:04 Your Guide to Starting SwimRun: Resources and Tips
36:38 Get in touch with the Löw Tide Böyz!
Website: https://lowtideboyz.com/
Follow The Löw Tide Böyz on Instagram
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
Try PILLAR today, head to pillarperformance.shop and enter code EFFORTLESS for 15% off, or for any North American listeners, enter the same code at TheFeed.com.
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post The Ins And Outs Of SwimRun (& Why It’s One Of The Fastest Growing Endurance Sports) with The Löw Tide Böyz appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
James Anderson is an Australian-based international speaker, author, and educator passionate about helping people become better learners. In today’s episode, we cover how to fast-track our improvement as swimmers, when and how to use feedback on our technique, as well how to develop the skill of learning for better results in our swimming, work and family lives.
02:53 Introduction to Learning and Learnership
04:27 Understanding the Difference: Being Taught vs. Learning
26:41 Different Levels of Learners
08:57 Differentiating Between Acceptable and Unacceptable Mistakes
12:05 Active Learning and Intentional Practice
14:56 Developing a Growth Mindset and Embracing Feedback
18:42 Transforming Feedback into Actionable Advice
24:32 Changing How You See Feedback
34:32 Comfort Zone vs. Learning Zone
38:25 Frustration as a Sign of Growth
45:43 Why Some Swimmers Get Faster Immediately, While Others Get Slower
47:20 Cultivating Habits of Mind
50:28 Get in touch with James!
Website: https://www.jamesanderson.com.au/
Get James Anderson’s book Learnership here:
https://www.jamesanderson.com.au/books
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESSSWIM‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How To Cut Your Learning Time In Half with James Anderson appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today, we’re excited to welcome Tracey Bauman back to the podcast! She was a hit on episode 338, where we discussed making swimming more comfortable and efficient. In this episode, we’ll dive deeper into building a strong connection between your torso, legs, and arms, and the importance of good posture and alignment. We’ll also explore the benefits of experimenting with different kicking techniques, how body rotation affects propulsion, and finding the right balance between stroke rate and stroke count. Tune in now!
01:33 Building the Body from the Inside Out: The Key to Connection and Timing
5:35 Breaking Down the Catch
11:00 Visualizing the Ideal Arm Position for Faster, Safer Swimming
14:38 Understanding the Role of the Kick
19:56 Choosing the Right Kick Type and How to Execute It
30:00 Finding Balance and Power through Body Rotation
37:23 Stroke Rate and Cadence
43:32 Why Chasing Times Isn’t Always the Answer
46:45 Get in touch with Tracy!
Website: https://www.swimmastery.online/tracey-baumann
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swimmastery/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialswimmastery
Buy the book (The Swim Mastery Way) and save 10% using the discount code SWIM10:
https://inhousebookstore.com.au/products/the-swim-mastery-way?_pos=1&_sid=f59356e26&_ss=r
Get SwimMastery’s Minimising Shoulder Injury in Freestyle course for 10% off with the code EFFORTLESS10:
https://members.swimmastery.online/product/minimising-shoulder-injury/
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
Try PILLAR today, head to pillarperformance.shop and enter code EFFORTLESS for 15% off, or for any North American listeners, enter the same code at TheFeed.com.
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Finding Rhythm And Connection In Your Freestyle with Tracey Bauman appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, we’re diving into a Q&A session where I will answer your questions submitted on Instagram! Tune in for helpful tips and insights on how to improve your swimming.
00:48 I tried adjusting my head position, but my legs still sit too low. Do you have any recommendations?
02:42 How do you keep your hand up and gliding during the reach phase?
05:26 How do I ensure I feel my lats during a workout rather than my traps and upper back?
06:47 I went from a 1:45 to a 1:32 pace in four months, thanks to you. Now I’m hitting a wall. Any advice?
09:04 Can you explain the timing for rotation in catch phase?
13:18 How long does it take to go from being a leisurely swimmer to a highly competent swimmer?
15:48 How do you improve the skill of feeling the water?
19:20 When I push hard on the pull, it speeds up my entire process. How do I keep the cadence regular?
22:20 First focus priority, kick or catch?
23:25 Why is swimming focused on rep time cycles instead of work-to-rest ratios?
24:38 My stomach drops but my head and legs are up, resulting in this weird U-shaped form. How do I fix it?
26:31 Send your questions!
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESSSWIM‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post How To Stop Your Arm From Dropping Like A Rock appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, we have Laura Quilter, a New Zealand swimmer and coach who has previously been the national champion in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle. Laura has achieved a lifetime PB at the age of 31, with only a third of the training she was doing in her earlier years. She’s also ventured into the sport of ice swimming (water under 5 degrees celsius) and is coaching through her platform at Aura Move. Tune in now!
02:14 Introduction and Background
04:33 Training Changes and Mindset Shift
06:55 Understanding the Sprint Stroke: Differences and Techniques
10:03 Coaching Middle to Long Distance Swimmers: More Time to Work Through
14:56 Paralysis by Analysis: The Pitfalls of Overthinking in Swimming
16:39 The Importance of Fun and Play in Swimming and Racing
20:42 Shifting Competitive Focus to Skill Execution
23:37 Curiosity as a Key Element in Consistency
29:27 Ice Swimming: Challenges and Experiences
34:24 The Recovery Process: Stripping off wet clothes and getting warm
35:47 Adapting Coaching Techniques for Individual Swimmers
40:22 Get in touch with Laura!
Follow Laura on Instagram
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
Try PILLAR today, head to pillarperformance.shop and enter code EFFORTLESS for 15% off, or for any North American listeners, enter the same code at TheFeed.com.
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Get Faster As You Get Older with Laura Quilter appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
We tracked down retired Olympic swimmer Dan Smith to spill the beans on how he was able to swim a 1:10 100M freestyle, and look like he wasn’t trying.
Become an ES member and start improving your own swimming:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
00:00 Introduction
00:28 Dan’s background
01:22 Swimming is different because…
02:42 Body position
04:23 Using underwater video
05:04 Kicking
06:42 Breathing pattern
07:50 Rotation
08:51 Recovery and entry
10:43 Front Quadrant
11:52 Catch and pull
Dan Smith currently runs swim clinics for juniors in Australia. For more details visit www.myswimtutor.com
The post How To Swim 100m In 1:10 (Without Trying) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, we welcome back Nick Jankovskis, a sports scientist and endurance performance coach at METS Performance Consulting. Nick is an expert in improving endurance performance through accurate analysis of physiological testing. We dive into fueling and how to test physiology for endurance sports, particularly focusing on Ironman events and long-distance races. Nick shares insights on the new equipment at METS Performance that allows for more detailed testing and provides better numbers for fueling requirements. Tune in now!
00:49 Introduction and Upgrade in Equipment
03:37 Understanding the Breakdown of Fuel Utilization
08:35 Common Issues with Fueling
14:01 Timing and Frequency of Fuel Intake in Training Sessions
18:38 The Importance of Flexibility in Fueling
25:40 How Proper Fueling Can Improve Performance in Long Swimming Sessions
29:30 Challenges of Testing for Swimmers
39:41 Understanding Individual Differences in Fueling
52:12 The Power of Implementing Basic Fundamentals
53:18 Get in touch: Testing and Consultation Services
Website: https://metsperformance.com/
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESSSWIM‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Related Content: Don’t Let The Numbers Rule Your Swimming with Nick Jankovskis
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post The Science Behind Swimming Faster For Longer with Nick Jankovskis appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I’ll share some helpful tips from the clinics and sessions we run that will improve your swimming speed and efficiency on today’s podcast. I’ll also discuss some new equipment I’ve purchased that has improved my strength, made swimming more enjoyable, and boosted my overall performance.
00:18 Introduction
00:47 Avoiding Early Breathing in Freestyle: Head vs. Shoulder Rotation
02:37 Exploring Different Kick Techniques
06:09 Addressing Fatigue and Comfort in the Water
09:07 Improving Balance and Efficiency in the Water
13:37 The Game-Changing Custom Earplugs for Swimming
15:32 How a Chin Up Bar Helped Improve My Upper Body Strength
18:07 The Benefits of Anti Fog Goggles
20:10 How This Magnesium Powder Transformed My Sleep
21:25 ES Squad: Level Up Your Swim Workouts
24:25 Exciting Camps Planned for Next Year
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
Use code SQUAD when joining the Effortless Swimming membership to get 50% off your first month:
https://www.effortlessswimming.coach/video-membership-checkout-monthly/?promo=squad
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
Try PILLAR today, head to pillarperformance.shop and enter code EFFORTLESS for 15% off, or for any North American listeners, enter the same code at TheFeed.com.
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post 4 Freestyle Mistakes That Are Costing You Time And Energy appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Join us on this episode as we sit down with Tracey Baumann, the co-founder of SwimMastery and author of ‘The Swim Mastery Way’. With over 20 years of teaching and coaching experience, Tracy has worked with swimmers of all levels, from beginners to English Channel swimmers. In this podcast, Tracey shares her expert insights and cues from her book, offering valuable tips to help you become a faster and more efficient swimmer.
00:15 Introduction and Background
04:01 Breath Management and Overcoming Fear
exchange and calmness
09:18 Teaching Swimmers to Breathe Using Their Diaphragm: Challenges and Solutions
12:18 How Often Should You Breathe?
18:20 The Role of Bones and Joints in Achieving Proper Body Position
21:58 Exploring the Relationship Between Hip Flexors and Body Position in Water
26:04 Teaching Effective Kicking Techniques
28:00 Over-Rotation and Losing Position: Common 33:35 The Trident Analogy
35:16 Shoulders and Scapula Mechanics in Swimming: Debunking Common Misconceptions
38:33 Tapping into Natural Joint Mechanics for a Better Catch
42:44 Developing a Sensory Connection to the Water
47:11 The Power of Tactile Feedback in Swim Coaching
48:56 The Physics Behind a Correct Arm Recovery
55:00 Get in touch with Tracey!
Website: https://www.swimmastery.online/tracey-baumann
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swimmastery/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialswimmastery
Buy the book here and save 10% using the discount code SWIM10:
https://inhousebookstore.com.au/products/the-swim-mastery-way?_pos=1&_sid=f59356e26&_ss=r
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless10‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Freestyle Mastery: Practical Tips for Perfecting Your Stroke with Tracey Baumann appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Felipe Telles broke the magical 60-minute barrier in his first ever Ironman swim, coming in at 56 minutes with an average of 1:28/100m. When he first started swimming a few years ago, Felipe struggled to go faster than 2:00/100m. So how did he manage to increase his speed by that much? Find out in today’s podcast episode.
00:56 Swimming Background
03:34 The Impact of Learning the Right Technique
07:09 How Relaxation Transforms Your Swim
09:50 The Benefits of Incorporating Drills in Swim Workouts
13:18 Structured Sessions: Warm-ups, Technique, and Intense Training
16:46 Finding the Balance: Consistency vs. Pushing Too Hard in Training
20:35 How to Get the Most Out of Your Swim Training
24:23 How Observing Others Can Improve Your Technique
31:20 Catch and Pull: Finding the Right Amount of Power
37:23 Swimming Tips for Triathletes: Small Changes, Big Results
41:24 Follow Felipe on Instagram for Inspiring Content
Follow Felipe on Instagram
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 20% off wetsuits at Great Ocean Wetsuits with code ‘EFFORTLESS20’:
https://greatoceanwetsuits.com/
5 Day Catch Challenge:
https://effortlessswimming.com/5-day-catch-challenge/
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
Related Content:[Case Study] 2:05 to 1:40/100m in 4 months with Felipe Telles
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How This Non-Swimmer Broke The 60-Minute Barrier In His First Ironman Swim with Felipe Telles appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, Quest Meeks shares his inspiring journey of transforming from a non-swimmer to comfortably swimming over 1000 yards without stopping. He opens up about the mental and physical obstacles he had to overcome along the way. Join us as we dive into this episode!
01:02 Swimming Background
9:00 Doing Half Ironman
09:30 I Gotta Start With Something
16:52 But Swimming
25:53 Signing Up For The Stroke Analysis
35:53 Kicking Hard
44:18 Climbing Up A Mountain
47:10 It’s Not Comfortable But I Am Not Dying
Follow Quest on Instagram
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless10‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post From Gassed Out At 50 Yards To Swimming 1000 Without Stopping with Quest Meeks appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, we have Carl Reader, a functional movement coach with a background in exercise physiology and Pilates. We will discuss the connection between hamstring strength, mobility, and how it can improve swimming performance. Carl has extensive experience working with swimmers to improve their movement and strength training. Join us as we delve into his research and practices in today’s episode.
00:00 Introduction
00:59 Techniques and Tips from a Functional Movement Coach
01:59 The Role of Hamstrings in Maintaining Speed and Efficiency in Swimming
05:21 Exploring the Relationship Between Hamstrings and Calf Muscles
08:14 Factors Affecting Hamstring Strength
11:20 Strengthening Techniques for Better Posture and Muscle Activation
13:39 Squats: One of the Best Ways to Strengthen the Hamstring
17:43 Signs to Look Out for: Indicators of Hamstring Issues
21:08 Core Engagement in Squats: Finding Balance
More About Carl Reader:
website: https://carlreadercoaching.com/
email: carlwellness@gmail.com
Get the Functional Movement Course here
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 20% off wetsuits at Great Ocean Wetsuits with code ‘EFFORTLESS20’:
https://greatoceanwetsuits.com/
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
Related Content:
Functional Movement For Swimmers With Carl Reader
Swimming (And Moving) Pain Free with Carl Reader
The One Exercise That Solves Most Aches And Pains with Carl Reader
Stop ‘Hauling’ Yourself Through The Water & Swim With Ease with Carl Reader
How To Strengthen And Stretch Your Hip Flexors For A Better Kick with Carl Reader
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Why Your Neglecting Your Hamstring Strength Is Making You Slower with Carl Reader appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Prescott Balch is an ironman triathlete who started at 2:10/100m, and is now able to consistently swim under 1:30/100m. He recently broke through a plateau in his swim times by focusing on one change to his swim technique. In this podcast, we delve into what changes Prescott made and some unique approaches he took to fixing these areas of his stroke.
00:00 Introduction
01:09 Overcoming Plateaus and Finding Speed
05:27 Weak Core, Weak Performance
12:02 Body Awareness Challenges for Adult Onset Swimmers
16:35 How Dead Hangs and Handstands Improve Upper Body Strength
21:14 Executing a Well-Planned Race: Negative Splits and Smooth Pacing
30:45 How a Good Swim Sets the Tone for the Rest of the Race
34:57 What’s next for Prescott?
38:27 Exploring the Concept of “Swimming Downhill”
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless10‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Related Content: [Case Study] What To Do When Your Open Water Times Are Slower Than Your Pool Times with Prescott Balch
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How This Triathlete Cracked The Code To Swim Under 1:30/100m with Prescott Balch appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this video, we meet Willem, a dedicated triathlete who has been living in a van by himself for over 460 days. His ultimate goal is to complete a full distance Ironman, learning how to swim, bike, and run from scratch.
5 Day Catch Challenge (Improve your catch):
https://effortlessswimming.com/5-day-catch-challenge/
8-week Faster Freestyle Course:
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
The post [Feedback Friday] Can You Teach Yourself To Swim 2.4 Miles? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
How you bring your arm over the water can make or break your momentum in freestyle
Take 10 seconds off your 100m pace in the next 3-6 months with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
The post How To Use Your Momentum In Freestyle (And Save Energy) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, we discuss three ways to generate more propulsion without getting tired, along with a drill that will help you practice each of these methods.
00:16 Generating propulsion
01:31 The Size of the Paddle
03:44 The Power Phase of the Stroke
08:31 Accelerate Through the Stroke.
11:01 Keyhole Drill
12:58 Building Power and Speed in Your Stroke
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless10‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post Three Ways To Generate More Propulsion (Without Getting Tired) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this video, we have Leon, who has just been getting back into swimming for 6 months and is averaging around 2:00/100m. We will look into a couple of things that he could do to swim faster.
Fix your swimming with the ES membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
Send us your videos for Feedback Friday:
https://effortlessswimming.com/contact-us/
The post [Feedback Friday] How To Break 2:00/100m appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, we have a special guest, marathon swimmer Andy Donaldson, who is a three-time world record holder. Andy shares his insights on freestyle technique and how he is able to maintain an impressive pace of 1:12 per 100m for 4 hours. This episode focuses solely on technique, as we delve into Andy’s thought process and approach to his stroke. Tune in now!
00:00 Andy’s Background
2:31 Where is your head position?
2:58 How often are you breathing?
4:30 How do you use your kick?
5:23 What does your recovery look like?
8:09 What is the end of your stroke like?
9:07 What is your rotation like?
9:47 How did you develop your catch?
11:13 How much power are you putting into each stroke?
11:54 What do you do to increase your swim speed?
13:11 How do you like to train?
14:20 What pace are you aiming for?
14:49 What stroke rate are you aiming for?
Follow Andy on Instagram
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 20% off wetsuits at Great Ocean Wetsuits with code ‘EFFORTLESS20’:
https://greatoceanwetsuits.com/
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
Related Content:
On A Mission To Complete The Oceans Seven in One Year with Andy Donaldson
Completing The Oceans 7 In One Year with Andy Donaldson
Watch the video on YouTube:
The post The Technique Behind Holding 1:12/100m For 4 hours with Andy Donaldson appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Marathon swimmer Andy Donaldson talks about his freestyle technique and how he can hold 1:12/100m for 4 hours.
Improve your swimming here:
TRAINING AND MEMBERSHIP PLANS
Follow Andy on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/andy.swimming/?hl=en
Get 20% off wetsuits at Great Ocean Wetsuits with code ‘EFFORTLESS20’:
https://greatoceanwetsuits.com/
00:00 Introduction
00:53 Head position
01:17 Breathing
02:49 Kick
03:43 Recovery
05:24 Exit
06:19 Rotation
07:01 Catch and Pull
08:23 Power
09:06 Increasing Speed
10:11 How Andy trains (suprising)
The post How This Swimmer Held 1:12/100m…For 4 Hours! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In March of 2024, Dean Summers set out to break the record for Australia’s longest ever unassisted swim. Leaving from Newcastle’s Nobbys beach and planning to land at Palm Beach, Sydney for a total of 95.6km. Battling blue bottle jellyfish, hallucinations and less than perfect conditions, Dean had a challenge ahead of him. The swim had been unsuccessfully attempted by two other swimmers in the 1980’s and 90’s, including well known Australian swimmer Des Renford whose shark cage sunk off the coast after treacherous conditions. In this episode, you’ll hear the story of an expedition into waters that have never been swam in.
00:00 Introduction
03:52 The Origin of the Newcastle to Sydney Swim
08:44 Building the Dream Team: Finding the Right Support
11:59 The Commitment and Preparation for a Long Swim
14:08 Navigating 07Whirlpools and Tides
16:45 Feeding Strategy : Carbohydrates and Protein
20:11 The Constant Sting: Battling Bluebottles in the Ocean
23:15 Bioluminescence and the Milky Way
29:44 The Final Stretch: Locking in on the Goal and Reaching the Beach
34:35 Post-Swim Reflections: Burnt and Hungry
38:44 Lessons Learned from a Grueling Swim
44:15 The Connection Between Family and the Love of Water
50:30 What’s next?
Follow Dean on Instagram
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless10‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post The Expedition: Australia’s Longest Ever Swim with Dean Summers appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Dan Eisenhardt, CEO and Founder of FORM Swim, shares his journey of creating the world’s first augmented reality swim goggles. Discover how real-time data can enhance your training sessions, the most useful features of the goggles, and the challenges faced during development. If you’re looking to forge your own path in your professional life, Dan also provides valuable insights on getting started and three essential considerations for starting a business. Tune in to this episode for all this and more.
02:05 The Light Bulb Moment
04:49 The Evolution of Technology in Swimming Goggles
06:23 Testing the Prototype
07:52 The Complications of Delivering Low Latency Heart Rate Sensing in Water
12:47 The Indispensable Tool for Swimmers
13:56 Taking Areas of Interest and Experience to Create Something Different
16:13 Serendipity and the Right Place, Right Time
20:17 The Importance of Learning from Competitors
24:13 Acting with Conviction: Getting Things Done
29:00 Favourite Features in Form goggles
32:44 The Value of Premium Offerings
38:36 The Three Key Factors in Business Success
43:02 Form Goggles: A Game-Changer for Low-Tech Swimmers
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
Join the FORM giveaway here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6F52A8SrAd/?hl=en
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless10‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Trust Your Gut Instinct (And Tread Your Own Path) with Dan Eisenhardt appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Top 10 Unconventional Tips For Intermediate Swimmers
Get personal video analysis from me and access our 8-week faster freestyle course here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
The post How To Swim Faster | Top 10 Unconventional Tips For Intermediate Swimmers | Break A Plateau appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing some of the mistakes I made in coaching and the valuable lessons I learned along the way. I believe these lessons can help you avoid similar pitfalls and succeed in your coaching journey. Additionally, I’m excited to announce the launch of our new course, the Freestyle Coaching Masterclass. Be sure to tune in!
00:30 Coaching Masterclass
04:02 Be Firm And Not Their Friend
06:52 Setting Minimum Standards
10:37 Energy is Transferred
13:28 Being Memorable
15:53 4 Hours Workweek : Mexican Fisherman and the Banker
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless10‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post The 4 Biggest Mistakes I Made In Coaching (And How To Get More From Your Coach) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, we sit down with Jarrod Briffa, an Australian freediving athlete, instructor, and online coach trained in the Oxygen Advantage. Jarrod’s expertise lies in the power of breath and how it can enhance performance, reduce stress, and aid in recovery. As the founder of Drifters Freediving, he offers courses and private coaching to help individuals improve their breathing techniques. He has been the Australian Men’s Champion at The Pool Freediving National Championships and has represented Australia in pool freediving at international competitions. Join us as we explore the importance of proper breathing in sports and everyday life.
00:00 Introduction
02:37 The Importance of CO2 Tolerance in Breathing
04:57 Understanding CO2 Tolerance and Breathing Patterns
08:12 Assessments and Exercises for CO2 Tolerance
9:52 Diaphragmatic Awareness for Swimmers: Techniques and Benefits
16:57 Building CO2 Tolerance
20:28 Benefits of Nasal Breathing for Swimmers
23:00 The Science of Breath Holding: Understanding Your Body’s Responses and Limits
30:15 Breathing Easy in the Water: Effective Exercises and Techniques for Swimmers
38:40 Mental Strategies for Increasing Breath Length
39:43 Race Day Breathing Strategies for Swimmers
42:29 The Relationship Between CO2 Tolerance and Lactic Tolerance
47:37 The Impact of Proper Breathing on Recovery and Performance
51:09 Get In Touch with Jarod for Coaching!
Visit Drifters Freediving on their Website and Instagram
Follow Jarrod on Instagram
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Why We Get Breathless (And What To Do About It) with Jarrod Briffa appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
https://www.formswim.com/effortless
10% off Gen 1 with Code: effortless10
The post Using FORM Smart Swim 2 Goggles: What It’s Actually Like! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, I’ll share ten ways to increase your swim speed and become a better swimmer. So, let’s dive in and explore these effective strategies.
00:29 Train Another Stroke
01:50 Change The Way That You’re Training
03:04 Being Diligent With Your Skills
05:06 To Become Supple
05:53 Joining a Squad Or a Group of Swimmers
09:08 Occasionally, Don’t Track Anything
10:40 Keeping Calm Under Pressure
12:58 Commit To A Swim Block
14:03 Pick One Thing And Stick To It For Three Months
15:50 Get Professional Help
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless10‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post 10 Ways To Increase Your Swim Speed appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Hollie Buerckner, an osteopath and swimmer, shares tips on preventing and rehabilitating shoulder injuries in a podcast episode. She suggests specific exercises to address shoulder issues and emphasizes the importance of maintaining a balance between strength and mobility. Tune in to learn more.
00:00 Introduction
02:38 Understanding Shoulder Injuries in Swimmers
03:25 Four Causes of Shoulder Pain in Swimmers
05:13 Relationship Between Shoulder Pain and Range of Motion
09:51 Effective Shoulder Exercises for Swimmers
14:36 Common Mistakes Leading to Shoulder Pain in Swimmers
18:02 YTA Exercise for Scapular Strength
20:06 High Intensity vs. High Volume Training
22;34 Importance of Addressing Shoulder Pain Early
24:32 Balancing Mobility and Strength Training for Busy Athletes
27:42 The Stubbornness of Swimmers in Dealing with Pain
29:44 Motivation to Take Care of the Body
35:11 Get in touch with Hollie!
Follow Hollie on Instagram
Osteos on Sunshine
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Why Swimmers Get Shoulder Injuries (And What To Do About It) with Hollie Buerckner appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I’m going to tell you in this video why you get tired right away after swimming and what you can do to change it so you can swim further, easier, and look better at the same time.
Fix your swimming with the ES membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
Take 5 Seconds Off Your 100m Pace (5 Day Catch Challenge):
https://effortlessswimming.com/5dcc-redesign/?el=youtube
The post The 5 Reasons You’re Exhausted INSTANTLY When You Swim appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this podcast episode, we hear from Jay Mueller, an emergency doctor who started swimming 16 months ago after injuries led him to take up the sport, as he could no longer run or ride. When Jay first started, he was averaging 2:15-2:30/100m and finding he was exhausted after a few hundred meters. Fast forward to today, where he is consistently swimming between 1:20-1:30 in training, with a personal best of 1:06 in the 100m freestyle. Tune in to learn about his transformation and the lessons he has learned along the way.
00:00 Introduction and Background
4:21 Initial Pace and Improvement
7:21 From Fast Swims to Sustainable Laps
9:38 The Science Behind Shoulder Pain Relief through Static Hangs
15:27 Improving Rotation and Reach
18:22 Strategies for Maintaining Buoyancy and Momentum in the Water
23:15 The Challenges of Learning a New Skill
28:28 Importance of Body Awareness in Swimming Technique
34:09 Drills for Technique Improvement
37:47 Impressive Swimming Progress in a Short Time
38:34 Being Patient and Kind to Yourself
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless15‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How I Slashed My 100m Freestyle Time to 1:06 with Jay Mueller appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Nicole is a sprint distance triathlete who is trying to break 1:28/100m in her races. There are 3 things she needs to do to get faster.
Fix your swimming with the ES membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
Send us your videos for Feedback Friday:
https://effortlessswimming.com/contact-us/
The post Sprint Distance Triathlete Can’t Break 1:28 Pace | Feedback Friday appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, we dive into a conversation with Frank Sole, the author of ‘The Five “B” Method to a Successful Triathlon Swim.’ We discuss Frank’s evolution as a coach since writing the book, his key lessons for new athletes, and the importance of terminology in training and team dynamics. Frank also shares insights on leveraging breathing techniques for improved performance in the water, drawing from his training with a world-renowned expert. Tune in now!
00:00 Introduction
02:01 Challenges and Rewards of Coaching Retired Athletes
05:47 Elevating Your Swimming Sessions
09:59 Empowering Athletes Through Coaching: Building Trust and Value
16:04 The Science and Art of Mental Strength in Sports
20:21 Overcoming Setbacks and Staying Committed to Swim Training
22:21 The Power of Developing Good Habits
25:42 Breath Control and Body Position
30:33 Breath Work for Athletes: Building Lung Capacity and Endurance
36:47 Back to Basics: The Fundamental Role of Breathing in Coaching
43:09 Enhancing Swimming Skills through Play and Exploration
46:46 Swimming Without a Watch: Embracing the Feel of the Water
51:12 Embracing the Suck and Enjoying the Journey
55:40 Finding Creative Ways to Convey Instructions to Athletes
57:47 Celebrating Progress: Recognizing Improvements in Swimming
1: 01:11 Lessons Learned from Coaching Older Athletes
1:02:47 Get in touch with Frank Sole!
Get the book The Five “B” Method to a Successful Triathlon Swim on Amazon.
Visit Frank’s website for coaching:
https://soleswimsolutions.com/
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless15‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Related content: The Five ‘B’ Method To A Succesful Triathlon Swim with Frank Sole
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Breathing, Body Position & Balance with Frank Sole appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Join us in today’s episode as we interview one of the best open water swimmers in the world, Sharon van Rouwendaal. We will delve into her recent double win at the world championships, her intense training regimen, and the mental fortitude that drives her success. She will be sharing insights on her transition from pool to open water swimming, managing injuries, and the importance of technique and kick in her training. Uncover Sharon’s unwavering commitment to greatness, and her relentless pursuit of improvement. Tune in now!
01:41 The Double Win
05:56 The 110 Kilometer Week
08:23 Building Mental Toughness and Confidence
11:16 Training Environment and Culture
14:10 Understanding Open Water Racing
16:35 Transitioning from Pool to Open Water
18:35 Overcoming Shoulder Injury
22:11 Mastering the 6-beat kick
24:54 Learning from a New Coach
26:04 Coaching Others and Sharing Knowledge
30:46 Effective Communication in Coaching: Simplifying Techniques
32:56 5 Different Levels of Speed and Heart Rate Zones
37:34 Challenging Sets and Progression in Swim Training
41:10 Analyzing Training Sets and Building Confidence
44:05 Managing Training Load and Sleep
49:07 Challenges of Transitioning from Running to Swimming
50:34 Exploring Hobbies Beyond Sports
52:52 What’s next for Sharon?
Follow Sharon on Instagram
Open water swimming and clinic with Sharon:
https://bestcentresports.com/sports/open-water/sharon-van-rouwendaal-openwater-swimming-pool-clinic/
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless15‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Olympic Gold, 110km In A Week & Why You Should Never Stop Learning with Sharon Van Rouwendaal appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
James ‘Iron Cowboy’ Lawrence is best known for his world record attempts at completing multiple Ironman events over consecutive days. Firstly, in 2015, he successfully completed 50 Ironmans in 50 days in 50 US states. Then in 2021, he decided to double this and complete 100 Ironmans in 100 days, going on to do this and one more to finish 101. The documentary on this challenge is coming out in March 2024. James is also a public speaker who was given the gift to ‘suffer’ and now helps provide hope to others and teach mental toughness through voluntary suffering. This episode is not to be missed.
00:00 Introduction
03:21 The Good, the Bad, and the Funny Moments
10:19 Lessons Learned in 50 Ironmans and Conquer 100
14:20 Pushing Limits and Ignoring Pain
15:52 Building Mental Toughness and Resilience
19:13 Mindfulness: Cultivating Inner Peace Amidst Distractions
21:15 How Disconnecting Can Improve Your Mental Health
23:22 Finding Mental Clarity Through Physical Activity
26:25 The Impact of Community and Shared Experiences
34:43 Embracing Difficulties: The Path to Growth and Wisdom
38:22 The Power of Physical Activity and Discomfort
39:48 The Motivation Behind the 50 and 100 Challenges
44:25 The Importance of Hope and Giving Back
47:07 Living Unapologetically and Without Fear of Judgment
50:16 Prioritizing Family Over Others’ Opinions
51:55 What’s next for James?
Follow James on Instagram
Check out his website:
https://www.ironcowboy.com/
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless15‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Choosing Your Suffering: How Anyone Can Become Mentally Tough with James ‘Iron Cowboy’ Lawrence appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s podcast episode, professional triathlete and coach Mitch Kibby shares his journey from having little swimming background as a child to becoming a front pack swimmer in the pro field. He is the head coach and founder of i4 Coaching and has worked with Effortless Swimming at our clinics and camps. Mitch discusses his strategies for improving swimming performance and offers valuable insights and tips for swimmers and triathletes looking to improve their skills. Tune in now!
00:00 Introduction
02:39 Swimming Background
07:51 Long Journey to Success
11:01 Lessons Learned from Early Days of Training
16:55 Refining Coaching Cues
17:51 Tips from Elite Triathletes
23:36 Front End Speed Training
27:55 The Power of Training in Challenging Environments
29:22 Shorter Sets, Greater Gains
34:12 Improving Performance through Specific Training
36:15 The Value of Training Partners and Squad Training
39:12 The Hardest and Best Things About Being a Pro Triathlete
42:23 The Benefits of a Flexible Lifestyle
44:00 Transforming Negative Self-Talk into Positive Motivation
49:04 Maintaining Emotional Stability and Setting Realistic Goals
52:06 What’s next for Mitch Kibby?
Follow Mitch on Instagram
Check out i4 Coaching here:
https://www.i4coaching.com.au/
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless15‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Strategies To Become A ‘Front Pack’ Swimmer with Mitch Kibby appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, triathlon coach and author Joe Friel returns to discuss swimming and open water techniques, as well as his latest edition of The Triathlete’s Training Bible. Joe addresses common challenges triathletes face when transitioning from pool to open water. He emphasizes the importance of patience in making lasting improvements and offers tips for pool training to enhance open water swimming skills. Tune in now!
00:00 Introduction and Previous Episode Recap
2:56 Updates in the Book
4:42 Different Methods for Establishing Intensity Zones
8:49 The Role of Rest and Recovery in Athletic Performance
12:54 Debunking Swimming Myths: The Death Move That Kills Your Progress
16:05 The First Step to a Strong Catch
17:51 Reaching Over the Water in Open Water Swimming
22:50 How Open Water Swimmers Adapt to Rough Conditions
25:10 Teaching Open Water Swimming: The Three Key Words
26:40 Why Intervals Might Not Be Effective for Triathletes in the Pool
32:27 Importance of Focusing on Technique and Patience
36:18 Hardest Swim Workout Prescribed
40:34 Empowering Triathletes to Stick to Effective Swimming Methods
42:28 Most Memorable Triathlon Race
45:04 Golf as a Hobby and Lessons Learned
48:12 Problem-solving and Coaching Methodology
50:15 Triathletes Training Bible: A Must-Have Resource for Athletes
The Triathlete’s Training Bible (5th Edition)
Training Plans:
https://joefrieltraining.com/
The Craft of Coaching is by Joe Friel:
https://www.fasttalklabs.com/category/the-craft-of-coaching/
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless15‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Related Podcast: Unlocking Speed: Mastering the PDLC Method for Triathlon Swimming with Joe Friel
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Proven Strategies For Fast And ‘Effortless’ Swimming with Joe Friel appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Matthew McElroy is a professional triathlete with 9 World Cup podiums and 1 World Triathlon podium. He was selected as an alternate for the Tokyo Olympics. With a background in cross country and track and field, Matthew had to work hard to develop his swim to get it to an elite level to compete with the best on the world stage. In this podcast, we’ll dive into how he radically transformed his swimming stroke over the last 10 years.
00:00 Introduction
01:56 Swimming Background
05:45 Transitioning from Running to Swimming
11:25 Building Upper Body Strength and Progressing in Triathlon
17:32 Working on Speed and Underwater Techniques
23:49 Balancing Distance per Stroke and Cadence
28:04 Training Strategies for Improving Stroke Rate and Speed
32:33 Explaining Stroke Technique and Focus Areas
34:02 The Importance of Consistency in Swim Training
36:54 Why Video Analysis and Having a Coach Are a Must
41:18 The Power of Mindset: How it Impacts Your Performance
42:52 Overcoming Doubt: Harnessing the Power of Positive Thoughts in Racing
46:16 Superhero Posture: Boosting Confidence in Races
47:42 Situational Awareness in Open Water Swimming:
49:32 Handling Frustration in Open Water Races
51:19 Qualifying for the Paris Olympics
Follow Matt on Instagram
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless15‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How This Runner Transformed Into A Swimmer (And Pro Triathlete) with Matthew McElroy appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Take your swimming to the next level with these 5 tips!Turn your freestyle into effortless freestyle with the ES membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blogThe post 5 Ways To INSTANTLY Swim Faster appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
We have an extraordinary guest, Gerrard Gosens, who is a three-time Paralympian and has an impressive list of accomplishments. From competing in running to representing Australia in triathlon at the Commonwealth Games, Gerrard has proven himself as an exceptional athlete. But his achievements don’t stop there. He has climbed Mount Everest, completed a 2000km run from Cairns to Brisbane multiple times, and even appeared on Dancing with the Stars.
However, what makes Gerrard’s story truly remarkable is his current endeavor to become the first blind person to swim across the English Channel. In this episode, Gerrard shares his journey, the training involved, and the importance of teamwork in achieving such a groundbreaking goal. Tune in now!
02:01 Training to be the First Blind Person to Cross the English Channel
05:21 Overcoming Limitations in Different Training Environments
06:57 Swimming Long Distances with Guide Swimmers
08:48 Swimming with a Tether: The Experience and Benefits
12:15 Listening to the Depth of the Water
13:23 Meet the Guides Taking on the UK Swim
14:55 From Running to Swimming: Embracing Solitude in Training
18:44 Focusing on the Journey, Not the Time
19:56 Overcoming the Quandaries of Swim Technique
24:07 Finding the Balance: Training and Time Management
25:36 Using Emotional Carbohydrates
31:52 Jellyfish, Sea Lice, and Stingrays: Unexpected Encounters in the Water
36:52 Lessons Learned Through Sport
39:52 198 Days to Gerrard’s English Channel Swim
Follow Gerrard on Instagram
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless15‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post Life at Full Throttle: Why Extreme Challenges Ignite and Satisfy Your Life’s Journey with Gerrard Gosens appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
What should your arms be doing through the catch and pull in freestyle? Find out in this video!
Improve your freestyle and find more speed in the ES Membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
The post What Should Your Arms Be Doing In Freestyle? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, we have a fascinating story of transformation. Our guest, pro triathlete Will Draper, started his swimming journey with poor technique and average performance. However, through dedication and hard work, he has completely transformed his swimming abilities. From being unrecognizable in his stroke analysis video in 2019 to becoming a pro triathlete in 2021, Will’s progress is truly remarkable. Join us as we dive into Will’s journey, exploring the strategies and mindset that fueled his transformation. Discover how Will bridged the gap from a non-swimming background to now swimming strongly, only seconds away from the front pack. Tune in now!
02:04 Introduction and Background
03:46 The Key Moment: Choosing Triathlon Over Cycling
05:52 Training Regime and Approach to Swimming
08:29 Benefits of Training in a Squad vs. Training Alone
10:43 Viewing Swimming as an Infinite Game
12:48 Overcoming Mental Barrier
15:52 Diversifying Workouts: Incorporating Longer Intervals for Speed Work
20:44 Lessons Learned from a Challenging Race
24:35 Transformation from Poor Swimmer to Competitive Triathlete
28:02 Swimming Confidence and Appearance
31:27 Advice for Non-Swimmers in Triathlon
37:25 Triathlon Goals: Aiming for the Front Pack
40:50 Importance of Video Analysis and Making Small Changes
42:47 Follow Will Draper on Instagram
Outsweep First, Insweep Second:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRc-F8tLe4Y&t=7s
Triathlete’s CRAZY Technique Transformation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrlkZjvyewY&t=54s
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Get 15% off our 8-week Faster Freestyle course by using the code 8week15
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless15‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post From Non-Swimmer To Pro Triathlete with Will Draper appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
We’re looking at John, who’s a triathlete in the video. He’s swimming around a 1:40 to 1:45 per 100 meters. And he said he can hold this for about 1500 meters. Now, as I’ve looked through the video, he’s doing a lot really well but there are specific areas where he can make improvements to enhance his speed. Find out more in this video.
Join the ES community here and improve your technique:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
The post Amateur vs Pro Swimmer | What’s the difference? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, we catch up with professional triathlete Amelia Watkinson, who has achieved remarkable success in her career. With over 17 wins and numerous podium finishes, Amelia shares her secrets to consistency and staying at the top of her game. We dive into her favorite swim training sessions, and the best advice she’s received from her coach, and explore various topics related to training, racing, and the mental aspect of being an athlete. Amelia also opens up about overcoming challenges, managing pressure, and finding perspective in the sport. Whether you’re a swimmer or a triathlete, this episode is packed with valuable insights that can elevate your training, regardless of your skill level. So join us as we uncover what it takes to compete at the top level and apply those lessons to your own athletic journey.
00:00 Introduction
01:36 Limited Spots Left! Don’t Miss Out on Our 2024 Swim Camps
02:37 Taking Control of Your Time: How Blocking Out Dates Led to Personal Growth
04:10 Taking Regular Training Breaks Can Help Prevent Burnout and Improve Performance
05:55 Swimming Background and Improvement
08:22 The Benefits of Training in a Squad Environment
11:29 Finishing Strong and Overcoming Challenges
15:08 Words of Wisdom from Coaches and Mentors
16:03 Tips for Managing Time Differences and Stress while Traveling for Racing
17:27 Helping Age Groupers and Amateur Triathletes Feel More Comfortable
19:17 Lessons Learned and Evolving as an Athlete
20:43 Prioritizing Training Over Screen Time
24:15 Training Solo vs. Training with Others
24:46 Standout Races and Moments in the Last 10 Years
27:24 Managing Pressure: A Privilege and a Challenge
30:47 Upcoming Races and Goals
Amelia’s Video
Follow Amelia on Instagram
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless15‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How To Perform When It Matters with Amelia Watkinson appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
How Sharon van Rouwendaal, Olympic gold medalist, transformed her swimming technique for even greater speed.
Discover the surprising switch she made and understand why top swimmers change their strokes mid-race.
Plus, learn the key tips she recommends for amateur swimmers and triathletes to improve their kick.
Join the ES community here and improve your technique:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Follow Sharon on IG:
https://www.instagram.com/svrouwendaal/?hl=en
The post Why Did the Olympic Gold Medal Winner Alter Her Winning Technique? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Get ready to dive into the world of triathlon with our guest, Clayton Fettell, a former professional triathlete turned full-time coach. With 15 years of racing experience under his belt, Clayton has a wealth of knowledge to share. Join us as we explore the key lessons he learned at the pro level and how he passes them on to his athletes. Discover the traits and habits that lead to improved speed and technique, and gain insights into Clayton’s favorite training sets that he uses to help his athletes excel. Tune in now!
00:00 Introduction and Background
01:09 Highlights from Pro Racing Career
07:07 The Impact of Parenthood on Perspective
09:04 Transitioning from Athlete to Coach
13:28 Challenging the Fastest: A 1K Race in Noosa
14:31 Importance of Technical Focus in Swimming
19:07 Recognizing and Addressing Your Own Swimming Weaknesses
22:48 The Impact of Wetsuits on Swimming Performance
25:40 The Need for Technical Emphasis in Triathlon Swimming
30:14 Why is Video Analysis Important For Swim Improvement?
36:21 Tips for Swimming in Choppy Conditions
42:58 Setting Paces and Gauging Effort
48:18 The Calming Effect of Disconnecting: How Technology-Free Swimming Can Improve Results
54:31 The Unconventional Technique of Olympic Champion Runners
58:51 Get in touch with Clayton!
Follow Clayton on Instagram
Visit his website
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Use the code ‘8week10‘ for a 10% discount on our 8-week Faster Freestyle course:
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘Effortless10‘ at checkout to receive 10% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Related content:
First Out Of The Water with Clayton Fettell
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post The Traits Of Successful Triathlon And Open Water Swimmers with Clayton Fettell appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
From age-group triathlete to pro triathlete, Will Draper has made incredible strides in his swimming technique and performance. In just four years, he has transformed his body position, timing, and catch, resulting in significant improvements in his speed and efficiency in the water. Want to know his secrets? Let’s dive in and discover them!
GET THE FREESTYLE TECHNIQUE CHECKLIST:
https://www.effortlessswimming.coach/freestylechecklist/
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
The post Triathlete’s CRAZY Technique Transformation appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Ready to level up your swimming game this year? In this episode, we’re letting loose a treasure trove of ideas that will make your swimming better than ever before. Whether you’ve been swimming for a long time or are just starting out. Tune in now!
00:00 Introduction
00:25 Infinite Games in Swimming: Finding Joy in the Process
03:09 The Concept of Play: Incorporating Fun into Swimming
05:06 Investing in Experiences: Rethinking Financial Planning for a Fulfilling Life
10:35 How to Be Honest About Your Strengths and Weaknesses in Training
12:09 The Power of Habits: Transforming Your Life as an Athlete
14:09 Training Solo? Effortless Swimming Membership Has You Covered
16:13 More Exclusive Interviews with Pro Triathletes: Insights and Inspiration
Die with Zero:
https://www.amazon.com/Die-Zero-Getting-Your-Money/dp/0358099765
Atomic Habits:
https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
Galapagos Swim Trip 2024:
https://effortlessswimming.com/galapagos/
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post 5 Ideas That Will Make 2024 Your Best Year Yet appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, Carl Reader, an expert in exercise physiology and Pilates, discusses exercises that can improve movement patterns for swimmers. He focuses on the modified squat, which enhances mobility and activates the hip flexors, and the sumo squat, which targets inner thigh muscles and aids in knee stabilization. Carl emphasizes the importance of addressing imbalances and discusses the electrical system of the body. Tune in to learn how to enhance your swimming performance through improved movement patterns.
00:00 Introduction and Background
2:11 Modified Squat
4:53 Using Slant Boards and Rolled Mats for Better Squatting and Hip Flexor Activation
6:29 Sumo Squat
8:15 Understanding the Depth of Squats: Finding Comfort and Avoiding Back Strain
12:55 Common Movement Patterns in Swimmers
16:29 The Importance of Addressing Shoulder Imbalances in Swimming
19:49 Barefoot: Exploring the Connection Between Movement and Grounding
23:03 Muscle Warm-Up and Understanding the Body’s Electrical System
24:48 Why patience and dedication are important for building strength and mobility
26:01 Get in touch with Carl!
More About Carl Reader:
website: https://carlreadercoaching.com/
email: carlwellness@gmail.com
Functional Movement Course
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Today’s podcast episode is also sponsored by Skillest. Exclusively for our Effortless Swimming podcast listeners, you can receive a free course, ‘The Art of Triathlon Swimming,’ and an online analysis through the Skillest app.
https://effortlessswimming.com/skillestoffer
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How To Strengthen And Stretch Your Hip Flexors For A Better Kick with Carl Reader appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Join me today as we sit down with Andrew Sheaff, a highly accomplished coach and author of the book “A Constraints-Led Approach to Swim Coaching.” In this episode, Andrew shares his expertise on various aspects of swimming, including breathing techniques and innovative methods for improving catch and pull development. Whether you’re a competitive swimmer or simply looking to enhance your swimming skills, this podcast is a must-listen for anyone seeking valuable insights and practical tips from a true expert in the field.
00:00 Introduction
01:22 Improving Breath Awareness and Technique for Swimmers of All Levels
04:45 Mixing Up Breathing Patterns in Swim Training
07:25 Breaking Comfort Zones: Exploring the Benefits of Breathing to the Non-Preferred Side
09:03 A Drill to Improve Breathing on Both Sides
12:15 Common Mistakes in Breathing
18:00 Visual Tricks for Improving Breathing
20:20 Developing a Strong and Effective Catch and Pull
26:39 Knowing When to Push and When to Stop in Training
30:36 Don’t Skip the Basics: The Significance of Body Position
34:31 Addressing Low Hips and Legs in Swimmers: Key Factors to Consider
36:44 Learn more about Andrew Shaeff and his work
Get the book HERE
Get in touch with Andrew:
https://www.coachandrewsheaff.com/
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Today’s podcast episode is also sponsored by Skillest. Exclusively for our Effortless Swimming podcast listeners, you can receive a free course, ‘The Art of Triathlon Swimming,’ and an online analysis through the Skillest app.
https://effortlessswimming.com/skillestoffer
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Put An End To Sinking Legs And Being Exhausted Quickly with Andrew Shaeff appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Brody’s journey from beginner swimmer to Ironman triathlete is gaining global attention. In just 10 weeks, he has improved his swimming speed by 50%.
His decision to take on a full Ironman in 7 months and document his progress on YouTube is not only a personal achievement but also a way to raise awareness for osteosarcoma. Despite initially struggling and relying on YouTube videos to learn, Brody has made significant progress and aims to become faster and more comfortable in the water by focusing on his head and body position, timing, rotation, and catch.
Stay tuned for the three simple changes that will impact Brody’s swimming technique and see the results in his upcoming 50-meter race.
Work with me to improve your swimming technique (for faster times):
https://skillest.com/app/profile/brenton-ford
Effortless Swimming membership for technique training videos and workouts:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
GET THE FREESTYLE TECHNIQUE CHECKLIST
https://www.effortlessswimming.coach/freestylechecklist/Follow Brody’s journey:
https://www.youtube.com/@brodysearleThe post Zero Swim Experience To Ironman In 7 Months appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Have you ever wondered what makes certain podcast episodes stand out, becoming favorites among listeners? Join us as we explore the most impactful episodes from this year on the Effortless Swimming Podcast. From overcoming mental barriers to training secrets of Olympic athletes, each episode has left a lasting impression on our listeners. Reflecting on these conversations, we’ll uncover the wisdom and experiences shared by our guests and the valuable life lessons they offer. Gain insights into what made these episodes popular and discover the secrets that set them apart from the rest!
00:32 EP #267: How To Adapt Your Stroke For Triathlons with 70.3 World Champion Tim Reed
05:55 EP #272: Swim Softer To Go Faster with Brant Best
10:37 EP #279: How Swimming Instills Lifelong Discipline with Pro Triathlete Joshua Lewis
17:14 EP #286: What It Takes To Win Olympic Gold And Break Worlds Records with Ryan Murph
25:19 EP #278: Using Stroke Rate, DPS and Consistency To Transform Your Swimming with Brian Johns
30:19 EP #263: A Simple Guide To Finding The Cause Of Your Technique Errors (Not Just The Symptom)
32:52 EP #275: Mental Hack for Marginal Mental Gains with Dr Jim Taylor
37:05 EP #288: How Olympians Use Underwater Filming And Analysis with Kyle Chalmers
41:35 EP #276: On A Mission To Complete The Oceans Seven in One Year with Andy Donaldson
44:48 EP #293: Swimming Secrets With 4x Olympian Brent Hayden
50:22 EP #298: Maintaining Your Competitive Edge For Life with 5x World Champion Craig Alexander
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Do you want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Today’s podcast episode is also sponsored by Skillest. Exclusively for our Effortless Swimming podcast listeners, you can receive a free course, ‘The Art of Triathlon Swimming,’ and an online analysis through the Skillest app.
https://effortlessswimming.com/skillestoffer
The post This is the Best Bits From 2023 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, professional speaker and author Glenn Capelli shares his expertise on learning better and making better decisions. He focuses specifically on how to improve swimming skills and mindset. Glenn discusses various topics he has studied throughout his life that can be applied to swimming, including getting into flow, maximizing the fun factor in training, using magic words to change approach, and developing small habits that lead to significant results. Tune in to this episode to gain valuable insights and tips for becoming a better swimmer.
01:45 Swimming for Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Health
04:08 The Essence of Flow: Finding Mental and Metabolic Flexibility
07:14 Finding Flow in Swimming: When Time Becomes a Blur
09:51 Discovering Flow in Other Aspects of Life
12:54 Flow and the Power of Whole Brain, Whole Body Engagement
15:01 What is Autotelic?
20:13The Power of Shifting Language: Instead of ‘Have to’, Say ‘Get to'”
24:09 The Endless Journey of Learning: Upping the Challenge, Upping the Skills
27:50 Finding Beauty and Challenge in Swimming and Life
29:12 How Small Changes Can Lead to Success
31:09 Improvement of Life and Training: More, Less, Get Rid of, Throw In, Instead Of
34:45 Swimming is More Than Just a Sport, It’s a Path to Friendship and Social Circles
35:57 Connecting with Glenn!
Get in touch with Glenn on LinkedIn.
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Today’s podcast episode is also sponsored by Skillest. Exclusively for our Effortless Swimming podcast listeners, you can receive a free course, ‘The Art of Triathlon Swimming,’ and an online analysis through the Skillest app.
https://effortlessswimming.com/skillestoffer
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Learn Faster, Change Quicker with Glenn Capelli appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Join us in this inspiring episode as we talk to professional triathlete Kat Matthews. Despite a major setback in 2022 when she was hit by a car before the Kona Ironman World Championships, Kat found inspiration and made a triumphant comeback the following year. We discuss her journey of overcoming adversity and her impressive second-place finish at the Ironman World Championships. Whether you’re a seasoned swimmer or just starting out, this episode offers valuable insights. Tune in now!
01:59 Swimming Background
05:12 The Battle of Overthinking
08:20 Recognizing the Difference Between a Good and Bad Swim
11:48 How Head Position Can Impact Swimming
14:53 The Connection Between Kick and Body Position
18:16 Choosing the Right Fins: DMC Elite vs. Arena Powerfins
21:06 Ballerina in a Bucket Cue
22:39 Navigating Loss and Grief: Kat’s Journey After the Accident
29:27 The Clues Trauma Leaves: Understanding the Psychological and Physical Effects
31:38 The Double-Edged Sword: Putting Emphasis on Race Results
34:43 Setting Achievable Goals and How Breaking Down Objectives Can Boost Motivation
39:12 The Importance of Translating Training Performance to Race Results
41:42 The Trap of Overdoing Training for Numbers
45:34 The Rewards of Following a Structured Training Routine
51:45 Swimming Advice for Beginners
Follow Kat on Instagram
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Today’s podcast episode is also sponsored by Skillest. Exclusively for our Effortless Swimming podcast listeners, you can receive a free course, ‘The Art of Triathlon Swimming,’ and an online analysis through the Skillest app.
https://effortlessswimming.com/skillestoffer
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Transforming Life’s Challenges into Catalysts for Growth with Kat Matthews appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, we welcome back Dr Jim Taylor, a renowned psychologist specializing in sports and performance. Dr Taylor shares his insights and strategies from his recent experience at the World Championships in Spain. We discuss topics such as adjusting intensity based on race distance, effective focus and mindset for training and racing, and the importance of being brutally honest with oneself for improvement. Tune in for an enlightening conversation with Dr Jim Taylor.
03:34 Balancing Athletic and Professional Life
04:50 The Range of Physical Intensity in Swimming and its Impact on Performance
08:27 Finding the Balance Between Relaxation and Intensity
15:13 How to Clear Your Mind for Better Performance and What Happens When You Overthink in Races
18:14 Focusing on Higher Cadence and Intensity in Training
20:17 Progressing through Different Levels of Swimming
22:11 Developing a Mindset Plan for Racing
25:49 Tapping into Physical Fuel with the Mind
27:45 Practicing Mental Imagery for Race Preparation
29:20 Applying a Reality Check to Race Results and Performance Evaluation
31:46 The Value of Testing and Assessing Performance
36:44Having a Coach Analyze Data and Provide Insights
38:23 How to Get in Contact with Dr Jim Taylor
Get in touch with Dr. Jim Taylor
https://www.drjimtaylor.com/4.0/
Book Link:
Train Your Mind for Athletic Success
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Today’s podcast episode is also sponsored by Skillest. Exclusively for our Effortless Swimming podcast listeners, you can receive a free course, ‘The Art of Triathlon Swimming,’ and an online analysis through the Skillest app.
https://effortlessswimming.com/skillestoffer
Related Content:EPISODE #275: Mental Hack for Marginal Mental Gains with Dr Jim Taylor
EPISODE #266: Enjoy Pain And Uncovering What Really Motivates You with Dr Jim Taylor
EPISODE #247: Mental Strategies To Race Strong From Start to Finish with Dr. Jim Taylor
EPISODE #242: Train Your Mind For Success In The Water with Dr. Jim Taylor
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post 3 Under The Radar Mindset Techniques That Transform Your Race Day Performance with Dr Jim Taylor appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Join us on today’s episode as we interview Flynn Southam, a talented young Australian swimmer who has already achieved remarkable success at the age of 18. He’s been in the Commonwealth Games team and won numerous gold medals at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships. We delve into Flynn’s unique perspective on technique, exploring the key aspects he focuses on and the mindset he maintains during training and races. Discover the one phrase his coach told him that completely transformed his training approach, turning him into a dedicated and determined athlete. Tune in now!
02:12 Representing Team Australia at a young age
03:13 Australian Team Wins Gold in 4x100m Freestyle Relay at World Champs
07:05 Breakfast with Michael Phelps at the hotel
08:27 Chasing Olympic Dreams: Why Not?
10:22 The Moment Flynn Realized He Could Compete with the Best
11:53 Overcoming Self-Doubt and Making a Comeback
14:46 The Role of Mindset in Achieving Flow State in Competitive Swimming
16:10 Creating Art on Race Day: The Power of Rituals
17:27 Mastering Body Position and Front Catch
22:14 Core and Functional Movement Workouts
24:32 Flynn’s Favorite Training Set
27:29 The Power of Anaerobic Conditioning
30:00: The Use of Swim Parachutes for Drag and Resistance Training
34:19 Training with a Great Group of Mates
35:20 Mentoring Young Swimmers: Common Struggles and Advice
41:13 What’s Coming Next for Flynn?
Follow Flynn on Instagram
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Today’s podcast episode is also sponsored by Skillest. Exclusively for our Effortless Swimming podcast listeners, you can receive a free course, ‘The Art of Triathlon Swimming,’ and an online analysis through the Skillest app.
https://effortlessswimming.com/skillestoffer
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How One Mental Shift Can Change The Trajectory Of Your Life with Flynn Southam appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this podcast episode, we have the privilege of sitting down with Leigh Nugent, one of the world’s top technical coaches. With his extensive experience as the National Youth Coach for Swimming Australia and former Head Coach, Lee shares valuable insights on improving freestyle technique. He also discusses the champion mindset and shares stories of swimmers who have overcome injuries and achieved great success. Whether you’re a swimmer, coach, or simply interested in the sport, this episode is packed with tips and stories that will engage and motivate you.
02:10 Achieving Success in the Olympics: Lee Nugent’s Coaching Journey
08:21 Coaching Beyond Performance and Creating a Welcoming Environment
10:58 The Challenges of Coaching Talented but Uncommitted Swimmers
12:44 The Impact of Swimming on Personal Growth
14:13 Leigh’s insight from the 2012 Olympics
16:24 The Best Olympics for Coaches and Athletes: Tokyo 2020
19:24 The Unbreakable Mindset of Elite Swimmers
22:31 Stories of Swimmers Pushing Their Limits
23:34 Key Elements of Great Freestyle Technique
34:32 Maintaining Front Quadrant in Increasing Stroke Rate
39:10 Lessons and Realizations from 10-20 Years of Swimming
42:03 Developing the Next Generation of Athletes
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Today’s podcast episode is also sponsored by Skillest. Exclusively for our Effortless Swimming podcast listeners, you can receive a free course, ‘The Art of Triathlon Swimming,’ and an online analysis through the Skillest app.
https://effortlessswimming.com/skillestoffer
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Unlocking the Champion Code: 20 Years Of Elite Swim Coaching with Leigh Nugent appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Join us on this podcast episode as we sit down with Brian Johns from Form Goggles. Brian discusses the exciting new features of Form Goggles and how they can help swimmers improve their technique. From measuring efficiency to providing real-time feedback on head and breathing position, these goggles are a game-changer for swimmers of all levels. Tune in now!
01:03 Exploring Form Score: A Universal Measure of Swimming Efficiency
09:10 Head Coach Skills: 5 Key Areas to Help Improve Efficiency
09:35 #1 Peak Head Roll
16:59 #2 Head Pitch
18:45 Finding the Sweet Spot: Head and Breathing Position
20:14 The Similarities in Technique Cues for Swimmers of Different Ages and Levels
23:21 #3 Interval Pacing
24:30 #4 Set Pacing
27:45 #5 Breathing Time To Neutral
31:39 Exciting Future Developments for Form Goggles
34:11 Downloading Workouts to Form Goggles for Easy Access
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ at checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Today’s podcast episode is also sponsored by Skillest. Exclusively for our Effortless Swimming podcast listeners, you can receive a free course, ‘The Art of Triathlon Swimming,’ and an online analysis through the Skillest app.
https://effortlessswimming.com/skillestoffer
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Discover Your Real Swim Efficiency Score with Brian Johns appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Welcome to the podcast with our special guest, RJ Boergers, the author of ‘Finish Strong: Resistance Training for Endurance Athletes.’ RJ is a certified athletic trainer with a doctorate degree in Movement Science. In this episode, we will discuss the positive impact of strength training on performance and well-being, misconceptions regarding strength training, and the importance of mobility. Tune in now, as this episode offers valuable insights and practical tips for athletes looking to enhance their swimming and triathlon performance.
01:22 Passion for Resistance Training and its Benefits
05:41 Common Mistakes and Misconceptions in Strength Training
9:17 The Importance of Strength Training for Endurance Athletes: Maintaining Form and Improving Performance
20:18 Strength Training Success Stories: Injury Reduction
26:34 Effective Exercises to Strengthen Obliques
28:54 Must-Do Exercises for Swimmers: Targeting Core, Glutes, and Scapular Stabilizers
31:28 Why Mobility Training Is Crucial for Athletes
39:38 Key Takeaways for Effective Strength Training
44:16 Get in Contact with RJ
Get the book here
Follow him on Instagram
Reach out to RJ via email richard.boergers@shu.edu
Change your technique and swim a smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Today’s podcast episode is also sponsored by Skillest. Exclusively for our Effortless Swimming podcast listeners, you can receive a free course, ‘The Art of Triathlon Swimming,’ and an online analysis through the Skillest app.
https://effortlessswimming.com/skillestoffer
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How To Finish Strong And Slow Down Less with RJ Boergers appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Lucy Charles-Barclay had an incredible swim in Kona at the Ironman World Champs. Here are 5 things that made her unstoppable in the water.
Grab the 5 Day Catch Challenge for $10 here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/5-day-catch-challenge/?el=blog
Work with me to improve your swimming technique (for faster times):
https://skillest.com/app/profile/brenton-ford
Effortless Swimming membership for technique training videos and workouts:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
The post I Can’t Believe What Happened At Ironman World Champs || Lucy Charles-Barclay’s Insane Swim! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, I will share the story of a pro triathlete who achieved a remarkable breakthrough in his swimming performance, transitioning from a second pack swimmer in triathlons to consistently making it to the front pack. How did he accomplish this feat? By making an important change in his training routine. Tune in now!
00:20 Triathlete Transforms Swim Performance
02:26 Going Hard and Recovering Quickly
06:23 Recognizing Elite Athletes as Normal People
07:49 Importance of Pacing and Specific Training
09:14 Targeting Weaknesses in Training
11:06 New Swim Camps Coming Up!
Maldives Swim Camp 2024:
https://effortlessswimming.com/maldives/
Galapagos Swim Trip 2024:
https://effortlessswimming.com/galapagos/
Hell Week Swim Camp 2024 (Coming soon!):
https://effortlessswimming.com/hell-week/
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post Why You’re One change Away From A Breakthrough appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Join us for a podcast episode with Taryn Richardson, where we explore the world of diet and nutrition for athletes. Discover the key principles to fueling your body for optimal performance and recovery. Get ready for eye-opening insights and practical tips that will revolutionize your training approach. Don’t miss out on unlocking your full potential as an athlete.
01:18 The Importance of Protein in Exercise and Recovery
05:10 Timing Protein Intake for Optimal Recovery
06:35 Sources of Protein: Exploring Options and Recommendations
09:04 Kangaroo Meat and Red Meat Consumption
14:41 Meal Prep: Saving Time and Eating Well
20:10 Common Mistakes and Misconceptions in Triathlete Nutrition
27:14 Carb Phobia: Understanding the Importance of Carbohydrate Intake for Endurance Athletes
31:07 The Shift in Body Composition and Nutrition for Triathletes
32:42 Triathlon Nutrition and Bike Fuel Masterclass with Taryn
Get in touch with Taryn:
https://www.dietitianapproved.com/
Follow her on Instagram
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Related Content:Episode #260: Fuelling For Performance (And How To Avoid Late Night Sugar Binges) with Taryn Richardson
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Why Carb-Phobia Could Be Ruining Your Performance with Taryn Richardson appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Join me on a wild journey where I accidentally became the subject of a search party while swimming with friends in Melbourne. From helicopters to firetrucks, this rescue operation had it all. But it’s not just a cold-water mishap; it’s a story about finding answers right in front of us. Learn the lessons from this unforgettable experience and how they apply to our everyday struggles.
00:21 Swimming in the Cold Water
02:04 Lost Swimmer in Red Cap
06:39 Miscommunication in the Cold Water
11:40 Improving Back Strength for Better Performance
13:40 EO SwimBETTER
14:30 Swimming Insights: Finding Obvious Solutions
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post Hidden In Plain Sight: Why The Solution To Our Problems Are Right In Front Of Us appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Join us on this podcast episode with Andrew Sheaf, author of “A Constraints-Led Approach to Swim Coaching.” Andrew shares valuable insights and strategies for swim coaches and swimmers. His systematic training and skill development approach helps swimmers achieve tangible results by avoiding the pitfall of abandoning techniques too quickly. This podcast is a must-listen for coaches and swimmers looking to enhance their methods and training.
01:24 The inspiration behind the book “A Constraints-Led Approach to Swim Coaching”
04:16 How to Be the Most Effective Coach When You Manage a Big Swim Team
06:39 Techniques for Teaching Swimmers That Are Both Fun and Effective: Contrast Drills and Feedback Exchange
09:02 Simplifying Swim Technique Analysis for Effective Coaching
11:26 . Improving Body Alignment and Kick Effectiveness in Adult Swimmers
14:57 Reversing Swimming Misconceptions
16:39 The Nuances and Challenges of Providing Individualized Swimming Instruction
18:05 Effective Coaching Language and Analogies for Swimmers
22:48 The Power of Questioning in Coaching and Training
28:08 Efficient Skill Development for Swimmers with Limited Time: Making the Most of Short Workouts to Improve Technique
34:48 Common Mistakes and Challenges in Increasing Speed while Maintaining Stroke Rate
39:28 Measuring Progress in Remote Coaching: The Importance of Testing and Consistency
42:01 How to Get a Copy of Andrew’s Book and Contact Him
Get the book HERE
Get in touch with Andrew:
https://www.coachandrewsheaff.com/
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Level Up Every Day: The Art of Consistent Progress with Andrew Sheaff appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Here is a simple yet effective exercise I learned from Australian swim team physiotherapist Tom Barton that will help you have a better catch in the water.
Effortless Swimming Podcast #299: Better Flexibility In 3 Minutes with Tom Barton
https://effortlessswimming.com/better-flexibility-in-3-minutes-with-tom-barton/
Grab the 5-Day Catch Challenge for $10 here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/5-day-catch-challenge/?el=blog
Work with me to improve your swimming technique (for faster times):
https://skillest.com/app/profile/brenton-ford
Effortless Swimming membership for technique training videos and workouts:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
The post 60-Seconds Of This Exercise For A High Elbow Catch appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Join us today with Tom Barton, fresh from the US with Australia’s A team! Tom is the founder of the Q Swim app and works as a physiotherapist at The Health Collab. He’s your go-to expert for keeping swimmers and triathletes moving smoothly and injury-free. Today, we’re focusing on how triathletes can step up their […]
The post Better Flexibility In 3 Minutes with Tom Barton appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Swimmer sometimes moves their arm in the WRONG direction in order to setup their catch. In this video, I’ll show the correct way to set up your high elbow position. Grab the 5-Day Catch Challenge for $10 here: https://effortlessswimming.com/5-day-catch-challenge/?el=blog Work with me to improve your swimming technique (for faster times): https://skillest.com/app/profile/brenton-ford Effortless Swimming membership for […]
The post Why Your Freestyle Catch Isn’t Working appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I’m excited to introduce our guest today, the legendary triathlete Craig Alexander. He’s a three-time world Ironman champion and a two-time Ironman 70.3 world champion. Craig shares insights on resilience, perseverance, and the importance of a supportive community. He also talks about how visualization helps in triathlon training and racing, along with a personal mantra […]
The post Maintaining Your Competitive Edge For Life with 5x World Champion Craig Alexander appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Get ready for an amazing Andy Donaldson episode! He’s done something amazing: finished the Ocean 7 challenge faster than anyone ever has before. In just one year, he completed all seven swims in a total of 63 hours. And the best part? Andy’s doing all of this to bring attention to mental health. We’ll chat about the tough parts of those swims, how he tackled the tricky currents, and what lessons he took away from the whole experience.
02:24 Navigating Challenges In The Molokai Channel Swim
05:51 The Team’s Vital Role in Distance Updates And Support During The Swim
11:02 Mindset Shift: From Competition To Channel Swims
13:19 The Controversy Surrounding The Tsugaru Strait Swim
20:40 Andy’s Difficult Swim Through The Tsugaru Strait
27:33 Overcoming Obstacles, The Team Succeeds in Breaking the Ocean 7 World Record
33:11 Promoting The Ocean 7 Sport, Mental Health Awareness, And Message Of Hope And Teamwork
36:50 Moving Over Disappointment And Finding Greater Purpose
40:00 Lessons From The Open Water Swims: Perseverance, Self-Determination, And Lasting Connections
41:58 Life After Reaching The Goal And Embracing New Opportunities
46:00 Media Attention And Impact Of Open Water Swimming
48:23 What’s Next For Andy Donaldson?
Follow Andy on:
Instagram
Facebook
Support Andy at Black Dog Institute:
https://www.teamblackdog.org.au/fundraisers/oceansseven
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Completing The Oceans 7 In One Year with Andy Donaldson appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Can we find 2-minutes in Pro Triathlete Nathan Dortmann’s swim stroke? Let’s find out using underwater filming and the EO Swimbetter!
https://www.eolab.com/swimbetter
Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ for 12-months FREE Gold License
Improve your technique using the Effortless Swimming technique program:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
The post Can This Pro Triathlete Find 2 Minutes In His Ironman Swim? | Technique Analysis appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this video, we take a look at what Olympic Gold Medalist Kyle Chalmers does well in his stroke to enable him to swim at such an incredible speed. Here are some of the points discussed in the video: Recovery part of the stroke involves shoulder coming out of the water Importance of avoiding overrotation […]
The post The Fastest Man In The World | Swim Technique Analysis appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Many swimmers struggle with keeping their lead arm in front and reaching forward while turning to breathe. This can result in the lead arm dropping down and not getting a good catch. In this video, I will explain the causes of this issue and provide solutions so that you’ll have a better hold, a better […]
The post 5 Reasons Your Arm Drops When You Breathe appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
What changes can you make to your stroke when swimming in open water to help you go faster, stay in control, and feel confident in rough water? In today’s video, we look at three of the key tweaks to your technique that can help you when go from pool swimming to the open water. […]
The post 3 Ways To Change Your Stroke For Faster Open Water Swimming appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this video, we’re going to learn how to swim better by staying relaxed. We’ll go through 3 EASY STEPS to take your swimming to the next level. This not only helps you swim faster but also makes swimming feel easier. Step 1: Relaxed Recovery The recovery phase of the stroke is important for […]
The post Swim Relaxed (And Faster) IN 3 easy steps: appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Join me in this engaging episode as I chat with Sandra Schenkel, an elite duathlete from Spain who overcame swimming frustrations during the pandemic. We’ll dive into her journey of making incredible progress through focused training and coaching. Discover how Sandra regained her swimming skills and achieved her best level ever. We’ll also explore the […]
The post How 10 Seconds Faster A 100m Changed The Triathlon Game for Sandra Schenkel appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Joining me today is Gerard Donnelly from Trivelo Coaching, an Australian champion and podcast host. His podcast is a go-to for triathletes seeking insights from his seasoned journey in the sport. We’ll dive into life lessons from triathlon, smart training with technology, race focus, and the balance between short intense sessions and longer technique-focused ones. […]
The post Wisdom Beyond the Race: Life Lessons Through A Lifetime Of Triathlon with Trivelo’s Gerard Donnelly appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today, we’re thrilled to have triathlete Josh Salley sharing exciting updates on his technique and swimming breakthroughs. You can learn from his journey and find out the secret to his success. Get ready for an inspiring conversation! 02:33 Josh’s Swansea Half Ironman Experience: Calmer and Faster! 07:21 Open Water vs. Pool Impact On Awareness? 10:32 […]
The post The Four Steps To Triathlon Swimming Success with Josh Salley appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I’m excited to welcome Brent Hayden, a true legend, back to the podcast after nearly five years since our last conversation in 2018. A lot has changed since then, including his return to swimming and competing in the Tokyo Olympics. We’ll also explore how he stays in shape during retirement, his coaching approach, and his […]
The post Swimming Secrets With 4x Olympian Brent Hayden appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today, I’m excited to have Tom Hofnadel as my guest. Tom is a committed triathlete who is focused on improving his swimming in Ironman races. In this episode, we’ll explore the benefits of video analysis and receiving feedback, as well as the technique changes he has made in the past few years to enhance his […]
The post [Case Study] 53-minute Ironman Swim with Tom Hohenadl appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Why does your freestyle feel out of sync and like hard work? You might be lacking rhythm. These 3 steps will help you unlock your natural freestyle rhythm. Get the 5 Core Principles Of Fast Freestyle in the ES membership: https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
The post Why Your Freestyle Isn’t Flowing | Unlock Your Natural Rhythm appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, I’ll discuss CSS training to enhance your swimming’s aerobic capacity, enabling you to maintain faster times over longer distances. We’ll explore its definition, and application, and suggest effective sets to boost your aerobic capacity and overall performance. Tune in now! 01:32 Aerobic Capacity And Technique 04:02 What Is CSS Training? 05:36 How […]
The post How To Use CSS Training To Swim Faster For Longer Distances appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, we delve into the concept of challenges and how they transform over time. Using my own experiences as a surfer and swimmer, I look back on the challenges I’ve encountered and how they’ve influenced my journey. Tune in now! 00:17 Triumph and Mishap in the Waves 02:18 Ups and Downs: Progress and […]
The post Riding the Waves of Success and Stumbles In Your Swimming appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Tom is a triathlete wanting to improve upon a 53-minute Ironman swim time. Where can he find extra speed? One-to-one online technique coaching with me: https://skillest.com/app/profile/brenton-ford Join over 1,000 swimmers and triathletes leveling up their freestyle to become fast and efficient in any situation: https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
The post [Stroke Analysis] 53-Minute Ironman Swim! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today, I have the pleasure of chatting with Joe Friel, an exceptional endurance sports coach, renowned for his expertise in triathlon and cycling. Not only is Joe a highly respected coach, but he’s also an accomplished author, having written multiple books, including his most popular work, the Triathlete’s Training Bible. In this episode, we will […]
The post Unlocking Speed: Mastering the PDLC Method for Triathlon Swimming with Joe Friel appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Breaking down my own freestyle technique and where I can improve. Work one-to-one with me: https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog Freestyle stroke correction clinics (Australia): https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/ Improve your technique at your own pace with the ES Membership: https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog Get EO SwimBetter (code EFFORTLESS for 12 months gold membership): https://www.eolab.com/swimbetter
The post Breaking the Silence: The Hidden Side of My Freestyle Technique appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Kyle Chalmers, an Olympic gold medalist and one of the world’s top swimmers. I’ve featured him in some of my YouTube videos, highlighting his excellent freestyle technique. I’m excited to discuss his training and technique in depth. Tune in now! 01:47 After clinching the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, how […]
The post How Olympians Use Underwater Filming And Analysis with Kyle Chalmers appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Seb Wichmann, who attended one of our clinics in 2022. He was averaging around a 2:05 to 2:10 per hundred and said he was happy to survive a 1K swim at the pool and has now got himself down to around a 1:45. Tune in to the episode now! 01:02 What […]
The post [Case Study] 3 Minutes Off A Half Ironman Swim with Seb Wichmann appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
These are three common misconceptions that are killing your swim speed
Join over 1,000 swimmers and triathletes leveling up their freestyle to become fast and efficient in any situation:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
The post This Video Will Make You Slower appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is American swimmer Ryan Murphy, who has achieved incredible success in the Olympics Games, winning multiple gold, silver, and bronze medals. Ryan discusses how his motivation and training have evolved over the past decade, enabling him to stay competitive. We explore his unconventional beliefs, the obstacles he has overcome, including an injury before the Olympic trials, and the rituals that have aided his success in major events.
01:29 Do any of those experiences stand out as your most memorable achievement?
04:20 What do you attribute your sustained success and longevity in swimming to?
06:15 Have you ever had a season where you didn’t perform well and struggled to pinpoint why that is?
12:02 How has your motivation evolved in the past decade as you’ve continued to compete in swimming?
14:19 Can you explain more about the success-focused lifestyle you mentioned earlier, especially regarding areas outside of swimming?
16:48 As you get older and there’s up and comers nipping heels, how do you maintain your confidence and mindset when you’re one of the older guys in the field?
19:20 Which up-and-coming swimmer has caught your attention and impressed you the most recently?
21:50 Did you encounter any unexpected surprises in your professional swimming career that were different from what you expected or imagined as a teenager?
24:24 What are the key fundamentals you would focus on while coaching backstroke technique to a 15-year-old swimmer?
27:27 What are the main differences between your swimming technique or style and that of Mitch Larkins?
29:05 Did you get a lot of feedback on your swimming technique as a teenager, or did you develop your stroke naturally?
36:34 Can you share a memorable or transformative experience from your swimming career that has had a lasting impact on you?
42:01 What things beyond swimming motivate and excite you the most at the moment?
Follow Ryan on Instagram and Facebook
For those interested in receiving coaching from Ryan:
https://skillest.com/app/profile/Ryan-murphy
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post What It Takes To Win Olympic Gold And Break Worlds Records with Ryan Murph appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Richard aims to achieve a Sub 60min Iron Man swim and get under the 28 to 29 minute mark for a half-Iron Man swim.
Work with me to improve your swimming technique (for faster times):
https://skillest.com/app/profile/brenton-ford
Effortless Swimming membership for technique training videos and workouts:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=youtube
Checkout @BeIronTriathlon on Youtube
The post Ironman Triathlete Wants To Break 60-min Swim | Freestyle Technique Breakdown appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I’m excited to introduce my guest, Ben Geard, from Element Swimming. Ben and I go way back as great friends, and he was one of the coaches during the Maldives Camp last year. At Element Swimming, Ben offers lessons for beginners and helps swimmers progress from beginners to an intermediate level. That’s what we will talk about today—strategies and techniques for individuals who are complete beginners or relatively new to swimming, aiming to reach that intermediate level.
01:41 Swimming And Coaching Experience
03:35 Programs For Beginners Are Hard To Find
05:39 Level I: Building Water Confidence
08:49 Different Styles Of Coaching
11:20 Beginner’s Swim Camp On September
14:15 Level II: Feel For The Water
16:02 “aha” Moments During The Process
19:56 Biggest Mistakes With Skull
23:51 Training Sessions Per Week
25:20 Consistency Is Key
27:44 Level III: Putting Together And Achieving The Goal
31:73 Causes of Exhaustion In Swimmers
34:29 Vertical Kick
36:31 Visit The Element Swimming Website
Element Swimming Maldives Camp:
https://www.elementswimming.com.au/maldives-camp
Check out Element Swimming’s website:
https://www.elementswimming.com.au/
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Moving From Beginner To Intermediate with Ben Geard appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Our guest today is Marc Evans, a former National USA Triathlon team coach. In this episode, we will introduce the M25 Lift Paddle. We will discuss the paddle’s purpose and why it differs from others in the market. Specifically, we will focus on how it helps improve the catch, which is an essential part of the swimming technique.
00:49 Kickboard Is A Great Tool
04:02 Skinny S
4:42 Pass or Fail Coaching
5:59 Learning Engages Additional Muscle Groups
8:19 Learning New Things Takes Time
11:17 The Invention Of The M25 Lift Paddle
17:55 The Is Purpose Of The Paddle?
20:18 Seeking Help To Launch M25
23:47 Product Design Is Based On The Fundamental Of Movement
28:28 Persistence Is The Key
Check out the M25 Lift Paddle:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/m25-lift-paddle/m25-swim-lift-paddle?ref=chb347
Triathletes in Motion: a Book By Marc Evans
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Related Content:High Elbow Catch Masterclass with Marc Evans Part 1
What To Do If Your Pool Has Closed with Marc Evans
Triathletes In Motion with Marc Evans
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post High Elbow Catch Masterclass with Marc Evans Part 2 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Mark Evans, who is returning to the podcast after eight years. He is a former coach for the National USA Triathlon team and is widely recognized as one of the most knowledgeable and extensively researched individuals in this field. In today’s episode, we will explore the catch and techniques for continuous improvement. (Listen to the PART 1).
03:54 Triathlon and Swimming Background
07:32 Triathletes in Motion
08:38 Turning Vision into Reality
12:48 High Elbow Catch Is Essential For Improved Swimming
16:18 Correcting Straight Arm Pull
19:08n Combining Good Technique With Volume And Consistency
20:42 Backstroke Is An Amazing Way To Learn Freestyle
21:14 Vertical Kicking Is An Amazing Tool For Swimmers
24:22 Magic Bullets Are In Fundamentals
27:25 Applying Less Force And Holding Less Water
29:15 Ladder Cue
Check out the M25 Lift Paddle:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/m25-lift-paddle/m25-swim-lift-paddle?ref=chb347
Triathletes in Motion: a Book By Marc Evans
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Related Content:What To Do If Your Pool Has Closed with Marc Evans
Triathletes In Motion with Marc Evans
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post High Elbow Catch Masterclass with Marc Evans Part 1 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Need a proven plan to improve your swimming? Get the 5 Core Principles course inside our Video membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
Check out the M25 Lift Paddle:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/m25-lift-paddle/m25-swim-lift-paddle?ref=chb347
The post 5 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR CATCH appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Mr. Sam Ashby, a coach who has trained swimmers to national medals. In this episode, we will talk about the benefits of practicing different swimming strokes. It helps the body move differently and can aid in recovery and developing swimming skills. We will also discuss common mistakes that occur during clinics for butterfly, backstroke, and breaststroke.
03:58 Swimming Background
10:00 Refining Your Knowledge
13:18 Visual Learning in Swim Clinics: An Advantage for Kids
15:04 What is The Key to Good Butterfly Stroke?
21:02 Improving Rhythm in Butterfly Stroke
26:26 Common Mistakes in Backstroke: Lifting the Head Too Much
33;53 Common Mistakes in Breaststroke: Maximizing Drag Reduction
38:19 How Simplicity Leads to Better Results
43:01 Simple Cues/tips for Mastering Breaststroke
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Related Content:The Transition From Athlete to Coach with Sam Ashby
The One About Preparation (with Australian team swimmer Sam Ashby)
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How To Swim Effortless Fly, Back and Breast with Sam Ashby appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The video is about triathlete and triathlon coach, Peter, who has a 55-minute Ironman swim time. He can improve his swimming technique by focusing on these three things.
Need a proven plan to improve your swimming? Get the 5 Core Principles course inside our Video membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
0:00 – Introduction
0:22 -Improving Body Position
1:06 – Breathing and Front Quadrant Timing
2:52 – Rotation and Reaching Forward
4:07 – Shoulder and Hip Rotation
4:48 – Finishing the Stroke and Power Diamond
6:22 – Propulsion at the Back of the Stroke
7:12 – Analyzing the Exit
8:20 – YMCA Drill for Stroke Improvement
9:03 – Conclusion and Further Resources
The post 55-min Ironman Swim Technique Breakdown appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
00:00 Introduction
00:26 Head position
01:29 Timing/Front Quadrant
02:32 Catch/Pull Pattern
04:28 5 Core Principles
04:57 What next?
Grab our 5 Core Principles training inside our membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Work with me to improve your technique with stroke analysis on the Skillest app:
https://skillest.com/app/profile/brenton-ford
The post 20-Second Drop: Watch This Triathlete’s Insane Swim Improvement! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Scott Dickens, a two-time Olympian. And now director of Business Development at Form, who is one of our sponsors of the podcast. We will talk about the 8-Week Faster Freestyle course, how you can ensure you’re making progress and the improvement you would want to see. Tune in now!
01:02 Technique Change
09:51 Change Doesn’t Feel Good
12:18 Long Dog Paddle Drill
16:15 The Kick
21:05 8-Week Course Is now in Form Goggles
22:02 Week: 2 Posture, Head Position, And Kick
25:10 The Base Position In Freestyle
27:12 Using A Kickboard?
30:16 Wearing Fins
32:57 Week 8 – Stroke Rate
35:03 Hold Your Rating
41:24 What’s The Biggest Benefit of Using Form
46:10 Small Incremental Change In Pool Can Be Very Impactful
47:18 What Happens When You’re Learning A New Skill
48.34 The Optimum Goal Is To Be Able To Relax
49:58 What’s Coming Out Next?
8-Week Faster Freestyle Course:
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘8Week’ on checkout to receive 20% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Using Swim Data To Measure Technique Changes with Olympian Scott Dickens appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Baden Schaff. We will talk about one of the best analysis tools that I’ve come across called Skillest and how athletes and coaches can use video analysis to improve.
00:30 The Greatest Analysis Tool
02:32 Why Was The Skillest Created?
06:48 A Marketplace That Allows You To Be Discoverable By Students
12:18 How Do You Film Yourself?
15:02 Student-coach Relationship
16:39 24-hour Access
19:05 There’s No Pressure To Perform On The Spot
23:27 The Best Tools In Skillest
24:51 The Visual Is Everything
27:17 Analyzing The Stroke
33:14 Join the Skillest Now!
Get online stroke analysis with Brenton:
https://skillest.com/app/profile/brenton-ford
Coaches: Get 2 weeks free access to Skillest:
https://try.skillest.com/coach-signup/?utm_source=skillest&utm_campaign=become-coach-button&utm_medium=v8
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post The Secret Tool I Use To Analyse Technique (That Almost No Coaches Know About) with Baden Schaff appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this video, I’m gonna show you how you can improve your kick so that you can actually be the same speed and the same efficiency when you don’t have a pull buoy in to when you are using one.
Need a proven plan to improve your swimming? Get the 5 Core Principles course inside our Video membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
The post Why You Swim Faster With A Pull Buoy (And How To Change That) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I got professional triathlete Joshua Lewis to talk about swimming, training sessions, and most importantly, opening yourself up to opportunities and experiences.
01:10 Swimming background
06:21 You’ve got to be able to prioritize correctly
10:34 Switching to Pro Triathlon
15:18 Coaching role
16:40 Putting yourself out there
18:49 Getting into a sport like swimming can be a big decision for people
21:07 Taking the first step is important
22:56 If you’re self-conscious, remember people don’t care
23:42 Efficiency in the water for the best speed
25:57 Have you found yourself going too hard in the swim?
28:33 Learn how to race
30:20 Training session
32:55 Start small, make it doable
34″42 Consistency is king
37:25 Get in touch with Josh!
Coaching with Joshua, visit his website.
Follow him on YouTube!
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post How Swimming Instills Lifelong Discipline with Pro Triathlete Joshua Lewis appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Take 15 seconds off your 100m pace in less than 6 months:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Get an online lesson with me via the Skillest app:
https://skillest.com/app/profile/brenton-ford
The post 1:30/100 Pace…But Exhausted Quickly? Do this instead appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Brian Johns who is a three-time Olympian former world record holder in the 400 IM and, the head of coaching science at FORM. In this episode, we will talk about improving your technique using FORM goggles and how important reliability and consistency are to transform your swimming.
00:47 Best achievement: Coming back from injuries
03:52 Focus on the process and getting better every day
07:18 Get yourself in a squad environment
11:55 Understanding how DPS and SR lead to increase speed
17:34 How can you find the sweet spot with stroke rate and stroke length?
22:24 Applying progressive overload principles to Workouts
30:53 Applying race results to training and improvement
33:56 Changes to stroke rate and effort are very incremental
40:58 Has anything been interesting regarding the swim data that the FORM collected?
43:10 Knowing the fundamentals and the basics goes a very long way
44:06 Reliability/consistency are the key
45:25 Be mentally switched on
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Using Stroke Rate, DPS and Consistency To Transform Your Swimming with Brian Johns appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Triathlete Josh Salley went from non-swimmer in 2022, to swimming 1:45/100m in August 2022 to now consistently hitting 1:25/100m.
Swim easier and faster with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
Get coached by me like Josh does:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/?el=blog
The post 20 Seconds Faster (In 6 Months) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, we talk about magic words and how you can use the power of language to become a faster swimmer.
00:23 Swim Camp
01:41 Identify Yourself As A Swimmer
04:50 Cues
06:41 Replace Can’t With Don’t
08:10 Replace Should With Could
Magic Words by Jonah Berger
2023 Whitsundays Swim Camp:
https://effortlessswimming.com/whitsundays/
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=blog
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/?el=blog
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post Magic Words appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Andy Donaldson who recently came back from breaking the Cook Strait World Record. In this episode, we will talk about his experience before and during the swim and his goal to complete the Ocean Seven in a year to raise money and awareness for mental health.
02:40 What’s your headspace going into this swim?
04:58 How long into the swim did you realize things are going well?
09:30 Completion Is Key
10:22 The goal is to do the ocean seven within 365 days
14:19 How are you keeping yourself mentally ready for the swim?
17:19 Swimming Background
20:12 What is it about the sport that you think drew you back?
26:10 What’s your training?
36:30 What’s your routine like?
38:31 What sort of stuff are you doing to keep your shoulders strong?
41:16 How long would your strength and conditioning sessions go for?
41:53 What do you love to do outside of swimming?
43:28 What’s surprised you about your quest to do the ocean seven in a year?
44:54 Follow Andy on Social media to follow his journey
Follow Andy on
Instagram
Facebook
Support Andy at Black Dog Institute:
https://www.teamblackdog.org.au/fundraisers/oceansseven
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Affiliate link: form-affiliates.pxf.io/c/3667487/1337646/16166?trafsrc=affiliate
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post On A Mission To Complete The Oceans Seven in One Year with Andy Donaldson appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Get your stroke analyzed by me:
https://skillest.com/app/profile/brenton-ford
The post A Pro Triathlete Asked Me To Critique His Stroke appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Joining us today is Dr Jim Taylor, who specializes in Sports psychology and is the author of Train Your Mind for Athletic Success. In this episode, we will talk about useful mind hacks that you can implement into your training.
01:51 The Concept Of Marginal Gains
07:47 Words Impact How We Perceive The World
11:16 “I Choose To Push My Limits”
16:07 Unfamiliarity, Unpredictability, And Lack Of Control
19:43 Smiling Is A Powerful Mental Tool
25:45 Fun Is A Powerful Mind Hack
28:39 Flow Not Force
31:46 Take Control Of Your Breathing
35:38 Celebrating The Daily Victories
40:14 Get In Touch with Dr Jim Taylor
Get in touch with Dr. Jim Taylor
https://www.drjimtaylor.com/4.0/
Book Link:
Train Your Mind for Athletic Success
This podcast episode is brought to you by FORM Goggles. Use code ‘EFFORTLESS‘ on checkout to receive 15% off your FORM GOGGLES today.
http://formswim.com/effortless
Affiliate link: form-affiliates.pxf.io/c/3667487/1337646/16166?trafsrc=affiliate
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Mental Hack for Marginal Mental Gains with Dr Jim Taylor appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Welcome to the third and final part of this three-part podcast with Brant Best. We worked together on a product called SwimBETTER by EO, which helps athletes swim faster. Tune in now!
02:50 More isn’t BETTER
05:27 Elbow is too high for too long
10:43 Extreme high elbow catch
13:17 “Ladder” cue
16:28 More episode with Brant coming soon!
Pre-order your SwimBETTER now!
Head to EO’s website and use the code Effortless at checkout, to get your first 12 months free on a single gold license with any handset purchased.
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
Related Podcast:
What Amateurs Can Learn From The Mistakes Of Elite Swimmers with Brant Best
Swim Softer To Go Faster with Brant Best (Part 1 of 3)
Swim Softer To Go Faster with Brant Best (Part 2 of 3)
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Swim Softer To Go Faster with Brant Best (Part 3 of 3) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Brant Best will be joining us for a three-part podcast. We worked together on a product called SwimBETTER by EO, which helps athletes swim faster. This episode will discuss how it’s valuable to be able to quantify data and drills that he loves and doesn’t like.
00:33 Do you have a standard process when looking at the data?
08:38 Force Field
12:14 Should you have more power on one arm if you’re just breathing every two?
13:20 I’m not a big fan of breathing three
14:12 I’ts super valuable to be able to quantify data
17:01 Drill that I love and hate!
20:31 Thumb Drag Drill
SwimBETTER:
https://www.eolab.com/swimbetter
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
Related Podcast:
What Amateurs Can Learn From The Mistakes Of Elite Swimmers with Brant Best
Swim Softer To Go Faster with Brant Best (Part 1 of 3)
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Swim Softer To Go Faster with Brant Best (Part 2 of 3) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Brant Best will be joining us for a three-part podcast. We worked together on a product called SwimBETTER by EO, which helps athletes swim faster. This episode will discuss what he learned from working with elite athletes. Watch out for the next episodes!!
00:58 Canberra Camp
02:27 How To Swim A Good 100 Freestyle At The Elite Level?
05:40 Kyle Chalmers Is A Beast
06:12 Tension Needs To Be Optimal Rather Than Maximal
10:59 EO Swim Better
13:01 Soften Up, To Go Quicker.
16:00 Putting Too Much Force On The Water
19:14 What Is It That We Should Be Focusing On?
SwimBETTER:
https://www.eolab.com/swimbetter
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
Related Podcast: What Amateurs Can Learn From The Mistakes Of Elite Swimmers with Brant Best
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Swim Softer To Go Faster with Brant Best (Part 1 of 3) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Lionel Sanders competes in the Super League Triathlon Better technique that works for age group triathletes.
Join the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/?el=yt-lionel
The post Lionel Sanders Super League Triathlon Swim Review appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
What is stopping you from getting any faster? Tune in to this episode now!
1:52 How You Hold Your Body
3:12 Head Position
3:45 Kick
4:40 Breathing In The Right Position
7:08 Building A House
7:21 Tension
8:41 Not Sighting In The Right Way
10:32 The 5 Core Principles Of Fast Freestyle
Get the 5 Core Principles Of Fast Freestyle course as a member:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post The ‘Single Point Of Failure’ In Your Stroke appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I’ve got John Hancock to join me again on the podcast. He recently returned from having a successful crossing of the Cook Straight and is here today to share his experience and some of the preparations he did for the swim.
00:57 Where did this goal come from?
04:28 What are the preparation that you did?
09:33 17 hours of swimming in one week
12:46 How many Ks a week were you doing?
12:33 It’s a very tidal crossing
17:59 Grateful to have a team of people supporting you
19:51 Covering yourself with grease
21:40 “If the swells on your side then surf across”
26:24 Was there anything that surprised you about the swim?
28:35 All about preparation and execution.
29:10 Surround yourself with people who want you to be successful
29:54 Do you feel like your achievement changed you as a person?
34:14 What’s next for John?
Cook Strait Swim:
https://cookstraitswim.org.nz/
Related Content:40km Across Lake Taupo with John Hancock
English Channel and Cook Strait Legend Philip Rush
What It Takes To Be Successful In Marathon Swimming with Phil Rush
Simple Changes, Big Results with Gary Hurring
What To Do If You Can’t Get Under 1:45/100m with Gary Hurring
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Taking On The Cook Strait with John Hancock appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Carl joins us again on the podcast. He has a background in Exercise Physiology and Pilates but primarily in Functional Movement. In this episode, we will talk about how Carl has helped many swimmers with their pain and injury and understand the root cause of some of the injuries that they’re having.
01:26 What Injuries Do You Usually See Among Swimmers
05:16 Working On The Posture
07:55 Getting Blood Flow To The Injured Part Of Your Body
10:41 “Voltage Is Healing”
12:27 From Hauling To Floating
14:39 Trying Too Hard Puts Tension In The Body
16:17 Swim From Inside Out
18:20 Learn How To Hold Your Body Correctly
18:42 Squatting
20:36 Don’t Brace Too Much In The Pool
24:00 Connection Improves The Whole Mobility
26:29 Get In Touch With Carl Read
More About Carl Reader:
website: https://carlreadercoaching.com/
email: carlwellness@gmail.com
Functional Movement Course
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Stop ‘Hauling’ Yourself Through The Water & Swim With Ease with Carl Reader appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Gwen Jorgenson returns to triathlon in the lead up to the next Olympics, after winning gold in 2016 at Rio. Better technique that works for age group triathletes.
Join the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
The post 3 Technique Secrets From The Olympic Champ appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I will talk about the equipment and pool toys that I recommend to the athletes that I coach.
00:41 Have A Good Pair Of Fins
03:38 Paddles
05:51 Pull Bouy
06:45 Kickboard
07:20 Snorkel
08:15 Noseclip
08:38 Goggles
10:56 Heart Rate Monitor
11:50 Powermeter/Analysis
DMC Fins HERE
Front Swim Snorkel HERE
EneyBuoy2 HERE
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
The post Pool Toys – The Good, Bad and Ugly appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Tim Reed, an Australian coach, and triathlete, who has had multiple Ironman and IM70.3 wins. I wanted to get Tim’s perspective regarding swimming and coaching and discuss the struggles of transitioning from a professional athlete to a full-time coach.
01:15 Biggest Success In Racing
03:30 There Was No Overnight Success
04:51 Connecting With Athletes
06:38 A Powerful Combination
11:02 Pulling Back From Squad
14:13 Having The Evidence/Data
16:50 You Don’t Need To Look Pretty
20:14 Stop Swimming Like Ian Thorpe
27:07 Correct One Thing At A Time
28:00 Swim Like No One Is Watching
29:17 Differences In Technique For People Getting Into A Wetsuit
32:02 Open Water Skills
35:13 Surrounded By Other Swimmers
37:27 Transitioning To A Full-time Coach
43:48 Training Sessions
47:55 What’s Next?
50:02 Get In Touch With Tim Reed!
Contact Tim here:
Instagram
Website
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the video on YouTube:
The post How To Adapt Your Stroke For Triathlons with 70.3 World Champion Tim Reed appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, we have Dr. Jim Taylor, a sports psychologist and author of Train Your Mind for Athletic Success. We will talk about the strategies for dealing with pain and figuring out what your motivations are. Tune in to this episode now.
00:58 Competed In The Super Sprint And Olympic Distance Triathlon
03:03 Strategies For Dealing With Pain
06:02 Exertion Pain And Injury Pain
08:51 Identity Plays A Role In How You Manage Pain
14:32 Discomfort VS Pain And Suffering
17:13 Associating Negative Emotions With Pain
18:51 Pride And Inspiration
21:51 What’s Real Suffering?
23:38 Key Phrase: Long And Loose
26:11 Do A Long Warm-up
28:27 Distractions
30:28 Motivation: Less Ra Ra, More Insight
36:36 Constantly Remind Yourself Of What Your Goals Are
37:11 90% Of Success Is Just Showing Up
39:59 Don’t Look At The End Of The Workout
41:57 Get In Touch with Dr. Jim Taylor
Get in touch with Dr. Jim Taylor
https://www.drjimtaylor.com/4.0/
Want to work with me personally to improve your technique? Join my swim technique coaching here:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post Enjoy Pain And Uncovering What Really Motivates You with Dr Jim Taylor appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I want to have this episode to direct and help people determine what course will help them get better as a swimmer going forwards.
01:13 5-Day Catch Challenge
02:53 The Beginner Freestyle Course
04:25 8-Week Faster Freestyle Cours
8:15 Video Membership
09:08 Monthly Live Call(Inside the membership)
10:17 Stroke Analysis Membership
13:02 The Swim Camp
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post Which Coaching Program Is Right For Me? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Peter Plavec is an ice and marathon swimmer based in Austria. Let’s break down his freestyle technique and see if he can improve.
Improve your stroke with our Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
The post Fix the breathing to fix the catch | Freestyle Technique Analysis appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest in today’s episode is Melissa Hughes from Tasmania. We will talk about her remarkable journey into the world of triathlon.
01:19 I swim like a runner
02:30 Arms are a bit wide
04:17 How many swim sessions a week?
06:08 What is YMCA Drill?
08:43 Building Confidence in the race
11:44 I’ve got to overtake all the heroes!
13:08 Diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis
17:30 Thinking about doing the triathlon
19:19 Do you think you can continue training without doing any long-term damage?
20:29 What are you working towards or focusing on with your swimming?
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the episode on YouTube:
The post [Case Study] 5-mins Faster In An Olympic Distance Triathlon Swim with Melissa Hughes appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
What does showing your armpit have to do with momentum and rhythm in freestyle? Let’s take a look
Take 10 seconds off your 100m pace in the next 3-6 months with the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
The post How To Get Momentum In Freestyle | Show Your (Arm)Pits appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, we are looking at why you should look for the cause, not look at the symptom.
00:22 Itchy eyes?
02:30 We Need To Find The Cause
03:05 Leigh Nugent-Coming soon?
04:02 First Thing To Look At Is the Body Position
05:44 Head Position
05:53 Making Sure The Kick Is Effective
06:04 Rotation
06:13 Great Way To Analyze The Stroke
08:05 We Don’t Often See The Cause
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post A Simple Guide To Finding The Cause Of Your Technique Errors (Not Just The Symptom) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I wanted to talk about a different approach to achieving your goals in today’s episode. It might be something you haven’t heard before, but it can be a helpful way to achieve what you want. Tune in to the episode now!
00:43 Think of your perfect day and write that down
2:56 What does your ideal day look like?
5:39 Atomic Habits: A must read book
Atomic Habits ( Effortless Swimming Podcast #230):
https://effortlessswimming.com/atomic-habits-with-brenton-ford
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post A Different Approach To Achieving Everything You Want In Swimming (And Life) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
How can changing the position of your shoulder make you go from hero to zero with your freestyle catch? Let’s find out!
Freestyle clinics 2023:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
ES Membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
The post High Shoulder…Not High Elbow? | Freestyle Catch appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Let’s take a look and see what Kjell could do to swim faster and be a bit more efficient with the stroke.
5-Day Catch Challenge:
https://effortlessswimming.com/5-day-catch-challenge/
The 5 Core Principles Of Fast Freestyle:
https://effortlessswimming.com/5-core-principles-of-fast-freestyle/
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
The post Do less…to go fast appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, we sat down with Brigetta Hamilton to talk about her impressive improvement over the last 6 months. Brigetta attended one of our clinics in May starting at 2:20 pace per 100. She got her time down to 1:48 and now she is at 1:39. Find out what she did to improve!
00:51 Swimming background
01:17 Were you able to swim comfortably without stopping when you started swimming?
03:02 Does your cycling background help with your swimming?
05:10 When you are working on going faster, what do you usually think?
11:15 Developing Intuition
14:34 Your feel for the water looks so much better
15:59 Rocking side to side and recovery
18:35 What’s your next goal?
20:35 Try the sight and breathe method
21:23 When you relax, you swim better and quicker
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
Stroke Analysis Membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
Form Goggles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the full video on YouTube:
The post [Case Study] 2:20 to 1:39/100m In 6 Months with Brigetta Hamilton appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Ian Thorpe was one of the greatest swimmers to have lived, and this swim at the Sydney 2000 Olympics still gives me the chills. Plus, my analysis of Ian Thorpe’s technique
Make your swimming feel easier, and go fast without the effort: https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/
The post This Still Gives Me The Chills appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Taryn Richardson, an advanced sports dietitian, and a triathlon nutrition specialist. In this episode, we will talk about triathlon and swimming nutrition and what you can do to make better choices to get fitter and healthier.
1:08 What are the common mistakes working with age group triathletes/swimmers
3:58 Coming back to the fundamental things
6:12 Eating before swimming
12:11 Why does swimming make you hungry
14:05 Dietary periodization and why it’s so important
17:39 How individualized are the nutrition plans that you provide for people?
19:27 How to lean up and still maintain energy for training
23:19 Improving Your Eating Habits
29::55 Recovery nutrition
34:35 Lighter is not necessarily better
37:14 Get in touch with Taryn
Contact Taryn here:
Instagram
Website
HOLIDAY SALE:20% off Form Goggles from December 8th to the 20th:
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the video on YouTube:
The post Fuelling For Performance (And How To Avoid Late Night Sugar Binges) with Taryn Richardson appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
8-Week Faster Freestyle Course:
https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
The post 1:35/100m triathlete…but this is costing him 10 seconds appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Matt wants to know what he can do to get under that 2-minute mark, get faster and be more efficient with the stroke.
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
The post Your elbow always drop when you do this appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, we will discuss the best ways to go about improving how you look when you swim.
02:00 The Base Position
03:35 Have The Right Amount Of Rotation
04:48 Keep The Kick Fairly Narrow
05:53 Good Recovery
09:05 Soft Hands
10:20 Good Looking Freestyle Is Never Hurried Or Rushed
11:41 Slow To Fast
12:06 Skinny S Shape
12:31 The Breathing
14:00 The Kick
14:41 Style Is Important
15:36 Visualize Yourself Swimming Like A Pro
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
20% off Form Goggles from December 8th to the 20th:
http://formswim.com/effortless
The post How To Look Good When You Swim appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this video we’re looking at Olympian Kiah Melverton, here she’s swimming at one 12 pace per hundred meters, and she’s making it look really easy.
The post How to look GOOD when you swim FREESTYLE!!! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I wanted to get Victoria Smith, who recently joined the Maldives Camp, to share her swimming improvements over the 12 months. Tune in now!
01:11 What got you into swimming?
9:23 Have there been any frustrations that you’ve experienced with your swimming since you began?
10:48 What helped to make your coordination better?
11:47 Do you come from a dancing background?
13:34 What did you change to have yourself feel stronger in the water?
20:14 What is it that you love about swimming?
23:14 Being Aware Of Your Body
25:37 How long did it take you to get that feeling of being able to hold the water?
27: Did the Maldives camp help improve your open-water swimming?
31:10 What advice can you give to someone who just started swimming?
Follow Victoria on Instagram: @victorialucilleanne
Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/
Stroke Analysis Membership:
https://effortlessswimming.com/stroke-analysis-membership/
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
Form Googles:
http://formswim.com/effortless
Watch the full video on YouTube:
The post [Case Study] 1:28/100m In 12 Months with Victoria Smith appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
So thrilled to have Ironman World Champion Gustav Iden in today’s podcast episode. Tune in now as he shares his inspiring journey toward success! 02:02 What’s changed for you after winning Kona? 03:06 What is about the sport you love? 04:17 How did you manage the front-pack swim after not as well in some races […]
The post Gustav Iden appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I noticed this swimmer is making 3 critical mistakes that are causing him to fatigue quicker and miss out on the most powerful part of his stroke. Access our member’s only content & 5 Core Principles training course: https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/ 5-Day Catch Challenge: https://effortlessswimming.com/5-day-catch-challenge/
The post Ignore this beginner breathing advice 😤 Go straighter to go faster appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Dan Atkins who is the Queensland National Performance Center Head Coach in Australia and has been working with top-end athletes. We will talk about some of Dan’s coaching philosophies and strategies and how they can help everyday swimmers and triathletes. 01:01 Swimming To Triathlon Coaching 03:09 Using Cues, Trigger Words, Or […]
The post Inside High Performance Triathlon with Dan Atkins appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Josh Salley who is based in Wales and has recently completed his first half Ironman. Josh and I have been working for the last couple of months doing some stroke analysis and technique coaching. Tune in to this episode now! 00:49 Swimming Background 02:46 Improving Quickly 03:45 Focused More On Technique […]
The post [Case study] 1:45 to 1:35/100m in a Half Ironman Swim with Josh Salley appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Frank Huisman. He’s a swim coach based in the Netherlands. Tune in to this episode to learn more about becoming a faster and more efficient swimmer. 01:08 Working With Kristian Blummenfelt 01:52 Developed A Wetsuit For Kristian 03:27 What Is Impulse Time? 06:17 Speed Is Determined By Two Major Things 08:49 […]
The post How To Figure Out Your Ideal Cadence And Stroke Length with Frank Huisman appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This is the #1 thing that ruins your flips turns Access our member-only content: https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/ 8-Week Faster Freestyle Course https://effortlessswimming.com/8-week-faster-freestyle-course/
The post Simple cure for fixing flip turns appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
These are three drills that keep popping up when I ask elite swimmers what they do in training Access our member’s only content: https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/ 5-Day Catch Challenge: https://effortlessswimming.com/5-day-catch-challenge/
The post Olympians Freestyle Drills Finally Revealed appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, I will talk about stroke count and how to use it to your advantage to become a faster swimmer. 01:29 What Is A Stroke Count? 04:18 How Can You Use Your Stroke Count To Become A Faster Swimmer? 06:20 How To Reduce Drag And Increase Propulsion 09:43 Best Average Time Across The […]
The post How Stroke Count Can Be Your Secret Weapon To Faster Swimming with Brenton Ford appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I learned these 5 things from the Maldives swim camp, that can improve your swimming. 1:06 Rotation 2:57 Skinny S 4:36 Kick Timing Connection 6:22 Swim More 7:45 The Pit of Discomfort Want to join us next year in the Maldives? (Limited spots available) https://effortlessswimming.com/maldives/
The post 5 things that CHANGED how I coach FREESTYLE appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Gerry Rodrigues is coming back as a guest in today’s episode. He is one of the world’s leading open-water swimming coaches and the founder of Tower 26. We will talk about swimming techniques and tips for triathletes. Tune in now! 01:33 Ironman Kona 03:54 The Game Has Changed 05:06 The Four Key Things 07:56 Blend […]
The post Swim Technique For Triathletes (That Don’t Apply To Pool Swimmers) with Gerry Rodrigues from Tower 26 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
What should you focus on in freestyle to become better? 01:17 – Breathe deep and relax 03:06 – Find your balance 8:08 – Rock, return and align 10:22 – Develop an effective catch and pull 14:30 – Find your rhythm and timing Swimmer: Sharon van Rouwendaal (@svrouwendall on IG) Get the 5 Core Principles Of […]
The post Swim PERFECT freestyle with THESE 5 things appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I wanted to talk about some of the key things I got from the other coaches and swimmers at the Maldives Camp. 01:13 Rotation 03:04 Front Kick Rotation Drill 04:45 S-Shaped Pull 08:39 Front Scull Drill 09:36 Kick Timing And Connection 12:29 Are You Swimming Enough? 14:02 Long-Term Goals 16:01 The Next […]
The post 5 Lessons From The Maldives with Brenton Ford appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Charlie is swimming at 1:30 / 100m, but where can he continue to improve? Change your technique and swim smoother, easier freestyle in the Effortless Swimming membership: https://effortlessswimming.com/training-and-membership-plans/ View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia: https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-stroke-correction-clinics/
The post Reach & Rotation 👍 Catch Up 👎 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Oke Büll. He’s a triathlete located in Germany and recently had some great success in Ironman Copenhagen. We will talk about how he was able to improve his swimming. Tune in to this episode now! 01:00 Getting Started In Triathlon 02:39 Swimming Background 05:15 Ironman Swim Distance 06:43 Breaking Down The […]
The post Breaking The 60-minute Ironman Swim Barrier with Oke Büll appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, my guest is Suzanne Nottage. We will talk about the progress in her swimming over the last couple of years. Tune in now! 00:57 Swimming Background 02:10 Joining Ironman 03:28 When Did You Start To Enjoy Swimming? 04:01 Hang Around With The Right People 07:22 5-Day Catch Challenge 10:19 Go Slow Before […]
The post [Case Study] “I Thought My Watch Was Playing Up” with Suzanne Nottage appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Struggling to make it more than 50m? These three things are causing you to use way more energy than you should. Beginner Freestyle course now available: https://effortlessswimming.com/beginner-freestyle-course/
The post Why Swimming 50m Is Killing You appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I wanted to talk about the five common mistakes I’ve seen from around 6,500 analysis videos I did over the years. Tune in now! 01:34 Breath Timing 02:56 Having The Cue Of Pulling To The Breath 04:30 Over Rotation 05:34 Rocking Side To Side 08:13 Recovery 10:37 Deep Catch 12:40 Head Position […]
The post Lessons From Analysing 6,500 Swimmers with Brenton Ford appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Open water swimming often requires a bit of a different technique if the water isn’t calm and flat. In this video, I’ll show you the two main things that can help you transfer your pool swim times into the open water using a different style of freestyle. Need a proven plan to improve your swimming? […]
The post THIS is why you’re SLOWER in open water appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Excited to have Dr. Jim Taylor back to talk about the mental aspect of the race and some excellent practices for approaching races in a healthy way. 02:43 How To Get Mentally Prepared Before The Race 05:03 Three Key Goals To Follow 06:48 Embrace The Suck 10:56 Physical Intensity 13:05 Music Is A Powerful Mental […]
The post Mental Strategies To Race Strong From Start to Finish with Dr. Jim Taylor appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In the past, I’ve taught freestyle breathing as ‘split vision’…where you NEED to keep the head low in the water as you breathe. That’s true to a certain extent, but you shouldn’t breathe TOO low if it creates these other issues in your stroke. Need a proven plan to improve your swimming? Get the 8-Week […]
The post I Taught This WRONG For YEARS | Freestyle Breathing appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s podcast episode, I want to talk about a book I recently listened to on Audible, The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. I wanted to share some learnings from this book that I thought were really good. I hope you enjoy this episode! 00:23 The Comfort Crisis 00:48 Problem Creep 02:44 Remind Ourselves To […]
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Carl Reader is joining us again in today’s podcast episode. He is a Functional Movement Coach and has a background in Exercise Physiology and Pilates. We will talk about the importance of upper and lower body connections and an exercise that can help you achieve better posture and mobility. 03:56 One Of The Best Ways […]
The post The One Exercise That Solves Most Aches And Pains with Carl Reader appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Dave Halantas. He came to our clinic in 2019 and went through our 5- Day Catch Challenge course. We will talk about what he’s changed over the last 12 months to see a big improvement in his swim times in the Ironman swim distance. 01:29 Swimming Background 02:58 Shoulder Rotation 04:45 […]
The post 7 Mins Off An Ironman Swim with Dave Halantas appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Kate Galliett, who has a degree in Exercise Science and has been a strength and fitness coach for 21 years. In this episode, we will talk about ways to achieve an unbreakable body. Tune in now! 01:13 Got A Degree In Exercise Science 02:47 What Does An Unbreakable Body Mean? 03:20 […]
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Summer McIntosh is a 15-year-old from Canada who recently broke the 4-min barrier in the 400m freestyle. In this video, we look at her freestyle technique and how she swims so fast at such a young age. Access our technique courses as an Effortless Swimming member to make your swimming become effortless, no matter where […]
The post Could This 15 Year Old Be The Next Michael Phelps? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, my guest is Dr. Jim Taylor, who specializes in the psychology of sport and is the author of Train Your Mind for Athletic Success. We will talk about the mental side of sport, swimming, and triathlon. Tune in now! 01:38 Helping Athletes To Be Mentally Prepared 03:18 Is Mental Training Similar To […]
The post Train Your Mind For Success In The Water with Dr. Jim Taylor appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Gary Wheeler from New South Wales. He has gone through our online courses and seen great results! We will talk about his progress over the last couple of months. 00:48 Joining The 8-Week Faster Freestyle Course 01:51 Swimming Background 04:41 Going Through The Course For The Second Time! 06:15 Finding The […]
The post Can You Really Get Faster As You Get Older? with Garry Wheeler appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The way a learner driver holds the steering wheel versus a P-Plater can be the difference between a poor catch…and a high elbow catch. This video explains why. Get the 5 Day Catch Challenge and take 5 seconds off your 100m times: https://effortlessswimming.com/5-day-catch-challenge/
The post How Driving Like An 18 Year Old Can Help Your Catch appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Bronwen Stacey who attended one of our freestyle clinics a few years ago. We will talk about the progress she has made since doing the clinic. Tune in to the episode now! 00:55 Three Sessions A Week 01:54 What Is A Towel Session? 03:30 Bronze Medallion Course 05:23 Noosa Triathlon 07:34 […]
The post [Case Study] The Power Of Consistency And Being Technique-Focused with Bronwen Stacey appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s podcast episode, we are talking about five ways that you can get into a flow state while you swim. 00:24 Why It’s Important 02:06 Eliminate Distractions 02:32 Take Off Your Watch 03:42 Get Into It With A Clear Mind 04:09 Box Breathing 05:00 Meditation 05:17 Journaling 06:57 Listening To Music 08:28 Single-Task Focused […]
The post 5 Ways To Get Into Flow State When You Swim with Brenton Ford appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This episode is a repost from a podcast that I recorded on the Get Fast Podcast with Jordy and Gerard Donnelly from TriVelo Coaching. Check out this episode now! 01:02 Who Is Brenton Ford? – Effortless Swimming 02:47 The Most Common Mistake Triathletes Need To Fix 04:30 Why You Should Aim To Be “front quadrant” […]
The post How To Fix Your Swim Stroke appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
David Popovici claimed the 100m and 200m freestyle at the 2022 FINA World Champs in Budapest. Let’s take a look at his freestyle technique and some of the keys to his incredible speed and efficiency. Get the 8 Week Faster Freestyle course inside the membership here: https://effortlessswimming.com/member/join/
The post He made it look easy! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Kenneth Graham. We’ve been working together on a product called SwimBETTER by EO, which helps swimmers swim faster. Check out this episode now! 00:42 Working As A Sports Scientist 02:19 MAD System 03:24 What Is Exciting About The SwimBETTER? 04:36 Producing Force At The Right Time And Direction 07:09 Refine Your […]
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Grab your pair of Form Goggles and save $15 through this link: http://formswim.com/effortless See our full review of FORM Goggles here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVglpawl9Bw
The post Are FORM Goggles New Training Plans Worth Following? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Kelly Slater and Trevor Hendy were talking about the difference between thinking something is ‘hard’ vs ‘easy in a recent doco-series. In this video, we’ll look at the clip and see how it relates to making your swimming faster and easier. Watch the full episode of ‘Lost Tapes’ featuring Kelly Slater:
The post Kelly Slater’s Mental Trick Will Help You Swim Faster appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I’ve got Ioannis Aliazis on today’s podcast episode. He has recently been through the 8 Week Faster Freestyle course and is here to share his improvements over the last couple of months. Ioannis is also a freediving instructor, and we will talk a little bit about some of the crossovers from freediving to swimming. 01:01 […]
The post [Case Study] How A Freediver Went From 2:00 to 1:30/100m with Ioannis Aliazis appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The movement of the catch in your freestyle is a weird one. It’s a bit unnatural and can take some specific drills to correct it. One thing that’s common across all good swimmers though, is their upper arm and elbow do THIS when getting the catch. Take 5 Seconds Off Your 100m Pace (5 Day […]
The post This Could (Finally) Change Your Catch appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today, my guest is Anthony McDonald, who has been going through some of our online courses and made such incredible improvements over the last couple of months. Tune in to this episode now! 01:01 There’s Always Room For Improvement 01:34 Swimming Background 04:45 Focusing On One Or Two Things At A Time 07:38 Going Through […]
The post [Case Study] 8:25 to 7:13 for a 400m Time Trial with Anthony McDonald appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I’ve been working with a few new swimmers inside our stroke analysis coaching program who were over-rotating when they breathed. We found out that it was because they were doing THIS wrong.
The post To Breathe Here…You Need To Make Sure You Do THIS appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Brant Best. We’ve been working together on a product called SwimBETTER by EO, which helps swimmers swim faster. Check out this episode now! 00:22 The SwimBETTER 02:10 Working With Elite Athletes 04:34 Too Much Length Is Not Good 07:45 Overreaching 13:04 Why Your Hips Need To Be In The Right Position […]
The post What Amateurs Can Learn From The Mistakes Of Elite Swimmers with Brant Best appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Jim is a triathlete training for Ironman events. In this video, we take a look at what he can do to swim faster, improve his body position and make his swimming a whole lot more fun. 00:58 – Head position 02:05 – Posture (touch the inner thighs) 03:52 – Body line 04:51 – Fixing the […]
The post 3 Reasons Your Legs Sink appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Glad to have Dan Smith back in today’s podcast episode! Dan is a former Olympic swimmer and now the founder of Worldwide Speaking. Join us as he shares his journey in helping parents and athletes all over the world. 00:29 It’s A Fantastic Video 01:46 Retiring From Swimming Sport 05:59 Helping Parents And Athletes 09:06 […]
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In today’s episode, I wanted to get Scott Harpham from New Zealand to share his swimming improvements over the last couple of years. We talked about going back to fundamentals, consistency, and more. 00:53 Swimming Background 03:08 Starting Training 06:04 Finding Effortless Swimming 08:05 8 Week Faster Freestyle Course 09;23 Seeing A Big Difference 13:11 […]
The post [Case Study] 2:00/100m to 1:20/100m with Scott Harpham appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
One of my favourite movie scene is the surfing scene from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, where Paul Rudd is teaching Jason Segel how stand up on a surfboard. Some of the advice can actually be taken into the pool to improve your swimming.
The post “Do Less” appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
So excited to have Eney Jones back again as our guest in today’s podcast episode. Eney is an open-water swim champion and a former triathlete. In this episode, we’ll talk about coaching, drills, split tempo, and ways to swim faster. 01:22 Online Analysis 05:43 Power Phase – Power Diamond 07:18 Your Catch Is Dependent On […]
The post Unusual Ways To Swim Faster with Eney Jones appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Caeleb Dressel was recently on the Graham Bensinger show and was asked about why he watches videos of animals. The answer…it’s a good one. And it relates to why relaxing is the key to swimming faster.
The post The Fastest Swimmer In The World Says RELAX (Like A Cheetah) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
If you don’t coordinate your breathing and catch…your entire stroke can be impacted. That’s why your breathing timing is the bottleneck to good technique for many swimmers we work with.
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The post If You Swim With A 2-Beat Kick (Or Trying To)… Do This appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
There’s to important things to do in your catch and pull (aside from your high elbow catch). That’s elevating the wrist and facing the palm backwards. These two things will contribute significantly more to your forwards propulsion than if you drop the wrist and turn the palm inwards.
The post Precision Beats Power | Elevate The Wrist & Face The Palm Backwards appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The easiest cue for timing your breath in freestyle? Getting the timing of your breathing correct in freestyle allows your stroke to maintain good rhythm and coordination. If you breathe late, this throws a lot of other parts of your stroke out.
The post The Easy Way To Time Your Breathing In Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Should your fingers be together or apart when you swim? A recent study found an angle of 10 degrees between your fingers (between your pinky and index finger) creates the most ‘hold’.
The post Fingers together or apart? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode of Feedback Friday we look at a swimmer Keith, who was looking for tips with his freestyle. In this video, we cover: – CUE: Posting the letter – When bring your head back down after a breath – What’s causing 41% more drag – Reach…but not too far
The post What To Do When Your Legs Sink & Breathing Is Difficult appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Craig Bryan attended a clinic with us in early 2021 and came in for a check-up 12 months later. He’d improved from 1:59/100m for a 2km time trial down to 1:41/100m over those 12 months. In this video, I’ll show you the main things he changed to improve his speed.
The post Before & After Effortless Swimming appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Florian Wellbrock (Olympic champion) recently posted a video to his Instagram where he was swimming in a flume. Let’s take a look at what make’s his freestyle so fast.
The post flumin’ perfection 🏊 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I will dive into a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear. I wanted to explain some of the concepts that I found incredibly helpful for achieving the goals that I set myself. 00:46 Maldives Swim Camp 02:31 Understanding How Habits Are Formed 03:54 Favorite Quotes From The Book 05:19 Habits Need […]
The post Atomic Habits with Brenton Ford appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today, my guest is Paul Mackinnon, a professional running technique coach who helped many runners and triathletes worldwide. We discussed running cues, how to improve your running skill, and more about coaching. I hope you enjoy this episode! 01:16 Coaching Athletes 03:07 Nike’s latest shoes 05:54 Running Cues 11:13 Common Mistakes For The Average Runner […]
The post The Effortless Swimming Of Running with Paul McKinnon (The Balanced Runner) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I’ve got another guest on today’s podcast. He is someone who I started working with recently to help improve his swimming, and he’s gone from around 205 pace per 100 and down to the low 140s. I hope you enjoy it! 01:31 Swimming Background 04:14 Started Triathlon 05:25 I Found Effortless Swimming 06:38 5 Day […]
The post [Case Study] 2:05 to 1:40/100m in 4 months with Felipe Telles appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today, my guest is Katherine Starr, a former Olympian, and Commonwealth Games athlete. Katherine advocates for a safe and abused-free environment for athletes. Join us as she shares her incredible and inspiring story. 00:55 Becoming an Olympic Athlete 9:00 Not Speaking Up 14:54 I Started Missing Practice 16:47 Athlete Integrity Coaching 20:54 Conflict Delayed Is […]
The post Making Good From Bad with Katherine Starr appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Carl Reader is coming back as our guest in today’s podcast episode. We will talk about case studies of swimmers dealing with body pain and the best way to help them. 01:30 Neck and Shoulder Pain 04:56 Building That Core Strength 06:54 Body Awareness 09:27 Hamstring Injury 12:47 Rock And Roll Movement 14:33 Knee Injury […]
The post Swimming (And Moving) Pain Free with Carl Reader appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I wanted to get Matthew Tones on the podcast to talk about how the 5-day catch challenge and 8-week faster freestyle course helped him get from 2:20 to 1:22 for 100 yards. 00:55 Swimming Background 03:10 Training Sessions 06:30 Started The 5 Day Catch Challenge 08:16 Immediate Results 10:15 Better Entry 11:02 […]
The post [Case Study] From 2:20 to 1:22 For 100 Yards with Matthew Tones appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I have a swimmer whom I worked with over the last few months. I have done some stroke analysis and coaching together for a while and he has been getting some good results I thought that’s a good thing to talk about in the podcast. 01:18 Swimming Background 05:41 I Was Getting […]
The post Learning To Skate In The Water” with Scott Roth appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today, my guest is Abbie Fish, who is the founder and technique coach at Swim like A. Fish. In this episode, we talked about coaching kids, adults, and some things that will help them become more successful and better swimmers later on. 01:20 Swimming Background 04:05 What I learned When I Began Coaching 06:27 Coaching […]
The post Start In The Middle with Abbie Fish appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I was recently a guest on Kieser’s Healthy to 100 podcasts to talk about exciting topics regarding training, swimming equipment, and much more. I hope you enjoy it! 01:59 Swimming Equipment Must-Haves 04:48 Get Yourself A Good Wetsuit 07:20 Buoyancy Shorts 10:37 Training Sessions: What You Need To Know! 19:43 Training Mistakes For Swimmers 23:20 […]
The post Back to Basics with Brenton Ford (Kieser Podcast: Healthy to 100) PART 2 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I wanted to get Matthew Tones on the podcast to talk about how the 5-day catch challenge and 8-week faster freestyle course helped him get from 2:20 to 1:22 for 100 yards.
00:55 Swimming Background
03:10 Training Sessions
06:30 Started The 5 Day Catch Challenge
08:16 Immediate Results
10:15 Better Entry
11:02 Feel For The Water
12:05 Swimming With A Purpose
18:23 Training For A Triathlon
21.09 Gold Coast Open Water Swimming Club
21:54 8 Week Faster Freestyle Course
23:48 Swimming Knowledge
26:08 Power Diamond
32:27 What’s Next?
Therabody
Check out the Effortless Swimming membership for online coaching options.
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia.
The post [Case Study] From 2:20 to 1:22 For 100 Yards with Matthew Tones appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I have a swimmer whom I worked with over the last few months. I have done some stroke analysis and coaching together for a while and he has been getting some good results I thought that’s a good thing to talk about in the podcast.
01:18 Swimming Background
05:41 I Was Getting In-shape Aerobically But I wasn’t Getting Faster
07:36 I Wanted To Be More Effortless
11:45 Spinning And Slipping
14:34 “Think Of It As Skating”
22:56 Awareness
28:12 Pulling Too Hard Too Fast
31:10 Catch and Pull, Comin Under The Body
35:13 There Are So Much More To Learn
Form Goggles
https://www.formswim.com/?sscid=b1k5_hkrgn&
Check out the Effortless Swimming membership for online coaching options:
https://effortlessswimming.com/member/membership/
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
https://effortlessswimming.com/freestyle-clinics
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The post Learning To “Skate In The Water” with Scott Roth appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Florian Wellbrock (Olmpic champion) recently posted a video to his Instagram where he was swimming in a flume. Let’s take a look at what make’s his freestyle so fast.
The post flumin’ perfection appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
There’s to important things to do in your catch and pull (aside from your high elbow catch). That’s elevating the wrist and facing the palm backwards. These two things will contribute significantly more to your forwards propulsion than if you drop the wrist and turn the palm inwards.
The post Precision Beats Power | Elevate The Wrist & Face The Palm Backwards appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The easiest cue for timing your breath in freestyle? Getting the timing of your breathing correct in freestyle allows your stroke to maintain good rhythm and coordination. If you breathe late, this throws a lot of other parts of your stroke out.
The post The Easy Way To Time Your Breathing In Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Should your fingers be together or apart when you swim? A recent study found an angle of 10 degrees between your fingers (between your pinky and index finger) creates the most ‘hold’.
The post Fingers together or apart? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today, my guest is Abbie Fish, who is the founder and technique coach at Swim like A. Fish. In this episode, we talked about coaching kids adults and some things that will help them become more successful and better swimmers later on.
01:20 Swimming Background
04:05 What I learned When I Began Coaching
06:27 Coaching Relationship is Important
11:04 Keeping It Simple As Possible
13:00 Starting With Your Bodyline
19:51 Breathing
26:10 Ironman Training
31:52 What Should A Beginner Swimmer Learn
38:51 Push Yourself
41:24 What’s next?
Swim Like A. Fish
Form Goggles
Check out the Effortless Swimming membership for online coaching options.
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia.
The post Start In The Middle with Abbie Fish appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I was recently a guest on Kieser’s Healthy to 100 podcasts to talk about exciting topics regarding training, swimming equipment, and much more. I hope you enjoy it!
01:59 Swimming Equipment Must-Haves
04:48 Get Yourself A Good Wetsuit
07:20 Buoyancy Shorts
10:37 Training Sessions: What You Need To Know!
19:43 Training Mistakes For Swimmers
23:20 Doing Drills
27:27 Breathing
Kieser
Kieser Podcast Episodes
Form Goggles
Check out the Effortless Swimming membership for online coaching options:
View our freestyle clinic schedule around Australia:
The post Back to Basics with Brenton Ford (Kieser Podcast: Healthy to 100) PART 2 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I want to talk about five things that helped me break out of the swimming rut. For the last three months or so, since coming to the pool from our recent lockdowns, it’s taking me ages to get back, much longer than what it had in the past. I want to share […]
The post 5 Things That Helped Me Break Out Of A Rut In My Swimming appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Craig Bryan. A year ago, he attended our clinic, and recently, I had the chance to do another swim analysis with his swimming and saw a huge improvement. I got him on the podcast to talk about the improvement that he made and what he did to 18 seconds off his […]
The post Case Study: What’s Possible In 12 Months with Craig Bryan appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is the Queen Of English Channel, Chloe McCardel who has successfully swam across the English Channel for a record-breaking 44th time. Join us as Chloe talk about her experience in achieving this record-breaking feat. 01:47 Keeping Eye On The Price02:45 Has It Got Any Easier?04:28 Unsuccessful Crossing06:15 More Channel Crossings?08:04 Last Swim13:43 […]
The post The Queen Of English Channel with Chloe McCardel appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
On this episode, I was recently a guest on Kieser’s Healthy to 100 podcasts. I was a guest there for two episodes. I thought it would be great to publish it in our own podcast because I think you will thoroughly enjoy the things we talked about in this podcast. It’s pretty much going to […]
The post Back to Basics with Brenton Ford (Kieser Podcast: Healthy to 100) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Enrico races half ironman distance events and is aiming to swim quicker than 1:40/100m pace for 1900m. This is an analysis I did for him which looked at the key technique changes I believe will help him swim faster.
The post 1:40/100m For 1.9km | Triathlete Swim Technique Analysis appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Chris Natterer from Ultraworking. He is a Lead Product Manager at Ultraworking.com. In this episode, Chris will talk about what we can do to be more productive to make sure we stick to habits and also to talk about nutrition as well. All of these things tie in really well in […]
The post How To Create Sticky Habits And Avoid Wasting Your Time with Chris Natterer appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Aidan Booth who is over at New Zealand. Aidan mentioned in one of his emails that he hit a PB on his hundred freestyle after going through the 8-week Faster Freestyle Course. Listen as Aidan shares his experience and how he broke the 1:15 Barrier. 00:51 Goal3:11 Power Diamond4:33 Stroke Rate6:38 […]
The post Case Study: Breaking The 1:15 Barrier in A 100m Freestyle with Aidan Booth appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
One of the common things that lead to tight upper traps after swimming and shoulder pain can be where your shoulder is during the catch. In this video, we look at being near your ears vs near your cheek
The post Don’t Cover Your Ears | How To Fix Shoulder Pain And Tight Upper Traps appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In the last 12 years creating Youtube videos I’ve had two strokes that have received a huge amount of feedback from people. Dan Smith’s easy 1:10 100m free and Lukasz Wojt’s Ironman Swim. Let’s take a look Lukasz Wojt’s stroke from underwater and see what makes him so fast. Join the 5 day catch […]
The post The Stroke That Broke The Internet appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Michael Riber. I contacted him a couple of weeks ago because I would love to have him on the podcast to talk about his improvement after finishing the 5-Day Catch Challenge. Enjoy 00:54 Swimming Background09:37 Swimming Injuries10:56 Accept What You Are And Do Something About It16:17 Sky Diving And Swimming18:09 Improvement […]
The post Case Study: Wiping 1-min Off A 100m Time Trial with Michael Riber appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My Guest today is Zac Turner, he is a physio at Kieser Australia. I have met Zac through a clinic that I was running in Melbourne, he invited me to try Kieser Gym that he worked at. I have been going there for a couple of months now, I have really enjoyed it, got a […]
The post A Different Approach To Strength Training with Zac Turner appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Marquest joins us in this podcast episode to talk about his early struggles when he started swimming. From barely finishing 50 yards to completing 1000 yards without stopping. Marquest shares his experiences, what he’s been through to achieve this. Enjoy 01:02 Swimming Background9:00 Doing Half Ironman09:30 I Gotta Start With Something16:52 But Swimming25:53 Signing Up […]
The post From Gassed Out At 50 Yards To Swimming 1000 Without Stopping with Marquest Meeks appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Ari Klau and he is a professional triathlete who started only at the beginning of this year. He essentially came from no swimming background at all and he is gotten to a point now where he swimming very well for someone who doesn’t have a background in swimming. His background is […]
The post Starting From Scratch with Ari Klau appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
VIEW COURSE
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The post Gauging Your Gears When Swimming appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Olympic gold medalist in the 200m and 400m free, Ariarne Titmus recently posted this underwater footage to her Instagram. In this video I’ll break down each part of her stroke, as we uncover seven lessons from her freestyle technique. Looking to improve your own swimming? Access our 8 Week Faster Freestyle course here:https://effortlessswimming.com/member/membership Take our […]
The post 7 Technique Lessons From An Olympic Gold Medalist appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is David Tilbury-Davis. You might know him, you might not. He is the former coach of Lionel Sanders, he coaches a number of professional triathletes, he is one of the most highly successful, highly experienced triathlon coaches out there at the moment. He has been coaching for the last 26 years, he […]
The post Lessons From The Top with David Tilbury-Davis appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Ironman South Africa had a wild swim, with strong winds and swell pushing into Nelson Mandela Bay. The swim course was shortened to account for the challenging conditions. Access our ‘Art Of Triathlon Swimming’ course here:https://effortlessswimming.com/member/membership 5 Day Catch Challenge:https://www.effortlessswimming.coach/catchchallenge/
The post Ironman South Africa Was WILD appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this analysis, we’ll look at James, a triathlete who’s qualified for World’s in 70.3 distance. He’s currently swimming a 31-min half IM and a 1:03 full distance. 8 Week Faster Freestyle course:https://www.effortlessswimming.coach/8wffc-checkout/ The 5 Core Principles of Fast Freestyle:https://effortlessswimming.com/5-core-principles-of-fast-freestyle/
The post Breaking Down An Age Group Triathlete’s Stroke appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Phil Clayton. Phil was a professional Ironman, Surf Ironman Competitor from 1992 to 2004. In 2000, he won the World Ironman Championships. He has a lot of experience as a Surf Ironman Coach and as a swim coach. His main thing is helping people get comfortable, get experience to become open […]
The post Uncovering The Magic Of Ocean Swimming with Phil Clayton appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is a fellow coach, a competitor, a triasthlete who has done a huge amount of racing. He has done one of the longer distance triathlon that there is, the Ultraman. 01:50 Competition/ Coaching Background03:58 Training From Ironman To Ultraman06:37 Not Too Much Running07:28 Swim Training08:33Swim Techniques09:59 Open Water Swimming Skills15:07 Coaching Triathletes17:45 […]
The post Preparing For An Ultraman Event with John McCann appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is an elite athlete who won an incredible 5 World Championships is paddle boarding and holds the course record for the Molokai to Ohau race in Hawaii. Won his first full Ironman series in 2018 and the Coolangatta Gold Ironman in 2019. Join us as Matt talks about his training sessions, visions […]
The post Keeping Your Cool In 10ft Surf with Matt Bevilacqua appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Alex from AB Physiology. Take a listen as Alex talks about the importance of breathing, share some breathing exercises and how we should prioritize exhale. 04:32 Strategies Used To Help People Stay Calm06:44 Level OF Awareness Towards Breathing09:39 Breathing Exercise14:28 Breathing In A Highly Stressed Situation16:16 Prioritize Your Exhale19:40 CO2 Tolerance29:59 […]
The post It’s All About The Exhale with Alex Butchies appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Over the past few months, I’ve worked with triathlete Chris Naimoli, and in this video, we’ll look at some technique changes he’s made to help him break the 30-min barrier in a half IM swim. These changes are often subtle but when you look at the videos closely, you can see how small adjustments can […]
The post (Almost) Invisible Changes, But The Clock Doesn’t Lie… appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest is Olympian Tristan Hollard. I wanted to get him into the podcast to talk about his experience in qualifying, his training and racing at the Olympics. 01:42 Holy Hollard!!05:36 Reaching The Potential04:01 Developing Discipline And Routine07:56 It’s Not Easy09:43 It Changed My Life Completely11:51 Is This What’s Best For Me?14:14 Changing The Attitude […]
The post What It Really Takes To Be An Olympian with Tristan Hollard appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Irene Cats from Swimfitforlife based up in far north Queensland. I find a lot of similarities between me and Irene as a coach, we normally coach adults, and a lot of adults that haven’t got any swimming backgrounds or adults who just learned how to swim. In this podcast, I want […]
The post The Beginner’s Guide To Freestyle with Irene Cats appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Seeing some incredible improvement with his swimming time, I want to get Chris into the podcast to get his take on what’s made the difference for him and with experiences like this, a lot of listeners will surely have a lot of takeaways that could help them in their swimming journey. 01:36 Swimming Background04:14 Training […]
The post Cracking The 30-minute Half Ironman Swim with Chris Naimoli appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I have been working with Chris for a little bit over a year and recently had a good result in his Ironman swim. I thought it would really good to get him into the podcast to talk about what he has done to improve his swimming. 01:09 Swimming Background02:40 Swimming In The Dark04:18 Reluctant To […]
The post Getting Beyond 1:45 per 100 with Chris Georgeson appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
When you find yourself struggling to reduce your stroke count, this drill will help you fix an important part of your freestyle technique. Get the 8 Week Faster Freestyle course here: https://effortlessswimming.com/member/membership/ Chapters: 0:18 What’s the problem? 0:35 The fastest point in your stroke 1:05 Slide and glide drill 1:30 The rubber band effect 2:10 […]
The post Use This To Reduce Your Stroke Count appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Prescot Balch. Prescot was recently featured in one of our YouTube videos where we are looking at how can someone can go from 2:10 minutes per hundred down to 1:30. I want to get him into the podcast to talk about his experience and frustrations when it comes to open water […]
The post [Case Study] What To Do When Your Open Water Times Are Slower Than Your Pool Times with Prescott Balch appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Our guest today is Ben Kent who had recently made some big improvements with his swimming time. I like to get people who has gone through some of our programs and mage improvements just to show that it is possible and with the right focus and know how you can really make changes to your […]
The post How One Stroke Change Lead To A 16 Seconds PB with Ben Kent appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Our guest today is Neil Agius who recently broke the World Record for the Longest Non-Stop Swim in the Ocean which is 125km over 52 hours. Join me as Neil talks about his incredible swim. 01:53 After The Swim02:47 How Much Time To Train And Prepare For The Big Swim03:33 Week Structure/Scheduling04:16 Managing Emotions And […]
The post 52 hours and 125km (Breaking The World Record For The Longest Non-Stop Ocean Swim) with Neil Agius appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today, we are talking about the 5th and final Core Principle of Fast Freestyle: find your rhythm and timing. 00:36 The Dancing Part Of Freestyle01:13 Kick Timing04:35 Use Different Types Of Kick10:33 Serape Effect13:35 Hand Speed14:07 Split Tempo17:54 Drills19:22 8 Week Faster Freestyle Course Join the 5 Day Catch ChallengeJoin the Effortless Swimming MembershipEffortless Swimming […]
The post The 5 Core Principles Of Fast Freestyle (#5 – Find Your Rhythm And Timing) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, we will be discussing the core principle number four of Fast Freestyle, which is developing an effective catch and pull. 01:40 No Need To Overpower The Catch03:07 Teaching The Four Key Positions04:00 Start Of The Catch06:00 High Elbow Catch07:35 Power Diamond Position10:20 Exit Of The Stroke11:36 YMCA Drill Progression14:38 More Drills To […]
The post The 5 Core Principles Of Fast Freestyle (#4 – Develop An Effective Catch And Pull) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today, we are talking about the third core principle of Fast freestyle which is Rock, Return And Align. 00:36 Rock v.s. Rolling02:15 Return03:24 Correct Entry06:08 Align Join the 5 Day Catch Challenge:Join the Effortless Swimming membership:Effortless Swimming Freestyle Clinic
The post The 5 Core Principles Of Fast Freestyle (#3-Rock, Return And Align) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode we’re looking at Core Principle Number 2. This principle is all about minimizing drag. Here are the three things that we covered on this principle. 01:46 Proud Posture05:06 Taut Core9:00 Effective Kick The 5 Core Principles Of Fast Freestyle:https://effortlessswimming.com/5-core-principles-of-fast-freestyle/ Join the 5 Day Catch Challenge:Join the Effortless Swimming membership:Effortless Swimming Freestyle Clinic
The post The 5 Core Principles Of Fast Freestyle (#2 Find Your Balance) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
01:45 Use Your Diaphragm02:29 Breathing Exercises Out Of The Water03:42 Box Breathing04:04 Relax Your Chest And Upper Back05:38 Having The Right Posture06:52 Letting Go When You Exhale The 5 Core Principle Of Fast Freestyle:Join the 5 Day Catch Challenge:Join the Effortless Swimming membership:Effortless Swimming Freestyle Clinic
The post The 5 Core Principle Of Fast Freestyle (#1 Breathe Deep And Relax) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Frank Sole who is a fellow coach from Arizona and the author of “The Five ‘B’ To A Succesful Triathlon Swim. Reading through his book, I found so many similarities about how we coach. I want to get him to the podcast because I think there will some good discussion about […]
The post The Five ‘B’ Method To A Succesful Triathlon Swim with Frank Sole appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Simon Hearn, who is a professional triathlete whom I’ve known for a couple of years now. He turned pro in the last two years and I want to get him in the podcast to talk about that journey and a little bit about his journey in swimming. 01:49 Start Of Triathlon […]
The post Patience And The Power Of Long Term Thinking with Simon Hearn appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Nic Owens who is based in Sydney. Nic mentioned that he has been stuck with his time for over a year and now recently has made a significant improvement with his time. I want to get him into the podcast so that he can share what he did to achieve this […]
The post CASE STUDY: Stuck At The Same Speed For 4 Years Then Wiping 10 Seconds Off In One Month with Nic Owens appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Brett Hawke. Brett is a former Australian swimmer, two-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games medalist. He has competed and coached at the elite level and has a number of athletes who did very well at the recent Olympics. In this episode, Brett talks about his coaching, as well as some of the […]
The post An Insider’s Look At Competing And Coaching At An Olympic Level with Brett Hawke appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Kiah Melverton who has just returned from Tokyo. She recently placed 6th in the 800m and the 1500m Freestyle. Join us as she talks about her experience during the trial and leading up to the Olympics. 1:33 Racing With No Crowd4:31 Leading To Trials5:40 5 Weeks Between Trials And Olympics6:59 Is […]
The post How To Train And Race Distance Freestyle with Olympian Kiah Melverton appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Joining us again is Carl Reader. He has a background in Exercise Physiology and Pilatesbut primarily working in Functional Movement. We recently created a course together which is Functional Movement for swimmers. In this course, Carl teaches you how to do some of the primary movements correctly that is going to help you as a […]
The post Functional Movement For Swimmers With Carl Reader appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Joining us in this podcast is Brad Beer who is an APA Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist, Founder of POGO Physio, best-selling author of ‘You CAN Run Pain-Free!’, podcast host of The Physical Performance Show, and also an experienced runner and triathlete. 1:08 Working with Elite Athletes2:28 Common Trend in Injuries Among Athletes5:05 Avoiding Injuries When […]
The post What Is Causing Your Persistent Shoulder Pain (And How To Fix It) with Brad Beer appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
rAmy recently did the Cairns Ironman. She had a pretty big PB. She went from 1:18 down to 1:09. I invited her to the podcast to chat about what she did to make such a big improvement on her swimming speed. 01:05 What Inspired You To Work On Your Swimming02:26 Take Away From The Effortless […]
The post Wiping 9 Minutes From Your Ironman Swim Time With Amy Ryan appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Julie McDonald is one of Australia’s most celebrated Swimmers. She’s competed in 2 Commonwealth Games and 2 Olympics. Julie held the Commonwealth Record for the 800m freestyle for 21 years, the longest standing record for any Australian. Join me as Julie talks about her experience competing in the Olympics. 00:46 Exciting Swimming Events Going On06:00 […]
The post The Highs And Lows Of Being An Olympian with Julie McDonald appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Abe Goldberg has recently been through the 5-Day Catch Challenge. He knocked 7 seconds per hundred of his 1000 yeard time trial. I thought it would be great to get him on so that he can share what he changed about his stroke and about his swimming because I think it’s going to be relevant […]
The post How A Few Small Changes To His Technique Wiped 70 Seconds From His 1000TT with Abe Goldberg appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
David Popovici recently broke the world junior record for 100m freestyle in a time of 47.30.
The post 16 Year Old Breaks 100m Freestyle World Record! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Sam Laidlow who is considered one of the best triathletes in France today. He is born in the UK and was raised in French Pyrénées. Join us as Sam talks about his training, beliefs, and goals. 00:46 Working Hard And Working Smart01:59 Dad As A Coach03:39 Swimming 3X A Week05:22 Big […]
The post How To Beat Jan Frodeno Out OF The Water With Sam Laidlow appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Why A High Elbow Catch Isn’t ‘High’ :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAUD90-64CI
The post Recover Like This! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, I am chatting with Phil Rush, who has the fastest double and triple crossing of the English Channel. In this episode, we chat about a number of things including how can you get better at adapting to the cold, the type of training that you need to be doing if you are […]
The post What It Takes To Be Successful In Marathon Swimming with Phil Rush appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Peter Bloor from Vietnam. I invited him on the podcast to talk about the impressive results he has observed after day two of the ‘5 Day Catch Challenge’. He shared about what he had changed and did to make such an improvement. 1:00 Swimming Background3:35 Did the ‘5 Day Catch Challenge’ […]
The post 9 Seconds Faster Per 100m with Peter Bloor appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Jeff Grace from Swimming Specific Yoga. Jeff has been in the podcast before. Now he is coming back to talk more about body awareness, mobility. preparation and many more. 02:26 Moving Better With Yoga04:55 Body Awareness in Overhead Movements06:55 Thoracic Mobility08:18 Increasing Thoracic Spine Mobility12:36 Rock Not Roll 13:21 Cross-Body Connections15:05 […]
The post How To Move Better On Land (For Better Technique In The Water) with Jeff Grace appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Bevan Mckinnon. He is a coach at Fitter Coaching and he hosts a podcast called Fitter Radio. Bevan coaches multiple pro triathletes who have won several Ironman and 70.3 Distance Events. He has also won the Age Group World Championships in Kona and other long course events. In this episode, we […]
The post 7 Lessons From Coaching The Pros With Bevan Mckinnon appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, I want to go over an article that I was sent recently by Bevan Mckinnon who hosts the podcast Fitter Radio. I thought it is going to be worthwhile going over this article that he sent because when I first read the title and when I read the first couple of paragraphs, […]
The post Do Swim Drills Work? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Joining us in this episode is Kris Martenstyn from Singapore, who had some great results from the 5 Day Catch Challenge that we recently run. He will talk about the improvements he has seen and what he may have changed about his stroke to get these results.1:02 Swimming Background2:56 Bringing In The 5 Day Catch […]
The post 4 Seconds Faster in 5 Days with Kris Martenstyn appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Quang Pham who recently had a significant improvement with his swim time. I thought it would be useful to have him share what he has done to improve. Listen to this episode, you might pick a couple of things that you might implement on your own. 1:40 Benchmarks 04:29 What Made […]
The post 2:25 To 2:10/100m In 2 Months with Quang Pham appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Joining us in this episode is Trey St. John whom I have been working with for a couple of months. Trey recently joined a triathlon and couldn’t believe that he clocked in a sub-24 minute time. Join us as Trey talks about what he thinks contributed to this significant change. 00:47 Swimming Background1:55 I Needed […]
The post #175: “I Couldn’t Believe My Time When I Looked At My Watch” with Trey St. John appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Distance swimmers and triathletes can save a lot of energy off their turns by doing two things completely the opposite to what I was taught as a junior swimmer.
The post How To Not Be GASSED After A Flip Turn (I Discovered This Too Late) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode we look at @Going Long With Sam Long and his swim technique. What is he doing well and what can be improved?
The post The Big Unit appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Hollie Buerckner who just completed a 100km around the bay, starting from Port Melbourne finishing in Sorrento. Join us in this podcast as Hollie shares her experience during that 5 day swim. 4:52 Having a great support system is important 7:27 Unlucky Weather 8:28 First To Last Day Experience 13:47 Struggles […]
The post 100km In The Bay with Hollie Buerckner appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest today is Chung-Haun Li who has been on our Stroke Analysis Membership for 12 months. I have asked Chung-Haun to guest in our podcast to share his story and improvement for the last 12 months because he’s had a pretty significant improvement with his time and technique. 01:14 12 Months Ago02:29 I Didn’t […]
The post 1:45 to 1:30/100m in 12 Months with Chung-Haun Li appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Rebecca Hollingsworth recently swam across the Cook Straight. In this episode, she talks about how her preparation, training, and experience on that swim. 00:40 It’s Supposed to be 23km2:23 Training While Waiting For Another Window5:00 Doing A Tandem Swim8:42 Not Slowing Down9:28 Cold Adaptation11:08 Fuelling14:35 After The Swim (Mental Toll) Rebecca’s Write up Effortless Swimming […]
The post Swimming Between New Zealand’s North And South Island With Rebecca Hollingsworth appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
John’s Swim Report Become a Member Freestyle Clinics Around Australia
The post 40km Across Lake Taupo with John Hancock appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, I want to talk about making your swimming effortless. I have been watching about Lionel Sanders, a professional triathlete has put up in his swimming recently which he has titled “Stop Sucking At Swimming” and he is basically trying to improve his swimming to be a front pack swimmer in his swim […]
The post How To Make Your Swimming Feel “Effortless” appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Do you only have one speed?In this episode, we are talking about developing your gears as a swimmer. If you want to develop your ability and your skills as a swimmer or as a triathlete, then it is going to really pay off to be able to adjust the effort you put in and the […]
The post How To Avoid Being A “One Speed Swimmer” appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
When I’m teaching how to improve the catch in freestyle, sometimes we need to fix what happens before it. In this video I’ll show you 3 things you’ll need to get right to make the most out of your catch.
The post Clean Up Your Front End (For A Smoother Stroke) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I thought it might be useful through some of the things that I am tweaking, adjusting and changing with my own swimming that you may find useful in your own swimming. 00:36 Changing Habits and Having a Good Routine02:55 Starting The Day The Right Way05:50 Training Harder and Longer Sessions06:17 Expanding Skillset and Boundaries10:03 Listening […]
The post 7 Things I’ve Changed With My Swimming In 2021 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Does applying more power in your catch phase lead to swimming faster times?
The post Powerful Catch = Faster Freestyle (A Way To Change Speed In Your Swimming) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, Chuck, who joined the Effortless Swimming Membership a couple of years ago, shares about his swimming experience, his hesitation in joining the membership, and how he has significantly improved over the years. 01:06 Joining Effortless Swimming Membership 04:23 Putting Attention To More Important Things 08:52 It’s all about “Reduce Drag, Increase Propulsion” […]
The post Case Study: A 50 Second Improvement Per 100 Yards with Chuck Rine appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Karsten Weber is one of our members in our Effortless Swimming Membership program. His experience in swimming mostly involved breaststroke and diving and never did freestyle swimming. Join us as he talks about his journey from barely making 25 meters to swimming at 1:47/ 100m. 00:58 Swimming Background01:53 Joining Ironman After A Heart Attack04:57 “Never […]
The post From Barely Making 25m To Swimming 1:47/100m with Karsten Weber appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Here’s the third installment of our podcast episode with Sam Fenton. In this episode, Sam discussed what is Deep Core, the muscles that are involved in strengthening the deep core, and some exercises to improve it. 1:11 What Is Deep Core?3:17 Stability Of Pelvis4:11 Inter-Abdominal Pressure6:40 Cross fitters Destroying Their Joints and Back08:48 Serape Effect11:34 […]
The post Deep Core vs 6-Pack Abs – Developing What Really Matters In Swimming with Sam Fenton – Part 3 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Welcome to Part 2 of our podcast episode with Sam Fenton. In this episode, Sam talked about the importance of having ankle strength and flexibility; and how can you improve your stiff ankles. 05:15 Why Underwater Dolphin Kick?06:15 Ankle Strength And Flexibility07:43 Range And Strength10:00 How Do You Improve Range And Strength?13:18 Need To Have […]
The post Transforming Your Feet Into Propellers (Even If Your Ankles Are STIFF!) with Sam Fenton – Part 2 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Sam Fenton is the High-Performance Manager of Control High Performance, he has been involved with sports for close to 20 years now and is in charge of Strength and Conditioning/ Performance programs. Sam will be joining us for a three-part podcast, for the next episodes, Sam and I will be talking about: Part 2:Transforming Your […]
The post The Smarter Way To Progress Your Swimming with Sam Fenton – Part 1 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The post A Good Drill For High Hips (And Feet) | Freestyle Drills appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The post Don’t ‘Spear’ The Water, Do THIS Instead appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
A bit of a rant on ‘natural sinkers’
The post A Video For ‘Natural Sinkers’ appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This triathlete said he feels stuck at his current pace, and he’s not sure how to swim faster. In this video we cover: 0:39 ‘Downhill’ swimming = Too deep? 1:50 Posture For Better Body Position 3:24 Change This Entry Trajectory For Less Drag And A Better Catch 4:30 Swim With Your Body, Not Just Your […]
The post Why I Don’t Advise Swimming ‘Downhill’ appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I received an email from a swimmer who said his 400m time is exactly the same when he goes as fast as he can, and when he swims easier. ‘Spinning your wheels’ is when you try to increase your speed with an increase in effort but you don’t get any faster. Let’s take a look […]
The post How To Stop Thrashing And Spinning Your Wheels appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, I want to give you my take about Total Body Force swimming by Brett Sutton. He is a coach of multiple Olympians and Kona Champions, he has a huge history of success in having and developing good swimmers as triathlete. He wrote this three-part article on Total Bodu Force Swimming which is […]
The post Brett Sutton’s “TBF” Style Of Swimming appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This old phrase used by cricketers to describe the how a ball was travelling can be a great cue for improving your swimming efficiency.
The post Line And Length appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
What can we learn from Australia’s Frill-Necked Lizard? In freestyle, it’s all about the ‘flare’
The post A Way To Swim Faster (Not Harder) | Freestyle Technique appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Russell was a swimmer in high school and is now swimming for fitness. He mentioned that he tires after 25 yards, so let’s see what he can do to change this.
The post All About Balance appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
1:00 Fins for warm up 1:46 The 5-min theraband routine 2:56 Mobility routine
The post 3 Things That Cured My Shoulder Pain | Swimming Injuries appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This was filmed last year in Thailand at our Hell Week swim camp. Here I’m aiming to swim a smooth and comfortable 100m freestyle using a 4-beat kick. Even though it looks like an easy pace, it was only sustainable for around 400m with my fitness when this was recorded. Whereas I could maintain a […]
The post My Best Attempt At An ‘Easy’ 100m Freestyle In 1:10 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Cues can be a useful thing to help transform the way you swim. I’ve found these cues to be the most help.
The post Magic Words appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Sharon Van Rouwendaal is the Olympic Gold Medallist in the 10km at the 2016 Rio games. Here we look at here incredible catch and rhythm as well as her unique kick.
The post The Most EXTREME High Elbow Catch EVER appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
6-1-6 Drill is one of my favourite drills for improving body position, balance and rotation, but often swimmers will make THESE mistake crucial mistakes when doing the drill.
The post This Changes Everything appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Martin started swimming 4 months ago, and is currently at 2:20/100m pace for 800m. In this video we look at some common technique traits that beginners do, and how he could increase his speed to well below 2:00/100m.
The post Common Mistakes Of A Beginner Swimmer appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
There were three things that had the biggest impact on my freestyle catch: 1. Hand height 2. High elbow doesn’t mean ‘near the surface’ 3. It’s the ‘setup’ phase, not the power phase
The post How I Transformed My High Elbow Catch | Freestyle Technique Tips appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode of Feedback Friday we look at an ex-competitive cyclist who’s mentioned he is having trouble improving his kick.
The post Former Competitive Cyclist Can’t Fix His Body Position appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This is how I prevent and avoid foot and calf cramps while swimmingSHOW LESS
The post How I Avoid Foot And Calf Cramps While Swimming appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The post How I Stopped My Arm From Dropping When I Breathe appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest in this episode is Ryan Twist, a Podiatrist from Bayswater Foot and Ankle Clinic. Anyone who is listening who wants to get into running or they have been running and they have found themselves injured, this episode is for you. 01:13 People Are Starting to Pick Up Running And Walking 02:49 What Are […]
The post Fish Out Of Water: Making Yourself Bulletproof From Running Injuries with Ryan Twist. appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Joe is triathlete training towards a half distance IM event. He’s improved from 2:50 to 2:00/100m and is now looking to be able to comfortably maintain sub-2min pace. We look at how to have a smoother path during his catch and pull and adding some length to the front of the stroke will help do […]
The post Stuck At 2:00/100m appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I’ve been using Moosehead Hard Core Wax (https://amzn.to/3mL0s4Q) to stop wetsuit chafing from swimming for four years without fail. I used BodyGlide (https://amzn.to/300ep4Z) previously which was okay but never lasted long enough to fully avoid chafe.
The post My Weird Secret To Stopping Wetsuit Chafe appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Where you palms are facing during your flip turn can be the difference between a fast turn and slow turn that takes twice as long.
The post This Is Ruining Your Flip Turns appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Mykhailo Romanchuk is one the fastest 1500m swimmers the world has ever seen. Let’s take a look at his technique including the very unique ‘karate chop’, that may actually work to his advantage.
The post Romanchuk And The Karate Chop appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode of Feedback Friday we look at a triathlete Calvin, who’s looking to get under 2:00/100m. We’ll focus on his kick and posture for reducing drag and some adjustments to his catch and pull to get more out of each stroke.
The post Tighten This Up And Feel The Speed appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Park Tae-hwan is an Olympic gold and silver medalist in the 400m and 200m freestyle. To me, he has the most technically perfect stroke that I’ve seen and being ‘only’ 6’0″ he’s had to make up for his lack of height with incredible technique.
The post A Walk In The Park appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Shawn is an Ironman triathlete based in Nova Scotia, Canada. A year ago, he started some changes in his stroke, and in the course over the last year, he has effectively gone from a 2:25 per hundred paces down to 1:31 per hundred. Shawn will share how he has done that, what changes he’s made […]
The post 2:25 to 1:31/100m In 12 Months With Shawn Muise appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this video we look at 5 things can impact how easily and comfortably you breathe in freestyle. If you have trouble not swallowing water or your breathing throws out your balance try these 5 things.
The post 5 Ways To Improve Your Breathing In Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Gregorio Paltrinieri recently broke the European record and achieved the second-fastest time ever in the 1500m freestyle. We take a look at some unusual things he does in his stroke that are quite unusual but work incredibly well.
The post Fastest Man In The World Does Some Weird Things… appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Janet Evans first made headlines in 1988 as she brought home 4 Olympic Medals after competing as part of the US Olympic Team in Seoul, South Korea; where she not only competed in the 400, 800 and 1,500-metre freestyle events – but Janet also set a world record in the 400 Metre Freestyle event, finishing […]
The post Janet Evans | Strange Strokes – Episode 1 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Here I analyze the technique of a UK based triathlete competing in Olympic distance triathlon. He’s brought his threshold pace down from 1:40–1:45/100m to 1:33 in the last year. There are two things I’d focus on most if I were him: 1. Breathing: Exhale form the nose and get the head returning back into the […]
The post 1:45 to 1:33/100m In A Year | Olympic Distance Triathlete appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
There are 3 common technique errors that lead to shoulder injuries in swimmers, and by doing these three drills I’m about to show you, you’ll never have to sit on the sidelines again due to shoulder pain caused by bad technique. In 2000, a study was conducted by Toshimasa Yanai and James Hay called ‘Shoulder […]
The post 5 Common Stroke Mistakes That Cause Shoulder Pain | Instant Fix appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The post Progression For A 1:45/100m Swimmer | Feedback Friday appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Preston had a threshold pace of 1:26/100y when he first joined our coaching membership. After 6 weeks and 2 analysis videos, he made a significant change to bring his speed down to the low 1:20‘s.
The post 6% Faster In 6 Weeks | Ironman Triathlete Swim Analysis appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This class is run by Darren Stojanovic from Dynamic Breathwork who’s been coaching me for the past 6 months on breathwork. The science starts at 2:33. Breathing types at 12:35. Class at 17:00 The focus of the 4-week course will be to: – Enable you to utilise your breath to its full potential – Show […]
The post 50-minute Breathwork Class For Swimmers | Eliminate Panic & Increase Lung Capacity appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
With all of the analysis of swimmers that we do, this one fault really stands out as a major cause of a dropped elbow catch. Can you guess what it is? It’s the position of the shoulder during the catch. If it’s dropped too low and is well below the head it makes a high […]
The post Why Is Nobody Talking About This? | High Elbow Catch appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Do you know what your ideal stroke rate (cadence) is for racing events of 1,500-4000m? This set will help you find your stroke rate sweet spot for races of those distances. What’s the set? 7 x 100 Freestyle with 0:30 secs rest – Using a FINIS tempo trainer, increase your stroke rate by 4 each […]
The post Find Your Ideal Stroke Rate With This Set | OPEN WATER SWIMMING appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Do you know what your ideal stroke rate (cadence) is for racing events of 1,500-4000m? This set will help you find your stroke rate sweet spot for races of those distances. What’s the set? 7 x 100 Freestyle with 0:30 secs rest – Using a FINIS tempo trainer, increase your stroke rate by 4 each […]
The post How To Find Your Ideal Stroke Rate For Triathlon And Open Water Swim Races appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Can breathing exercises ACTUALLY help your swimming? I’ve done a number of breathing classes online during this time while we weren’t able to swim. There are three things that have improved for me by doing these exercises.
The post Use THIS Breathing Exercise For Increased Lung Capacity / Eliminating Panic appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Taren Gesell (Triathlon Taren) and I go over his most recent swim analysis and set a plan for him to crack the 1:30/100m in races next year.
The post Triathlon Taren Swim Technique Analysis appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Melissa Urie is the first woman to complete 895km Uberman Ultra-Triathlon. In this podcast episode, she shares her experience during the race, doing training, and getting through the race with the use of mental strategies to survive the tough times. 5:22 Training For Uberman 10:23 The Power of A Positive Mindset 12:43 Proving Yourself That […]
The post Training Your Mind To Finish An 894km Race with Melissa Urie appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Welcome back to another podcast episode! Today, I’ll be sharing my top tips for making your open water swimming enjoyable and more challenging. Listen on in! 00:27 What Are the Drills You Can Do?1:47 How to Break Down Or Structure An Open Water Swim3:37 Don’t Overthink It!3:56 Overcome Open Water Swim Anxiety5:55 Progressively Make Your […]
The post How To Keep Your Open Water Swims Interesting appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Welcome Back! Here in Australia, there are a couple of pools that have started to open, you can book individual lanes for a certain amount of time. So I thought of doing a podcast talking about the best ways to get back to training once your pool has opened. 00:55 Time Frame01:54 How Many Sessions?02:52 […]
The post 7 Things To Make Your Return To The Pool 10x Better appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s episode, we sat down with the author of the book Your New Prime, and promoter of men’s health and wellness, Craig Cooper! We talked about the active approach to maintaining your physical and mental health as you age, how to get out of complacency, and how to start thriving and making steady forward […]
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In today’s episode, we are joined by a lifelong trainer and athlete Andrew Read as he talks about his program 28-day Challenge. Andrew talks through how important going back to the basics is and some of the necessary skills to influence your success at living a healthy lifestyle. 4:19 Creating A Mindset Component5:32 Going Back […]
The post Eliminate Bad Habits And Master The Fundamentals With Andrew Read appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
3-minutes of perfect swimming with a tether. I gave Olympian Dan Smith a call to see what he was doing while the pools were closed. We talked about his thoughts on the Tokyo Olympics being postponed, what he’s doing without a pool and how he got creative and made his own tether when there were […]
The post 3-Minutes Of Perfect ‘Tethered’ Swimming appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
We have compiled snippets from our most popular videos on YouTube to date. Enjoy! Transcription: So there’s a couple of reasons why your legs will be sinking in freestyle. The first one and most common one is if you’re lifting your head to breathe or if you’re rolling around and looking to the sky when […]
The post EFFORTLESS SWIMMING MOST POPULAR VIDEOS appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
If you’re swimming with a swim tether or bungee cord, these 7 tips will help you get more out of your workout. Transcription: So you’ve bought yourself a swim tether. Here are seven tips. They’re going to help you have a lot more fun in your workouts, avoid getting injured, and also just mix it […]
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We have compiled the best of our Feedback Friday videos. Transcription: What we like to teach is to activate the core. So to switch that on, where I like to think about it as you’re drawing your belly button into your spine. Then we want to keep the legs fairly straight with the kick. We […]
The post BEST OF FEEDBACK FRIDAY VIDEOS appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
We are joined by Dr. Greg Wells who is the author of the book Rest, Refocus, Recharge. In this episode, we talked about some of the things that are discussed in his book. He shares some strategies on why doing less will actually achieve more, how to stop reacting to things and be more deliberate, […]
The post Do Less To Achieve More with Dr. Greg Wells appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Transcription: All right. We’re currently on lockdown, so I’ve got a little helper with me and what are we going to watch today Sammy? Swimming. Some swimming videos. So we’re going to look at some movies, some TV shows that may not show swimming in the best possible way where we’ll have a look at […]
The post Swim Coach Analyzes Actors Swimming In Hollywood Films appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
- Cold Showers Aubrey Marcus Cold Shower Technique 2. Stretch Cords / Therabands FINIS Resistance Band 3. Improve Mobility Q Swim App 4. Visualise See videos at 11:51 5. Yoga Swim-Specific Yoga routines 6. Try Something New 7. Breath Training 8. Study Feedback Friday Playlist 9. Improve Your Diet 10. Rest Transcription: Hey Brenton here, […]
The post 10 Things To Do While Your Pool Is Closed appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
During video analysis we often find swimmers exiting the water very far away from their hip. By fixing the last part of your stroke to have more of an in-sweep, you can reduce your stroke count by 10% if you’re finishing wide. Transcription: How can you bring your stroke count down by 10%? Watch this […]
The post Swim 10% Further Each Stroke | Freestyle Pull Tip appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Do you find yourself running out of air early in your session? It could be that you’re not breathing regularly enough. Bi-lateral breathing is a great skill to have, but you don’t need to race that way. For many swimmers, breathing every two strokes is going to allow them to race at a higher intensity […]
The post (Fix) Running Out Of Air | Freestyle Breathing Tips appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The first thing you need to do to swim faster is to reduce drag. There are dozens of things that can be increasing your drag, but a few common ones we see when coaching. 1. Eyes too far forward – Leading to the hips and legs dropping 2. Knees too bent in the kick – […]
The post This One Thing Could Be Slowing You Down By 20% appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Marc Evans joins us in this episode to talk about the possible things you can do at your home during these times. In this episode, Marc discussed maintaining the feel of the water, the importance of mobility, stability, and flexibility. 00:38 Triathletes In Motion02:40 It’s Not The Strongest Athlete That Wins The Gold Medals06:19 Functional […]
The post What To Do If Your Pool Has Closed with Marc Evans appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
If you’ve been trying to replicate some of Dan Smith’s technique in your own swimming, there are some changes you might want to make if you swim open water. Transcription: You might’ve sent out a video recently where we analyze Dan Smith’s stroke when he’s swimming that 110, 100. And he’s looking very, very comfortable. […]
The post Ugly Can Be Faster | Why Beautiful Technique Isn’t Always The Quickest appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Transcription: So we just want to keep everything quite narrow, quite tight, pretty much keep everything behind the line of the body because that’s what’s going to really make you swim a whole lot faster. Welcome to Feedback Friday. In this episode, we have a swimmer who … We’ve only got the side footage, but […]
The post These 3 Changes Will INSTANTLY Make You Faster appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I caught up with Olympian Dan Smith and recorded him swimming a very comfortable 59-second 100m freestyle from a wall push (no dive!). You’ll also notice some subtle differences in his technique compared to the last video we posted. Can you spot them?
The post The Smoothest 59 Second 100m Freestyle Ever? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Can increasing your stroke rate actually make your swimming easier? In some cases, yes. If your rating is too slow, you can lose momentum and balance in the water. We’ll look at this in today’s Feedback Friday. Transcription: We want to try and keep the fingertips pointing to the bottom of the pool or pretty […]
The post Why You Should Avoid THIS Position In Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Over the past 18+ months, Ben Brui has gone from being unable to swim more than 25m, to successfully competing in Half Ironman events. Transcription: It’s a dropped elbow catch. So, the forearm is facing pretty much down to the bottom of the pool here on this left hand side on a breathing stroke, which […]
The post [CASE STUDY] From Barely Making 100m To RACING HALF IRONMAN! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this Feedback Friday episode we look at a triathlete stuck at the 2:30/100m pace. We’ll look into how he can improve his body position and catch to radically improve his swimming. Transcription: From there to there, that’s the catch. What we want to have is the hand and forearm moving downwards, so moving down […]
The post Legs Sinking? Here’s What To Do… appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Over the past 13 years that I’ve been coaching, we’ve gone through dozen of drills to help teach the catch and pull. Recently we came up with a new drill called ‘YMCA drill’. We’ve been using this in clinics and camps for the past year with great success. We’ve found this drill is one of […]
The post YMCA Drill | Is This The BEST Drill To Improve Your Catch And Pull? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Tim Ballintine is a full-time endurance coach and the owner of Koa Sports. In this episode, he shares about being a coach, finding your passion, not having all the answers and intensity in training. 02:56 Coaching Philosophy05:30 “You’ve Got To Find What Works For You”06:17 You Can’t Be All Things To All People07:01 “It’s Not […]
The post Are You Swimming With Enough Intensity To Get Better? With Tim Ballintine appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Currently swimming at 1:50/100m, I believe this swimmer could adjust a few small things about her stroke to bring it down to 1:40 within a few weeks. Transcription: Welcome to Feedback Friday, where we analyze someone’s stroke and we look at what they can do to swim faster. In this episode, we’ve got a swimmer […]
The post Could 1:40/100m Be As Simple As Changing This? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
A few months ago we posted a video of Olympian Dan Smith swimming a very comfortable 1:10/100m freestyle. In this video, I’ll break down Dan’s technique and show you how he’s able to swim so fast while looking like he’s not trying! Transcription: A couple of months ago, we made a video titled Is This […]
The post Freestyle Swimming: How To Swim A Smooth 1:10 100m Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Dan Smith joins us in this episode as he talks about his swimming, drug addiction,building character and his road to redemption. 01:28 Swimming Life As A Youngster03:41 Burnt Out At The Age Of 1404:46 It Was More Of An Escape For Me05:44 What Would I Pass On To My Kids08:38 I Am Not Defined What […]
The post From Drug Addiction To Olympian (And Why Your Character Means More Than Your Results) With Dan Smith appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
We recently had triathlete Stephen Jackson on the podcast to share how he was able to improve by almost 40 seconds per 100m in 2 years. Transcription: Over the course of the next six to 12 months, I can see him getting it down to somewhere in the 130 range. Whether it’s 130s, 135s, that […]
The post [CASE STUDY] Triathlete Goes From 2:20 to 1:40/100m Pace In 2 Years appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Joining us in this episode is Jason Cram who is a Commonwealth Gold Medalist, diving instructor, and superyacht crew member. 00:43 Jason’s Background03:51 Dealing With Missing Out On Olympics07:15 Being Comfortable With The New You09:04 Without Swimming, I Wouldn’t Be Able To Grow Into The Person That I Am Now”09:49 Planting A Seed10:48 Performing Best […]
The post How To Develop Your Character Through Swimming (And What It’s Like Being Ian Thorpe’s Training Partner) with Jason Cram appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Do you feel like you have no catch when you breathe? It could be because you’re doing THIS in your stroke… Transcription: More importantly, it’s going to help you get a much better catch. If you feel like you rotate too far through your upper body when you do breathe, then a couple of things […]
The post Why A High Elbow Catch Is Difficult On Your Breathing Side appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
We sit down with Wayne Goldsmith as he talks about putting emphasis on soft skills when coaching. 01:50 Working On Soft Skills02:44 It Comes Down To The Way They Do What They Do03:58 Vibe And Connection Among People05:23 Building A Team Culture07:10 What Does Your Values Look Like?09:00 Identifying The Actual Behaviors That Will Say […]
The post Don’t Put Heart Rate Before Heart with Wayne Goldsmith appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This swimmer can work on: – Keeping the head centered when he breathes (it moves off to the side) – Narrower kick on his breathing stroke – Keep the lead hand in motion and avoid a complete stop of the right hand. Doggy Scoop drill is good for this. – Less reach on his right […]
The post Keep Your Head Here To Stop Your Legs From Splaying | Swimming Tip | Alignment appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest on today’s podcast is Stephen Jackson who first attended a clinic in 2017. At the time he was a 2:20/100m swimmer, and over the course of the last few yearshe’s been able to move into the 1:40/100m range. In this episode, you’ll learn what to expect as you progress in your swimming journey […]
The post 2:20 to 1:40/100m Pace with Stephen Jackson appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Are you stuck at a pace slower than 2:00/100m? In this video, you’ll see some common things that cause that to happen, and how you can change your stroke to finally break the 2:00/100m barrier. Transcription: If you are new to the sport and you’re willing to dedicate the time, you can absolutely become a […]
The post How A 2:15/100m Swimmer COULD Go Under 2-mins appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Is it okay to look forward? Not directly forwards, but a few meters in front? For triathlon and open water swimming, it can be helpful for maintaining your awareness about what’s around AND it can help with posture and position in the water. Transcription: And often there are so many different ways to describe the […]
The post Look Forwards At 45° Triathlon Swimming Tip appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Eney Jones is coming back for the third time to share what she has been working with recently and about trying a different approach for triathletes who needs help with their swimming. 01:31 Origin Of Phrases That Swim Coaches Have Used 08:26 Core Connection 10:18 Working With Triathletes 12:43 The Mental Aspect 13:41 Aloha! 15:54 […]
The post A Different Approach To Technique For Triathletes Stuck In Their Swimming With Eney Jones appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this video, we analyze a swimmer with good balance, rhythm, and style. What can he change in his technique to swim faster? 1. Reduce upper body rotation on his breathing strokes 2. Avoid the fingers rising to the surface after entry 3. Increase stroke rate by 5-10% 4. Avoid hands drifting outwards during the […]
The post You Can Swim Without Getting Tired…Now What? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I was recently asked by a triathlete what they could do sprint faster. In their fast 25’s and 50’s they couldn’t go any quicker than their fastest 100m pace. So what can you change in your technique to be a better sprinter and lift your pace for 25’s and 50’s? 1. Stay Relaxed 2. Deeper […]
The post What To Do If You Can’t Sprint appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Our guest today is Harriet Brown who is a World Ironwoman Champion, Nutri-Grain Ironwoman Series Champion, Australian Team Captain, and Molokai to Oahu Paddle Board Champion. 01:26 Underwater Filming03:10 Injury During Championship05:14 Being Out For The Whole Season07:18 Exercise Makes You Happy07:51 Injury As A Positive Experience08:54 Having Some Time Off10:45 Considering A Career After […]
The post How To Come Back Stronger From Injury with Harriet Brown appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This swimmer is doing a lot right, and with a few small tweaks to his technique, I believe he could quite easily knock 10 seconds of his 100m pace. Transcription: If you’re trying to get a good and strong powerful catch with this arm that’s in the water, but this arm is this far back […]
The post Can A Few Minor Tweaks Make A 1:50/100m Swimmer 10 Seconds Faster? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
How much do you need to you need kick when swimming in triathlon? The answer is you don’t need to kick a hard or a lot, but it needs to be EFFECTIVE. How do you make you kick effective? Watch until the end and I’ll share with you the 300m set I’ve been giving a […]
The post Do Triathletes Need To Kick? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
As we end a wonderful year, here’s a collection of the best podcast snippets for 2019. Enjoy! 00:19 Do Not Overthink 02:04 Flexibility 05:02 Stroke Changes In Open Water 08:12 “I Can’t Do That, I Am Spontaneous” 12:26 Breathing Exercises During Downtime 15:17 Locking Changes as a Habit 18:19 Serape Effect on Freestyle 20:43 Don’t […]
The post The Best Of 2019 Podcasts appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Coming back as a guest is Garry Hurring who is a former Olympic swimmer and Olympic coach. Gary has coached with as in our Hell Week Camp in Thanyapura, Thailand.Here are the things we talked about: 01:15 Hell Week Camp At Thanyapura03:26 Common Things Observed From Swimmers At Hell Week07:05 There’s No Advice That’s Going […]
The post What To Do If You Can’t Get Under 1:45/100m with Gary Hurring appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Our guest for todays episode is Sam Penny who is the first person who attempted to swim the English in winter. In this episode, we talked about Sam’s training, strategy and his journey in crossing the English Channel. 00:52 The Swim08:40 We Had No Idea What Was Going To Come10:07 Shutting Your Mind Down11:19 Hypothermia […]
The post Attempting The English Channel In WINTER with Sam Penny appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Here we look at a triathlete with good rhythm and cadence. Some of the things he can do to improve his stroke are: – Reduce his upper body rotation (especially on the breathing strokes) – Reduce the power in his catch phase and work closer to a high elbow position – Keep his head centered […]
The post Reduce The Effort Here…Swim Faster appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
If you feel like your hand is slipping through the pull and not holding much water, try this. When you keep your palm facing behind you most of the way it increases the surface area of your paddle. When we film swimmers, it’s common to see many of them with their palm facing inwards through […]
The post Stop Your Hand Slipping | A Way To Increase Your Propulsion appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Our guest today is Baden Schaff, who is a PGA pro in golf, and he is also the co-creator of Skillest. Now you might’ve heard me talk about Skillest, this is the app that we use at our clinics and at our camps, to help analyze swimmers strokes and also just to really show them […]
The post Lessons From Golf That Will Improve Your Swimming With Baden Schaff appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
We sit down with Josh Minogue as we talk about how patience pays off, his Coolangatta Gold triumph and his triathlon journey. 04:09 Swimming Background 07:16 How Can Disappointment Be Good For Me? 09:08 If You Stop Learning, Stop Coaching 10:08 Being An Athlete and Being A Coach 13:12 Coaching And Training For Triathlon 14:43 […]
The post When Patience Pays Off with Josh Minogue appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
There’s so many different styles in swimming that it’s ridiculous to get everyone to swim the exact same way. There’s a number of different factors that can impact how you swim and the type of stroke you use. I like to focus on an athlete’s natural strengths and style and use those to their advantage. […]
The post Why I’ll NEVER Teach This In Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Our guest in today’s episode is Darren Stojanovic from Dynamic Stability. He is a physiotherapist but he is also doing a lot of work in breathwork. In this episode, Darren and I will be talking about different breathing techniques which can help you control your emotion and help you improve your performance. 3:01 Learning About […]
The post Hijack Your Breathing, Control Your Emotions And Increase Your Performance With Darren Stojanovic appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Aren’t you meant to reach forwards and rotate in freestyle? Yes, but you CAN go too far with both of those things. This swimmer can REDUCE his rotation and reach LESS to swim faster. Take a look at why that is in today’s Feedback Friday analysis. Transcription: What I’d encourage this swimmer to do, because […]
The post This Is What Happens You OVER-REACH and OVER-ROTATE appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Ryan Hodierne is the Biomechanist for NSWIS (New South Wales Institute of Sport). He has worked with a lot of high-level swimmers including Cate and Bronte Campbell, and we talk about how everyday swimmers can use high-level biomechanics to improve their swimming. 01:06 Thoughts about Sensarii 02:31 Simplifying Data To Make It Useful 05:02 Communicating […]
The post High-Level Biomechanics For Weekend Warriors with Ryan Hodierne appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The swimmer we’re looking at today competes in triathlon and currently races at 1:38/100m. We look at the following things in his stroke: – Head position (too deep at times) -Shoulders over-rotating causing his arm to go deep and elbow to drop -Left hand entering close to the head, needs to go further forwards Transcription: […]
The post Rotate To THIS Angle, Fix Your CATCH appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
When you’re trying REALLY hard to change something, it can make that change harder to make. The force and tension that comes from trying really hard is a difficult state to be in for a change to occur. We like our swimmers to be relaxed and patient when changing their stroke. Transcription: One of the […]
The post Stop FORCING Change, Let It Come To You appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Transcription: Let’s say you got to a hundred degrees with your knee bend. The increasing drag that you get on your leg there isn’t… The amount of force that you’ll get from that extra knee bend isn’t going to be greater than the amount of drag that gets created because of it. So… Hey, Brenton […]
The post How Much Should Your Knees Bend In Freestyle Kick appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Last year I did a video analyzing my own stroke where I picked out a number of things to work on. After 12 months of practice, have I been able to improve? The pace in the video is 1min10s/100m which is my 1-2km open water pace. The side-on footage is with a 64 stroke rate. […]
The post NOW VS THEN (1 YEAR LATER) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s Feedback Friday, we look at a 19-year old with a cycling background who has recently turned to triathlon. He’s currently at 28 minutes for his half ironman swims. Let’s look at what will help him bring that under 25 minutes. Transcription: … insweep here towards the center then outsweep back to the hip. […]
The post Outsweep First, Insweep Second appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
After sighting (looking forwards), a lot of swimmers keep looking forward and it impacts their speed. If you use the sight and breathe method and return your eyes to your normal position this can fix it. The exception, if you’re following feet for drafting. Transcription: Hi, Brenton here from effortless swimming. In today’s video, I […]
The post Return Your Head To This Position For Faster Swim Times | Open Water Swimming Tips appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This swimmer can swim at 1:50/100m pace but quickly drops to 2:15/100m pace. We look at his breathing, kick and catch and how he can hold 1:50 for longer and also swim faster in the next 3-6 months. Transcription: For him to get a high elbow catch with his hand that shallow, his arm is […]
The post When Your Fingers Point THIS Way Your Elbow Drops appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
What should you do when you get tired and in training and your stroke starts to fall apart? Should you stop and rest or keep going? Transcription: The last three, 400 meters, if you are really starting to feel it and it’s starting to fall apart then, that I think is okay. Because you want […]
The post What To Do When You Get Tired (So You Don’t Reinforce BAD Technique) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
What makes you tire after 50m or 100m? If you’re breathing by exhaling through your nose (instead of mouth) and still having trouble, try these 5 things… Transcription: Hi, Brenton here from Effortless Swimming. In today’s video, I’m going to talk about why you might still be exhausted after 100 meters. A few months ago […]
The post (STILL) EXHAUSTED AFTER 100M? Try these 5 things appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Edmund joined our online stroke analysis coaching last year with a goal to swim faster and place better in his open water swims. Over the past 14+ months, he’s gone from being last out of the water to a mid-pack swimmer. Transcription: Hey, Brenton here. In today’s video, I want to show you someone who […]
The post LAST OUT OF THE WATER? Reach Middle Of The Pack In 14 Months. Here’s how… appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this week’s episode, we look at a swimmer with a smooth stroke who doing a lot right. There’s still room for him to improve by changing his head position, alignment when breathing and developing a more effective catch and pull. Transcription: … too fast. So what we tend to see there when someone goes […]
The post This Athlete Could Be Swimming 10 Seconds Faster Per 100m appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
My guest is Tim Ford, who is someone I’ve known for the last few years, and a number of years ago, he started his triathlon journey and over that time he’s lost more than 50 kilos. He’s completely changed his life with respect to his health, his fitness, and his work, and I think it’s […]
The post Rewriting Your Future With Tim Ford appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
To increase the surface that you’re pressing back with and help you with your catch and pull…you might want to consider ‘elevating’ your wrist. Transcription: Rather than trying to have that effort come from the hand, or feel like the feel for the water is coming from the hand there, aim for it to be […]
The post Why It’s Better To ‘Elevate’ Your Wrist appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
We look at a triathlete who has competed in Ironman events and is currently doing shorter distance triathlons. His Ironman swim PB is 56 minutes, so what can he do to get it in the low 50’s? – Stroke rate (remove/reduce the pause in the reach) – Improve the catch – Fix the breathing (going […]
The post A 56-min Ironman Swimmer. Can he go faster? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode of Feedback Friday, we look at a swimmer who could change the following things in her stroke: – Avoid a crossover when entering and reaching forwards – Avoid ‘putting the brakes on’ – Go deeper in the catch and pull (on some strokes so she isn’t really shallow wasting energy pulling herself […]
The post Why Your Arms Feel Like They Are Doing All The Work appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
There’s a big confusion around what a high elbow catch is, that it should be elbow near the surface. While it shouldn’t be really deep, the elbow will usually be at least 15 cm or more below the surface…but the way we define a ‘high elbow catch’ has got anything to do with its height. […]
The post Why A High Elbow Catch Isn’t ‘High’ appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s video, we’re looking at an athlete who’s got too much of a pause in his stroke where he loses momentum. We look at how he exits properly and keep his momentum. We also cover how he can improve his catch for more propulsion. Transcription: That you want to be able to be relaxed […]
The post Never Propel Yourself From This Position appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Why do some swimmers slip back into old habits after working on their technique for months? These are the 5 most common things that I see causing it to happen. Transcription: If we train those bad habits, we start to form those bad habits, and it’s probably going to happen in a race. Hey, Brenton […]
The post 5 REASONS WHY YOUR TECHNIQUE CHANGES AREN’T STICKING appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
If you feel like your kick slows you down instead of assisting you…these 5 things will help change the way you kick. We work with a lot of adult swimmers who don’t come from a swimming background and ankle flexibility is almost non-existent. If this is you, think of your kick as more about balance […]
The post 5 THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR KICK EFFECTIVE (INSTEAD OF SLOWING YOU DOWN) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In middle to long-distance swimming, your hip rotation should be somewhat controlled (instead of fast and snappy). A swimmer at our clinic referred to this as ‘hydraulic’ hip rotation. This helps take some of the effort off the arms and legs to provide propulsion by helping everything work together. We’ll show you how to develop […]
The post Use Your Hip Rotation To Save Your Arms And Legs appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, we look at a swimmer who wants to increase the distance she can comfortably swim and increase her speed. We look at why she will need to: – Exhale from her nose and blow out more assertively – Feel very wide with her arm extension to keep it straight – Enter earlier […]
The post Why Your Stroke Rate Needs To Be Higher Than 40 appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
There’s seven common workout mistakes that cause you to plateau in your speed and stop improving. Let’s look at what you can do to avoid them and to continue getting fitter and faster. Transcription: Hi, Brenton here. In today’s video, I want to share some common workout mistakes that people will make that cause them […]
The post 7 Workouts Mistakes Causing You To Plateau In Your Swim Speed appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Front quadrant freestyle is what most elite distance swimmers use. It’s a great way for most swimmers who are new to the sport to learn as it helps with balance, breathing, and timing. At clinics and camps, we see a number of faults in the stroke that make it difficult to swim front quadrant. In […]
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In this episode, we have a swimmer who’s stuck at 1:50/100m pace for his 400m and more swims. His 100m PB is 1:31/100m. We cover why he needs to: 1. Enter further in front of the head 2. Increase his stroke rate 3. Go deeper with his catch and pull 4. Exit closer to the […]
The post Stuck At 1:50 Pace…This Is What I’d Do appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
We had a swimmer attend a clinic recently with great technique that we couldn’t fault, but for her 50m and 100m events she wanted to get faster. There were two things we got her to experiment with to help her swim faster in these events. A deeper catch and higher hand recovery. These two things […]
The post Two Technique Changes YOU NEED TO KNOW To Swim Faster 50’s and 100’s appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Our coach Mitch Patterson (Australian Representative in the 50m and 100m Butterfly) breaks down this swimmers catch and pull in detail. He looks at how: The pitch of the hand changes too dramatically causing her to lose propulsion. A wideout sweep where the hand goes wider than the elbow is much less powerful. The ‘S’ […]
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My guest today is Nick Jankovskis from METS Performance. METS Performance is a Melbourne based company that help athletes with a whole range of tests that you can use to then use some data to incorporate that into how you’re training, particularly for endurance athletes. Nick and I will be talking about how we easily […]
The post Don’t Let The Numbers Rule Your Swimming with Nick Jankovskis appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Sensarii is a Sydney-based startup that reached out to me to demo their product. I was curious to see what it can do from a coaching perspective. They call it Powerband and it measures force throughout a stroke which gives great insight especially at the catch, pull and push phases. Force is something that you […]
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We look at swimmer who averages a 1:40/100m pace for his open water swims. His body position is the first we’d look to work on with a change in head position and where and how he enters the water. Transcription: In today’s Feedback Friday, we’re looking at a swimmer that’s a little too long at […]
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Our guest today is Michael Andrew, he is a competitive swimmer and has been the gold medalist for the 100-meter individual medley at the 2016 FINA Short Course World Championships. He is training in a non-traditional way and has pioneered the Ultra Short Course Race Pace Training. 02:32 Ultra Short Race Pace Training07:04 Team Environment08:01 […]
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Katie Ledecky is one of my favorite long-distance swimmers to watch. Her ability to drive from her hips and change her kick from 2-beat to 4-beat or 6-beat depending on the race is amazing. This is one of the more challenging things to develop in your stroke which is why it’s part of the final […]
The post How Katie Ledecky Changes Her Kick For Maximum Efficiency (And How You Can Too) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Carl joins us again on the podcast. His background is in Functional Movement and in this episode, he shares some interesting aspects of the Serape Effect. 01:34 Carl’s experience with Serape Effect03:13 Brenton’s Interpretation of Serape Effect04:24 Carl’s Take on Serape Effect06:04 Exercises08:58 Understanding and Starting Serape10:29 Building the Coordination11:24 Serape Effect on Freestyle13:50 Going […]
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The catch and pull can be confusing. There’s a lot to think about. These are the four most Transcription: If you’re confused about what you should be doing in your catch and pull and you’re having a hard time understanding and learning it, in this video I’m going to show you the four key positions […]
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My guest today is Ryan Roselli. He attended one of our freestyle clinics in Brisbane last March. During the Cairns Half Ironman, he managed to swim 5 minutes quicker than last year. In this episode we, talked about the things he focused on in his stroke, making the changes permanent and some advice to swimmers […]
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Transcription: The shoulder blade is protracted. It’s sort of forwards a bit so it’s not really into his lats. Hey, Brenton in from Effortless Swimming. In this episode of Feedback Friday we’re looking at a swimmer from the Netherlands who has sent in his videos for us to look at. There’s a couple of things […]
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We’re often asked what we use to record our swimmers? In this video, I’ll show you what we use to film and analyze athlete. PLUS you’ll find out how to record yourself even if you don’t have another person at the pool with you. Transcription: That’s the simplest way that you can really get some […]
The post How To Film Yourself Swimming Underwater (PLUS Our Camera Setup) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Trever Gray is an HRV based coach who works with Olympians and amateurs, ensuring athletes are adapting to training stimuli optimally. He is also a professor of anatomy & physiology and nutrition at Tacoma Community College. Join us as we talk about Heart Rate Variability, Respiratory Muscle Training and Blood Flow Restriction Training. 00:59 Trever […]
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See how you can use the 5 Core Principles Of Fast Freestyle to analyze your stroke and develop a roadmap for improving your swimming. In this episode of Feedback Friday, I look at a triathlete training for a full distance IM race in October. Transcription: You can do the YMCA drill that we’ve got in […]
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When you reach forwards and rotate BEFORE your catch in single arm drill, your stroke timing and cross-connection in your hips and torso improves. It can help to think of this as being ‘patient’ with the catch, rather than rushing into it. Transcription: In today’s video, we’re looking at why you should always do this […]
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All the very best swimmers initiate their hip rotation before applying power in the pull. Remember the catch is not the power phase, use this as the ‘setup’ phase to then apply power once your hand and forearm are angled to press back against the water. In tomorrow’s video, we’ll show you why this timing […]
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What you THINK you do compared to what you ACTUALLY do is often very different. In this video, I’ll show you three of the most common aspects of freestyle that you think you might be doing differently. Transcription: With swimmers that do cross the center line, more times than not, they have to make it […]
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Developing your rhythm and timing helps you with your cross-connection through the body (see last week’s video for more on this). One aspect of this is your catch and down kick… Most top-level swimmers coordinate their catch and down kick on the same side of their body as you’ll see in this video featuring Mack […]
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The Serape Effect is a cross-body connection that stretches some of the upper body muscles to their greatest length in order to create a snap-back effect. When this tension is released from these muscles they shorten for the completion of the movement, and a greater velocity is applied than had the muscles performed from a […]
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If you know you swim too flat in freestyle and lack rotation, try ‘Slide and Glide Drill’. Transcription: So if you’re too flat, there’s very little connection through each part of the body. Hi, Brenton here. In today’s video, we’re looking at rotation and how to make sure that you’re getting the right amount of […]
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When you keep it simple, the two main ways most people swim faster is by increasing propulsion and decreasing drag. In today’s Feedback Friday we look at three tweaks this swimmer can make to increase speed without increasing his effort. Transcription: For you to keep the tension and the tautness through the core that we […]
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This swimmer has three areas that he could develop to help improve his swimming. 1. Exhale earlier 2. Possible 4-beat kick and better core and glute engagement 3. Depth of his hands during the pull phase Transcription: If we look at this angle is roughly 155 degrees. So, that just indicates he’s down too deep, […]
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In this video, we look at Tab Jones who first attended a clinic in 2016. At the time she was swimming her 1900m race in 2.03/100m pace, and her most recent race was done in 1.31/100m pace. We’ll show you how she improved the propulsive phase of the stroke (her catch and pull) and her […]
The post How To Swim 32 Seconds FASTER (Per 100m) In A Half Ironman Race appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
By simply keeping your feet in line with your body (instead of having them splaying wide) can change your speed significantly. The amount of drag it creates can slow you down up to 5 seconds per 100m based on what some of our members have seen recently. Transcription: One of our swimmers, Chuck, he took […]
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We look at a 2:00/100m swimmer and discover why his breathing, head position, and stroke rate are holding back from getting under 2min pace. We talk about how he can improve each of these things over the next 2-3 months. Transcription: If you’re trying to put too much effort into this part of the stroke, […]
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This swimmer has great balance, timing, and rotation. What could he do to swim faster then? His stroke is one area to look at with a current rating of 54spm, he’d be able to increase his speed with a stroke rate 10-20% higher. This is something he could develop over the next few months with […]
The post Removing The ‘Pause’ At The Front Of The Stroke appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This swimmer is not swimming in the front quadrant ie her lead arm is pulling too early AND she is getting stuck at her hip during the exit. The three main causes here are: 1. Too much tension in her hands and forearms 2. Not enough reach forwards before her catch 3. Too deep in […]
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This week in Feedback Friday, how can this swimmer reduce his stroke count by 2 to increase his speed by 6 secs/100m? Transcription: Hi. Brenton Ford here from Effortless Swimming. This is Feedback Friday. In today’s episode, we’re looking at a triathlete who sent his video in. He’s swimming around a 128 pace, holding 70 […]
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Some of you have asked for it, so here it is! I analyze my own stroke in this video. I had underwater filming done in July after 5 weeks out of the water – and it wasn’t pretty! Since then I’ve focused the depth of my hand in the extension phase, less wrist bend on […]
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In this Feedback Friday episode we look at a swimmer’s stroke who needs to work on the following things: – More rotation through the torso and hips – Spending more time in the extension phase with her right arm – Changing the exit of the hands We recommend the following drills to help with this: […]
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One of our members Sergey recently knocked off 10 seconds per 100m (1:50 pace to 1:40 pace) for his 800m time trial. We worked on two key things that helped him do this. The starting catch position and his catch. Take a look at how a small change in technique can lead to significant improvements […]
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One of our online swim coaching students made a good improvement in 2 months. Omar focused on the foundations of the stroke first. They might seem simple but it takes practice over time to make them permanent. Now we’re beginning to work on some of the more technical aspects of the stroke such as the […]
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Transcription:Hi. Brenton here from Effortless Swimming. This is another episode of Feedback Friday. I’ve got a special edition here where I have a guest who you may have heard of before. His name is Taren Gesell. He has the Triathlon Taren YouTube channel, so you’ve probably seen some of his videos before. Go and check […]
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This is Feedback Friday #27, and in this episode, we will talk about the position of the hand and how a good entry point to create the least drag for a good catch. We hope you’ll enjoy this episode and hopefully you can relate something back to your own swimming. Transcription: Hi, Brenton Ford here. […]
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Does where your fingers point in freestyle really matter? We look at this with one swimmer who recently attended a freestyle clinic in Queensland. Transcription: Hi, Brenton Ford here. Welcome to Feedback Friday. In today’s episode, we have another swimmer who attended our clinic recently. And in this clinic, we focused on a couple of […]
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Andre Obradovic joins us again in this episode as we talk about how to stop wasting your time and being more effective in your training. 00:53 Background on Being Productive03:14 Structural Schedule04:52 Today’s Plan Scheduling App09:37 Factoring The Appointments16:08 Sticking To It17:08 Getting Back On Track18:37 “I Can’t Do That, I Am Spontaneous”19:02 Spontaneity26:18 Being […]
The post How To Stop Wasting Time And Be More Effective With Your Training With Andre Obradovic appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Why It Pays Off To Follow The Process With Taren Gesell Our guest today is Taren Gesell of the YouTube Channel Triathlon Taren whom we had two analysis videos. The video analysis was six months apart and over that time he really made some impressive improvements and continues to get better. 01:07 How Taren started […]
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Jason Key is an age group triathlete based out of Texas. Jason joined our membership last year and has since gone from 1:50/100m pace in his triathlon swims to an incredible 1:30/100m pace. Click here to join the video membership 00:56 How Jason started with Effortless Swimming. 02:01 Jason’s focus as an athlete. 04:54 Time […]
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Which type of kick should you use? A 2-beat kick, 4-beat kick or 6-beat? In this video, we’ll show you what type of kick pattern could help your speed and efficiency in freestyle. Transcription: Welcome back to the Effortless Swimming YouTube channel. In today’s episode, we’re looking at a two-beat versus four-beat versus six-beat kick. […]
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In this episode of Feedback Friday, we look at a swimmer who is having trouble remaining in the front quadrant when she breathes. Instead of looking at the symptom (incorrect timing), we take a look at the cause. We dig deep on what’s causing her lead arm to pull through early, and uncover that […]
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We welcome back Solomon Wright who recently won the New Zealand 10km Open Water Championship. In this episode, Solomon talks about his training leading up to the National Championship and how he recovered from shoulder injury. We also added a before and after video of Solomon comparing his stroke now and 12 months ago. 02:53 […]
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Alright Brenton here, welcome to feedback Friday. In today’s episode, we’re looking at a triathlete who’s around a 1:30 pace for 1500. So, he’s swimming 22 and a half minutes for 1500 meters. So, he’s swimming quite well. Now looking at this first shot you can see he’s breathing exactly how you want it to […]
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Hey, Brenton here from Effortless Swimming. This is Feedback Friday. Got just a short video today. The quality of the video isn’t great, so I’ll just sort of keep it to two points only. In this video here you can see with the swimmer, in terms of his body position, sitting quite low in […]
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As we end a wonderful year, here’s a collection of the best podcast snippets for 2018. Enjoy! 00:47 How to Work on the Right Things with John Mullen 03:01 Laser vs the Lantern 05:12 Train in Manual, Race in Automatic 07:23 Move your Big Rock First 09:01 How to Train for 10km plus Swims with […]
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Hey Brenton here from Effortless Swimming, welcome to feedback Friday. In today’s episode, I want to show you one of the races that were recently held in Malta for the Super League Triathlon. If you haven’t checked out these races yet, go and watch them on YouTube or on Facebook, there’s some really high-level […]
The post 106SPM!!! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Hi, Brenton Ford here from Effortless Swimming. This is Feedback Friday.In today’s episode, we’re looking at a triathlete who sent his video in. He’s swimming around a 128 pace, holding 70 to 76 strokes per minute. Let’s take a look and see what we can find in terms in what we want to work on […]
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We are joined today by Els Visser who is a professional triathlete from the Netherlands Els had a TEDX talk about how a shipwreck experience changed her life. In this podcast, Els shares to us that experience with the hope of inspiring others. 00:37 Sinking Ship Experience 2:57 Stay or Swim 9:42 Surviving the Island […]
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All right. So let’s take a look at a video I recorded in July. This was after a few weeks off and just getting back into the season. Now one of the things that I’ve always done is come up too high in the extension phase of the stroke. If we look at this position […]
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We’ve just returned from our annual Hell Week camps in Thailand. Here are nine things I learned from the camp that I thought it would be worth sharing on a podcast. 1. Clear your mind 2. Regular feedback 3. Go crazy 4. Find your ideal stroke rate 5. 3 different ways to think about your […]
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Hi Brenton Ford here, welcome to the Effortless Swimming YouTube Channel. This video is about how often you should breathe and what breathing pattern you should use when you’re swimming freestyle Let’s break it down between training and racing, to me they’re two different things. In training, what I recommend to my swimmers is every […]
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Hey, YouTubers. Welcome back to another video. This is on breathing, if you ever have trouble breathing to your opposite side, then this video might be the way that you can fix it. We’re going to look at exactly what you can do in your freestyle to make sure that you can comfortably breathe to […]
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Hi! Welcome to the Effortless Swimming YouTube Channel my name is Brenton Ford. This video is about breathing we’ve done quite a few of these in the last couple of weeks and there’s a lot to it. In this video, I want to show you a good principle to maintain your posture and your alignment […]
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00:58 Pre Swim Routine for Olympic Athletes 02:35 How Much Time Should Be Given To Pre-Swim Routine 06:33 Basic Movements in Yoga Routine 8:58 Q Swim/ Q Swim App 15:24 Time Commitment in Integrating Yoga into Training 18:52 Yoga And Recovery 20:54 Breathing 25:13 On Adults Wanting To Improve Their Swimming 26:36 Balancing Your Nervous […]
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Hey YouTubers, welcome back to our channel. This is the latest video on breathing. I’ve had a lot of requests from people asking about how to breathe in freestyle so they don’t tire too quickly. Now, there’s a lot of different aspects and nuances to breathing, but in this video, I wanna talk specifically about […]
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Hi, Brenton here from Effortless Swimming, it’s been a while since I’ve done a feedback Friday video I like to try and do them every week but the last few weekends we’ve had a lot of clinics. We’ve been in Perth, we’ve been in Melbourne, Adelaide, and Sydney. So I’ve been pretty flat out running […]
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Our guest for today’s episode is Carl Reader who is a Functional Movement Coach and a Biokineticist (Exercise Therapist). He’s been helping athletes and clients move and exercise better through functional movements. Join us as we discuss warm up, squats and functional movement. 00:28 Carl Reader’s Background 2:29 What Can Swimmers Do As Warm Up. […]
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This is from Cindy’s video and the first thing we’ll look at is from the side. What we like to see is the head, hips, and heels at the surface and you can see that the legs are just dropping down slightly. What we would want to work towards is just getting those legs up […]
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Our guest today is Ben de Rivaz from Breca. Breca hosts swimrun events which take place on trail and open water; team races in pairs wearing wetsuit and trainers, transitioning between running and swimming stages. Join us as we discuss topics about the format swimrun compared to triathlon, why it is appealing to a lot […]
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Hi, Brenton here from Effortless Swimming. This is another episode of Feedback Friday. I’ve got a special edition here where I have guest who you might have heard of before. His name is Taren Gesell, he has the Triathlon Taren YouTube channel so you’ve probably seen some of his videos before. Go and check it […]
The post Triathlon Taren Swim Analysis appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Hi, Brenton Ford here. Welcome to Feedback Friday. In today’s episode we have another swimmer who attended our clinic recently and in this clinic, we focused on a couple of things. One of the main things we focused on was the direction of the fingertips during the catch and the pull through. Now if you […]
The post Fingers DOWN or to the SIDE? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Welcome to Feedback Friday number 27, where each week we’re bringing you the analysis of someone’s stroke. In today’s episode, we’ve got someone here who attended our clinic recently and made quite good changes in the space of the three and a half hour session. I want to talk you through those changes that he […]
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Getting beaten up by riot police. Setting his alarm 4 hours too early before the biggest race of his life. Not being able to walk for 4 days just weeks out from his last Olympic Games. These are just a few of the challenges 3x Olympian, Olympic bronze medallist and 100m Freestyle World Champion Brent […]
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This week I’m joined by Rory Buck to discuss the intricacies of swimming and coaching. Rory Buck is an ex-competitive swimmer turned coach, who went from being a collegiate swimmer to representing South Africa at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Turning to coaching to learn more about swimming, Rory now coaches from Dubai. Join […]
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This week’s podcast features Jason Hamilton as our guest. An athlete and triathlete who I met during Hell Week last year in Thailand, Jason joins us to speak about his journey as a swimmer, and how he trained to qualify in the World Championships. We cover topics such as winter swimming locations, using structure to […]
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Hi, Brenton here, welcome to Feedback Friday number 26. In today’s episode, we’re looking at a swimmer who came to one of our clinics recently, his name is Matt, and in the space of the three and a half hour session, he was able to bring his threshold pace down about six seconds per 100. […]
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Hi, Brenton Ford here. Welcome to Feedback Friday number 25, where each week we bring you the analysis of someone’s stroke. In today’s video, we’ve only got the front shot so there’s only so much we can see in the front shot. Ideally, I’d like to have a look at the side and the front. […]
The post Going DEEP!! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Brenton Ford here, Welcome to Feedback Friday, where each week we bring you the analysis of someone’s stroke. This episode is a little bit different, we’ve got a swimmer who joined our online coaching membership in February and last year, this person had a two-hour Ironman swim time and joined in the aim of going […]
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Welcome to Feedback Friday number 22. It’s been awhile since I recorded the last episode. I recently had my second child so I haven’t been getting much sleep, I haven’t had much time for anything apart from the essentials so we’re back into now and I hope you enjoy this video here. I want you […]
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Welcome to feedback Friday, on today’s episode, we are looking at an athlete who sent their videos to me and what we look at in Feedback Friday is how would we normally analyze this person’s stroke and what recommendations or what drills could we give them to help become a better swimmer. So hopefully this […]
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The Fearless Mind with Professional Triathlete Angela Naeth Welcome to this week’s podcast, where I sit down with professional triathlete Angela Naeth to talk about thinking and reflecting on your personal and sporting life. Angela hails from Canada and is a multiple Ironman Champion who holds a Masters degree in Physical Therapy and a Bachelor’s […]
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The first thing we normally look at is his body position and with the body position, we want to see the three touch points at the surface which are your head your hips and your heels. We want those three touch points to be at the surface, if they’re there then there’s a good chance […]
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This week’s podcast is an informal one; I talk to you about the importance of your beliefs in relation to your mindset. Over time, it has come to my attention that there is something holding back a majority of swimmers, and that is their beliefs. Whether it be something they see another swimmer do and […]
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This week Vicky Tate, who has recently become one of less than a hundred swimmers to complete the 40-kilometer crossing of Lake Taupo, joins us in the podcast. I met Vicky last year when she joined us for Hell Week in Thailand and we talk about everything from how Hell Week helped her, to the […]
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One of the most common questions we get when swimmers come to our freestyle clinics is “What can I do to get faster?” One of the things that we have found to be most effective when it comes to improving your swim speed is improving the catch and improving the pull through. The catch, it’s […]
The post THIS Is Why It’s So Hard To Get A High Elbow Catch! appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this week’s podcast, we discuss everything related to coaching, swimming, and fasting. Our guest for this episode is Bevan McKinnon. An Ironman University certified coach, McKinnon is accredited by Triathlon NZ and Bike NZ and is a NETFIT Stretch and Conditioning Coach as well as being an elite level triathlete who has been in […]
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What we are looking at in this video is the exit of the stroke, how the hand is exiting at the back. One in three swimmers or almost half of the swimmers I work with can make an adjustment with the back of their stroke. This is a case of someone who is exiting a […]
The post Are you getting FULL triceps extension in freestyle? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this video, you can see that this athlete is swimming really quite well. One of the things that stands out here is his catch. What the best swimmers tend to do is they allow their fingertips to point down while their upper arm manages to sustain almost the same position. Most adults won’t have […]
The post The Perfect Catch…Now What? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this video, we are looking at the hand entry, the alignment, and the tautness through the body. You can see that when he enters with his right hand, you can see that the thumb is turned in quite an angle and it is quite close to the head. When we are swimming, we want […]
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In this video, I want to pick out two things that’s most likely causing quite a bit of side-to-side movement. With freestyle, we generally want to keep quite stable through the core and through the hips. You can see in this video that the swimmer has a little bit of side-to-side movement. Here are a […]
The post Keep ‘Soft’ Hands? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
There are a lot of things that could look at focusing on, one thing that I want to point out to you is breathing. I see this in probably one out of every eight or nine students that I have is head lift before they take their breath. There are a couple of things that […]
The post Don’t Lift Your Head appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
How Body Composition Affects Your Swimming with Andre Ho-Peng. In this week’s podcast, we discuss everything relating to Body Composition and how it alters your swimming. Joining us is Andrew Ho-Peng, who is from DEXA Melbourne. A company that partners with the St. Kilda Football Club and the Collingwood Magpies Football Club to bring them […]
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Fuelling for a marathon swim has never been made so simple. Joining me in this weeks podcast is Tara Diversi, a swimmer who has invaluable experience when it comes to long-distance swimming. She has previously swum the English Channel and the Rottnest Channel to name a few. Tara works closely with a handful of swimmers […]
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In this episode, we talked about the things I have learned from chatting up with the Rottnest Channel Swim 2018 winners, Solomon Wright and Heidi Gan. Leading up to the race, both of them encountered some obstacles, however, I believe they were able to rise above the situation because of these three things : -Going […]
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In today’s podcast, we discuss the Rottnest Swim and recap everything that happened during the channel swim. Joining us on the podcast are the winners Solomon Wright and Heidi Gan, who won the male and female sections, both in record times. We discuss how 6- weeks of intensive training in the lead up to the […]
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Uncovering The Breath Training Secrets Used By Olympic Swimmers with James Fletcher James Fletcher joins us in today’s podcast to discuss breath training techniques for athletes. With a Physiology background to his name and previous time spent working with members of the Australian Olympic Swimming team such as James Roberts and Cameron McEvoy, James Fletcher’s […]
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With over 25 years of experience working with the highest level of athletes and sporting clubs all over the world, we welcome back Wayne Goldsmith, to discuss working with children and the role of parents in swim training.One of the most passionate sports performance experts throughout Australia, New Zealand, and the world, Wayne has been […]
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I’ve known Grant through mutual friends for a quite a while. He is a Triathlon coach and to me, he is one of the best coaches that teaches and coaches a lot base on Mindset, Intuitiveness, and Beliefs. In the podcast, we talked about a lot of different topics from How to Change your Structured […]
The post Race on Instinct (Avoid Over Thinking) with Grant Giles appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Gary Hurring is a former Olympic swimmer and coach from New Zealand who has been featured on our podcast previously in episode #90called “How to Change your Technique from an Olympic Coaches Perspective”. Gary and I are running a swim camp in Hawaii in March for swimmers, triathletes and open water swimmers to improve their technique, […]
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Let’s welcome back Lisandra de Carvalho as we talk about how to train for 10km+ swims. Lisandra has swum the Rottnest channel on numerous occasions and she has been my training partner these past few months in preparing for the Rottnest Swim this year. Join us as we talk about the things that are essential […]
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There are times when we get confused on what to prioritize. In today’s podcast, we talk about how it is beneficial to prioritize the bigger things first such as technique, focus, and mindset. Moreover, giving time also for smaller rocks such as strength training, diet, and mobility.
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The main thing that we would like to talk about today is body position and how I like to diagnose or break down what’s causing someone’s hips and legs to sit low in the water and this can be useful thing to go through in your own swimming if you feel that your legs are […]
The post How To Diagnose And Fix Your Sinking Legs appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Swimming can be compared to driving a car. In today’s podcast, we share with you about going from manual mode to automatic. When training, we like our swimmers to be in the manual mode where they really need to focus so that they can coordinate these little elements together.If you can practice that in training, […]
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One of the analogies we like to use in swimming is the laser vs the lantern approach. Which approach should you use? Listen as we talk about the importance of having a laser approach in your training.
The post Laser vs the Lamp appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this podcast we share to you why generalized coaching style doesn’t work for most swimmers.
The post The Power of Individualized Coaching appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this video, we’ve got a triathlete swimming in an endless pool and an endless pool will often make any flaws or areas in your stroke stand out more than they would when swimming normally. While it does change a stroke a little bit, we can certainly see a couple of things that we want […]
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When you train, do you feel like you only have one speed? In this podcast, we share with you on how you vary your pace in training, on how to shock the system.
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Most of the propulsion will come from the catch. We have worked with more than 1300 athletes and we have observed that most of them can impove on their catch.
The post The Catch appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
How long does it take you to warm up in training? We share our favourite pre-training routine to improve shoulder stability and reduce the chance of injury.
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Flexibility. Technique. Fitness. The list goes on… How do you know if you’re working on the ‘right’ things in your swimming? Join John Mullen from SwimmingScience.net and I on the latest podcast where we explore: – John’s ‘needs analysis’ process and how he determines what to focus on with each swimmer – Strategies for enhancing your […]
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This podcast episode is from the audio of our Facebook live and we talk about my consolidated thoughts on what most triathletes and open water swimmers can do to swim faster this 2018. Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/effortlessswimming/
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We discuss how the concept of domino effect can be helpful in the obstacles that you are facing. Listen and you will learn how identifying that initial or smaller dominoes can be beneficial in knocking over bigger dominoes.
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In this video, the first thing that stands out here, if you look from this position is: 1. Body Position – The head is at the right spot, the hips are up near the surface. You can see that the legs are dropping down a little bit low. That extra drag on top of the […]
The post A Very Common Cause Of ‘Sinking Legs’ appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today’s video is a little bit grainy but you can still get a pretty good idea of how this person is swimming. We’ve got two angles here, one from the side and one from the front. Looking from the side, there are a couple of things that we want to look for. 1. Recovery – […]
The post Can Less ‘High Elbow’ & ‘Less Rotation’ Be Faster? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This video is a before and after of someone who attended our clinic. The main things we worked on here are the most important parts of the stroke. 1. Catch and Pull Through – This is where most of your propulsion is going to come from and what we often see is that people who […]
The post Increase Your Power With This (BIG Difference) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This video today is an athlete that I’ve worked with for the last four months. His name is Greg. He is training for an Ironman in a few weeks time. Greg started off around 2 minutes 30 per 100, and he’s now got himself down to around 1:50 to 2-minute pace per 100. So quite […]
The post 30 Seconds Faster In 4 Months? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this analysis, we’re looking at a swimmer who has hit a plateau in her swim speed. What technical things can she focus on and change to help her get to that next level? The things that stand out the most for me is what the arms are doing in the entry extension and with […]
The post How To Avoid Slipping In Your Freestyle Catch appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this podcast episode, we talk about few important points from Angela Duckworth’s book GRIT and why people love swimming despite being difficult and challenging.
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In today’s podcast, listen on how the principle of taking one step backward and taking two steps forward is applicable whenever you changing a habit or when you make changes in your stroke. We’re also announcing the opening of bookings for Hell Week 2018 which is on December 14, 2017, 9:00 am Melbourne time.
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For this episode, we talk about how wearing a watch in training affects focus and technique in swimming. If you are using a watch when swimming, a little experiment that we would like you to try is that for 2 weeks leave your watch in your bag or at home and see how you get to […]
The post Should You Wear A Watch To Track Your Swimming? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today’s podcast is entitled “The Best of 2017”. We have compiled all of the best parts from all the podcasts across the year and put them on this episode. This special episode is a mix of everything–from ideas, skills, and techniques to becoming a lean athlete and swim fast to overcoming anxiety and uplifting […]
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A quick update on why we haven’t recorded many podcasts lately.
The post Update: Where we’ve been appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s video we’re looking at an athlete who is swimming quite well and when we did a session, there are a couple of things that we wanted to work on and change to help him get more out of his stroke. 1. Entry. He is entering a little bit too far out in front […]
The post Are You Missing The Power Position appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Last year Elise Butler (center) was swimming 20 mins for her 1km time trial. Over the past 18 months she’s made big improvements, now swimming well under 17 minutes. Elise joined us last year for our Hell Week swim camp and has joined us again for this year’s camp in Thailand. In this podcast, she […]
The post Breaking through the Elusive 2 Minutes per 100m Barrier with Elise Butler appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this podcast, we will talk about when to be ‘In the moment’ and when to be ‘Out of the moment’ in swimming and how this balance can help you as an athlete. This is in addition to our previous topics about focus, technique and delivers practice in order to change your habits and improve […]
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If you are a triathlete or an open water swimmer and you don’t have quite as much time to spend in the pool, a shortcut around building up your swim strength can often be using a pool buoy and paddles as part of your training. 1. Upper Body Strength and Posture Using a pool buoy […]
The post [Triathletes] The Argument For Using Pull Buoy And Paddles appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The 66 day and 18-month rule is a good rule to live by to replace old habits and become competent at a skill. Most people don’t stick with something long enough to see results, especially when it comes to changing their swimming. To know more about our membership click here
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Lisandra de Carvalho has been a friend of mine for almost eight years. She comes from a competitive swimming background and now focuses primarily on open water events. In this episode, we discuss everything to do with long distance open water swimming. Lisandra has raced the 19.7km Rottnest channel swim solo on three occasions and […]
The post How To Swim The Rottnest Channel appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
One of the things you can see in this video is how his hand direction is coming across the center on the entry which is causing the swimmer to go wide. The swimmer is going into a side to side movement which is causing the legs to splay at the back. When legs splay, it […]
The post Why Your Legs Are Slowing You Down appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Gary Hurring is a former swimmer and a coach from Wellington, New Zealand. Gary won the gold medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in the men’s 200 meters backstroke and silver medal in the same event at the 1978 World Aquatics Championships. He finished fourth in the 100m and fifth in the 200m at the […]
The post How To Change Your Technique From An Olympic Coaches’ Perspective appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today we’re looking at your exit in freestyle, how to know if you are pushing back far enough in freestyle to come over the top in the recovery in a comfortable, relaxed position. When it comes to the exit phase of the stroke, when the hands coming out of the water, there are two things […]
The post Where To Exit Your Hand In Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Posture is something that is fundamental to fast swimming, but it’s something that a few people know about or not being done the right way. We want to keep the spine long and straight and keep that straight line all the way up through the neck. Having a bad swimming posture like the arch on […]
The post Swim Faster With THIS Posture appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today, we’re looking at your breathing timing in freestyle and how to tell if you are breathing too late in freestyle. Sometimes, swimmers are missing out on their breathing timing and this is throwing the rest of their stroke out. They are either turning their head a little too slow or a little too late. […]
The post How To Get Your Timing Right When Breathing In Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In today’s video, we are looking at the high elbow recovery and how the term can easily be misinterpreted and it can impact a lot of swimmer’s stroke because they are trying to overdo the high elbow recovery. You can see the swimmer on the video that his arms are too close to his body, […]
The post The High Elbow Confusion appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this edition, we have Tabitha Jones whom we recently had on our podcast and if you have listened to her podcast, you would have heard that she has taken 20 seconds of her swim time per hundred. We are going to compare the very first video that she had with us when she first […]
The post How To Swim 20 Seconds Faster (Per 100m) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Welcome to the Effortless Swimming YouTube Channel. This is a new segment that we’re starting, it’s called Feedback Friday, where once a week, every Friday, we do a video analysis of someone’s stroke. The first thing we’ve got in this new segment feedback Friday is a friend of mine, Tim. He is a Triathlon coach […]
The post Can You Improve on a 51-minute Ironman Swim? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Jeff Grace is a yoga instructor and therapist from Vancouver, Canada. His specialty is swimming-specific yoga having worked with and studied under a number of Olympic coaches and swimmers. He’s also developed a program to help swimmers improve their swimming mobility and strength through yoga. In this podcast, we discussed the benefits of yoga, improvements […]
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This podcast episode is about having a breakthrough swim, whether it’s in a triathlon or an open water swim. Our guest today is Paul Speed a coach and a recently turned pro triathlete. With Paul, he changed his technique and training to make that second pack and come out with the water with the faster […]
The post How to have a breakthrough swim with Paul Speed appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this podcast, we welcome back Eney Jones who is a successful Master’s swimmer, open water swimmer and accomplished triathlete. She lives and works in Boulder, Colorado and has worked with many of the top triathletes to help them improve their swimming. She is also the creator of the Eney Bouy She was on the […]
The post The Latest Research On Swimming Fast In Open Water with Eney Jones appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast, we have Pete Robinson aka “Robbo”. He is a 3-time world champion in Triathlon, qualified for the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, and a bronze medalist in the Commonwealth Games. Pete has transition to a coach through his business – Elite Performing Minds.In this podcast, we’ll talk […]
The post The Mental Edge with Peter ‘Robbo’ Robertson appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Meredith Atwood is the creator of Swim Bike Mom a website dedicated to give motivation to women across the globe to women who are doing triathlon and those who are looking to get into triathlon. 01:00 – Take Us Back To 2010 03:28 – Today is the first day of your life. What are you going […]
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Tabitha Jones is a previous Hell Week camp attendee. Since coming to Thailand with us last year, she’s take more than 20 seconds off per 100m over a half ironman distance swim. An impressive achievement in 8 months! Tabitha shares with us the things that have helped her do this from changes to technique, workouts, […]
The post 20 Seconds Faster With Tabitha Jones appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Swimming coach Brian Ford has been Head Coach of the Traralgon Swimming Club since 1997. More importantly, he is my dad! Not only is he an accomplished swimmer and coach who has had athletes go on to make Olympic and National teams, he is one of the best developers of people, culture and discipline. If […]
The post The Importance Of High Standards In Coaching And Life with Brian Ford appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Meighan Julbert is a Mental Skills Consultant for The MindSide – a sports and psychology center located in Alabama. She has worked with a number of athletes from different sports like softball, golf, swimming, soccer, and others. This podcast is perfect for those who has performance anxiety and to those who feels like their mental […]
The post Mastering Your Mind Games with Meighan Julbert appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Ranell Hobson is the Coaching Director at The Academy of Sports Speed. She will share her experience in working with athletes at The Academy of Sports Speed and how their teachings cross over to swimmers and triathletes. 01:00 – Skills, Functional Movement, Elasticity, Power and Mechanics of The Sports 02:15 – Athletes’ Underdeveloped Skills […]
The post How To Develop Explosive Speed with Ranell Hobson appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Andre Obradovic has been our guest before where he talked about how you can adjust your sleeping routines and habits so you can perform better in the pool. In this podcast, Andre and I discuss how he went from overweight white collar worker to lean athlete, by challenging his own beliefs about nutrition. 02:00 – Andre’s […]
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Simon Griffiths is the founder and publisher of H2Open Magazine. H2Open Magazine is a magazine about open water swimming and everything that incorporates races and swims around the world. Simon will be sharing: his experience about open water swimming his recommendations about the best places to swim around the world to do open water swimming […]
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Nam Baldwin is the owner and Director of Performance at the Equalize Training Company. Nam is an emotional and stress control & management specialist, the co-developer of internationally recognised B.E.T Training, mentor and motivational health coach. He has worked with a number of Olympic Gold medalists and several world champions including professional surfer, Mick Fanning. […]
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Race Pace Training is about swimming at or quicker than your racing speed. It’s often done in short intervals (eg 25m or 50m) with enough rest between intervals to recover and hit race speed on the next one. On this podcast Garrett McCaffrey, coach at the Phoenix Swim Club, joins me as we chat […]
The post Race Pace Training with Garrett McCaffrey and Chris Ritter appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I’m a big believer in aiming for the minimum effective dose (MED) when training. This means doing the least amount of training for best possible result, where anything extra is wasteful. Think of it like water boiling once it reaches 100 celsius – it doesn’t get more boiled over this temperature. The reason we aim for […]
The post How To Train Less And Swim Faster with Luke McIlroy appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
The improvement in speed for many athletes can be quite significant in the beginning. For a swimmer who hasn’t had technique coaching through underwater filming and analysis like we do in our freestyle clinics and online membership, immediate changes to their stroke can help drop a number of seconds from their 100m pace. After these changes […]
The post How To Swim Three Seconds Faster Per Lap appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
David Samuelsohn is coach and founder of Westchester Masters Club in Larchmont, New York. David wrote a great article called Lose the Limp for a More Powerful Freestyle and in this podcast we’ll talk about that and: how to make adjustments in your breathing and rotation to get more power from your stroke the key principle he includes […]
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Eric Neilsen is a multisport coach and consultant who works with athletes of all abilities from novice to professional, by providing personalised services that empower clients to achieve their full athletic potential. Eric shares how he quit his corporate career to become a full-time coach and how he uses the ABC’s of optimal health and training to change […]
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In this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast, we have Katee Pedicini. Katee is the author of “Healing The Grumpy Athlete”. We will talk about her background, health and wellness and her inspiration for writing her book. 00:33 – Holistic Endurance 01:19 – How Women Can Embrace Their Hormones to Achieve Better Performance 04:40 – “You should be […]
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Karlyn Pipes is one of the Top 10 Masters Swimmers of all time, a multiple record holder in all four strokes and author of ‘The Do Over’. A book about how she used swimming to overcome alcohol addiction. We chat about how addiction can play a part in the lives of many elite athletes and how Karlyn changed […]
The post From Addiction To Record Breaker with Karlyn Pipes appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast, I have two special guests: Chloe McCardel and Michael (Murph) Renford (son of legendary marathon swimmer, Des Renford). Chloe is aiming to break Des’ record of 19 English Channel crossings this season. In this podcast we talk about the need for adventure and connection with the ocean that drives […]
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In this podcast episode, we talk to Kevin Koskella of TriSwimCoach about the key takeaways he’s had from interviewing guests on his own podcast and how it can help triathletes and swimmers improve their performance. 01:05 – Mix of Pros and Amateurs 03:25 – Developing That High Elbow Catch 12:19 – Get as much rest […]
The post What I’ve Learnt From One Hundred Podcasts with Kevin Koskella from TriSwimCoach appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Every now and then we come across a product that stands out from any other. Similar to DMC fins and the Eney Buoy2, our latest favourite is the Ameo Powerbreather. It’s a swim snorkel with a few differences that make it very unique and worth adding to your gear bag. Let’s look at why the Powerbreather is […]
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In this episode of the Effortless Swimming Podcast we have former Australian swimmer turned coach, Sam Ashby. Sam made the Australian swim team in 2011 and competed at the World Championships. Today he coaches at MLC Aquatic in Melbourne. We explore the challenges of transitioning from racing to coaching, how your motivations change and why all athletes should […]
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This is the 3rd episode in this 3-part series of interviews with swim coach Eney Jones. In this episode we’ll talk all about racing and rhythm in your freestyle. Let’s get into it! 00:45 – The Final Piece of The Puzzle 01:10 – On what Eney considers when looking for someone’s rhythm… 02:39 – Do […]
The post Faster Swimming Series with Eney Jones – Racing and Rhythm (Part 3 of 3) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This is part 2 of the 3-part podcast series that I’m doing with Eney Jones. In this episode, we’ll talk about gear and toys we can use to improve technique, rhythm and feel for the water. 01:00 – What’s inside Eney’s swimming bag? 03:00 – The Best Accessory You Can Have 03:40 – The Real […]
The post Faster Swimming Series with Eney Jones – Gear and Toys (Part 2 of 3) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this 3-part series of The Effortless Swimming Podcast we have one our favourite swim coaches returning to join us, Eney Jones. In Part One, we talk about cues and analogies for faster swimming. In the second podcast, we’ll talk about gear and toys for faster swimming and the third podcast of this series is […]
The post Faster Swimming Series with Eney Jones – Cues (Part 1 of 3) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, we have Level 3 triathlon coach and coach to many pros, Grant Giles. He works with a range of triathletes from Tim Van Berkel to Clayton Fettell. Grant specializes in the psychology of sports performance and how you can use mindfulness and other techniques to break through mental barriers. If you enjoy the mental […]
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In this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast, we have Kim Schwabenbauer. We recently had her as a guest and since the last podcast we had with her, she is now pregnant! We talk about how it is to be a professional triathlete, to now being pregnant and what the future looks like for her. We […]
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In this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast, we have Craig Percival. He and his wife run the AquaShop here in Melbourne. That’s how I got to know him. He previously shared with us a short video with his tips in choosing the right wet suit. Click here to watch that video. Craig is an […]
The post Pushing The Limit With Craig Percival appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This episode’s guest is Andre Obradovic. Andre is a mindset, health and well-being coach. Andre specializes in sleep coaching. He works with executives and athletes in helping them get more control of their sleeping habits. In this podcast, Andre and I discuss: the importance of sleep how it can affect your performance in the pool […]
The post Escaping Sleep Deprivation with Andre Obradovic appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Our guest for this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast is fun, inspiring and motivating. Kim Schwabenbauer is a professional triathlete from the U.S. and a nutritionist. Kim and I talk about: her experience when she broke a collarbone, thinking she would never be able to swim again and turning pro just three years later nutrition […]
The post From Broken Collarbone To Pro Triathlete In 3 Years with Kim Schwabenbauer appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
What can you focus on in your next triathlon swim or open water swim to hold a faster pace? I did my first 70.3 distance event recently in Ballarat, Australia. I swum 22:44 for the 1.9km and was the fastest age grouper and 5th overall out of the water. There are a few things I was […]
The post How To Hold A Faster Pace In Open Water appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode, we have Gerry Rodrigues of Tower 26. Tower 26 is a well-known swimming group in Santa Monica, United States where Gerry coaches a number of athletes (mostly triathletes). Listen in as Gerry discusses: the difference between training a swimmer versus training a triathlete his philosophy in swimming his approach in workouts how […]
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“I love my pull buoy” I’ve heard this many times before. Sometimes as an admission of guilt, othertimes a proud statement of fact. It doesn’t matter if you feel it’s a guilty pleasure or if you would never deny your undying love for a toy that can make swimming so easy and enjoyable…pull buoys can […]
The post Is It Okay To Love Your Pull Buoy? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this podcast, we have Steph Saullo. Steph empowers people to learn how to make the best nutrition-based choices for themselves and their goals. Her professional and academic credentials include a master’s degree in food and nutrition and Registered Dietitian. In this episode, Steph will share with us how you can get better performance in your […]
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Andy Anderson is the co-founder of Ultimate You Change Centres. He is famous for the ‘9 in 6’ program. A program that aims to help people lose 9 kilos in 6 weeks. This program has a 90-95% success rate with his clients that do the program. Andy and Brenton discuss how swimmers and triathletes can use the same shifts […]
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In this episode of the Effortless Swimming Podcast, our guest is Performance Coach Chris Ritter. He has worked with a wide range of athletes from youth, masters to Olympic gold medalists. He has worked closely with Cullen Jones – 2-time Olympic Gold Medalist and American World Record Holder. In this podcast we talk about: specific […]
The post Strength Training For Masters Athletes with Chris Ritter appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast, we have Travis Mahoney, he is an Australian Swim Team member. He started specialising in swimming at a later age of 16. He qualified for the 2014 Commonwealth Games where he placed 6th in the 400 IM. Now, he is training towards the 2016 Olympic Team. In […]
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Our guest in this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast is James O’Connor. He is a success and leadership coach at Elite Team Leadership where he works with a wide range of sports and athletes to help them improve their results in their chosen field. He is also host of the JocX podcast. In this […]
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In freestyle rotation is a required element of your stroke. But too much of it kills your speed, power and can slow your stroke rate to below your ideal cadence. At our freestyle clinics we provide in-depth video analysis of your stroke. One of the key aspects we look at is the shoulder rotation. When viewing […]
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Today’s guest is ultra-marathon swimmer, Chloe McCardel. She has successfully completed a triple crossing of the English Channel. This is something that hasn’t been done for the last 25 years. She’s the fourth person in history to do it. In this episode: 01:23 – When Chloe Fell In Love With The English Channel 02:40 – […]
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These are some of the things I’ve learned over the last few years when it comes to being a successful swimmer. It doesn’t mean being a world championship swimmer or breaking world records – it’s whatever success in swimming means to you. Invest in knowledge and experiences rather than things Having the latest gear can […]
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Today’s guest is professional triathlete, Josh Amberger. In the last 12 months, he’s won a range of 70.3 distance events including Port Macquarie, Challenge Half Shepparton and Western Sydney 70.3. He’s first out of the water in most triathlons. We talk to Josh about how he became such a good swimmer and triathlete. 02:40 – Suffering pays off… 05:17 […]
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What’s the difference between athletes that succeed in swimming and those that don’t reach their goals? This podcast explores the differences. If you haven’t listened to part 1 of Truths About Swimming, click here… A group or squad can fast track your success. If you are doing your training all by yourself, there is a good chance […]
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What’s the difference between the athletes that ‘make it’ in swimming, and those that don’t? In this three part series I cover some of the truths about swimming that I’ve come to learn in the last 20 years of coaching and swimming. Truth #1: It will take time. There are athletes that start swimming […]
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In this episode of the Effortless Swimming Podcast, we have Sara McLarty. She is a professional triathlete and a swimming coach based in Clermont, Florida. We’ll talk about how to become a better swimmer by making adjustments to your strokes and technique coming from the pool into the open water. In December, I’ll be with […]
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Water is almost 800 times denser than air. If your legs are sinking when you swim, you’re making things much harder for yourself. When we do video analysis for athletes in the Effortless Swimming Membership and at our freestyle clinics, one of the first things we look for is the heels breaking the surface every couple of kicks. […]
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Bevan McKinnon is an elite level triathlete, a triathlon coach and co-host at Fitter Radio – a podcast that features professional triathletes and triathlon coaches. I had a chance to be featured on his July 13 podcast episode alongside Mirinda Carfrae’s coach Siri Lindley. 03:16 – Why coaches are always ‘switched on’ 05:07 – About being […]
The post How To Swim Fast With No Swimming Background (featuring Bevan Mckinnon) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this podcast, we’ll be looking at mistakes to avoid when doing your workout. When we have an athlete join the Effortless Swimming Membership Program, we ask them what they are doing in their swim sessions. If that athlete doesn’t come from the swim squad background, there is probably a few mistakes they are making in […]
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You can run forever… Your bike fitness is exceptional… But each lap of the pool leaves you gasping for air like Houdini after a breath hold. Have you ever wondered why this happens even though you’re a fit person? There’s three main reasons this happens: if you hold your breath if your body position and balance is incorrect […]
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One of our mantras at Effortless Swimming is that there is more than one way to swim freestyle. Making everyone swim with the same style doesn’t take into account their body type, height, strength and natural swimming ability. Like we teach in The Art Of Triathlon Swimming some athletes are better suited to a different type of freestyle […]
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Can you imagine a rower trying to move if you cut off their paddle at the end of their oar? Pulling just the shaft (pole) through the water without the paddle wouldn’t get them far. But this is what many swimmers do everyday… At our recent freestyle clinics in Brisbane and the Gold Coast we got to see just how […]
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Becoming a better swimmer is like Andy Dufresne escaping prison in The Shawshank Redemption. For the next couple of years, you’ll be spending 3+ hours a week in the pool. You could pass this time like 99% of the prisoners in Shawshank and wait for it to be over, or you can start digging like […]
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The most important flexibility test that we have our athletes undergo is streamline test (aka combined elevation test). It’s the best indicator of a swimmer’s ability to achieve a high elbow position during the pull phase. The video above has been taken from the Art Of Triathlon Swimming – watch as Australian swim team physio Helen Walker […]
The post How To Achieve A High Elbow Position In Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In this episode of The Effortless Swimming podcast, our guest is open water swimming legend, Philip Rush. Philip Rush has completed ten crossings of the English Channel as well as triple crossing. He has the fastest record of two-way and three-way crossings of the English Channel. He has also done the Cook Strait eight times. […]
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Our guest in this Effortless Swimming podcast episode is Greg Dea. He is a Performance Consultant and Sports Physiotherapist. He is currently serving at the Northern Territory Institute of Sport as a Sports Medicine Coordinator. Greg has over 15 years of clinical practice in various international and national sporting teams. He recently just came back […]
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Blink and you’ll miss it. That’s what happens when you watch professional triathletes sight in swimming. Being able to sight without breaking your stroke rhythm is one the key skills of open water swimming. It takes practice to get the timing right, but you when do you’ll notice how much easier it is to sight and […]
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Our guest in this episode is Christian Schwaerzler, a triathlete who attended our Melbourne Freestyle clinic. He is an author, corporate coach and a speaker. Christian weighed 135 kgs five years ago and he is now down to around 75 kgs. He lost 60 kgs as a result of changing his lifestyle, diet and exercise. […]
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The freestyle catch is helped by the right entry and extension. In middle to long distance swimming there’s two things we have our athletes focus on to set up the freestyle catch correctly. The first is to enter the water with your fingertips first. To do this your arm can’t be fully extended before you enter, […]
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Breathing is the number one thing that will stuff up a swimmer’s alignment. Rotating your head too far to breathe throws your body balance off…so the key to breathing in freestyle is to: Minimise the impact on the rest your body The way to do this is to breathe just above the surface, ideally keeping one […]
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Speed, strength and power is crucial to high performance swimming. Wayne Goldsmith has worked with Swimming Australia and Triathlon Australia and shares his top strategies to generating more speed in your swimming. We also talk about different types of training methods, different tools you can use in your workouts. 01:20 – Who is Wayne Goldsmith? […]
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“Life is just a game of inches” Al Pacino famously said in his ‘Inch by inch’ speech in the movie Any Given Sunday. Open water entries and exits are no different. Standing up a few inches too deep can make or break your race. Here’s why… On the weekend I travelled to Frankston to watch the […]
The post How To Save 20 Seconds In Your Swim Leg appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Clayton Fettell has one of the best techniques in all of triathlon swimming. He finished in the front group at the last Ironman World Championships in the 70.3 distance. He has won multiple 70.3 races and he is a professional triathlete. In this podcast, we talk about technique, strength training, some of his favorite workouts […]
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Andrew Read owns Read Performance Training. His specialty is helping triathletes improve their results, overcome and avoid injury and be healthy for life through a different approach to strength and conditioning than most trainers. Discover how strength and conditioning play a part in endurance sports, the difference between goals versus systems, the process to building strength, which habits that […]
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Talk about a legend of the sport. Natalie Coughlin has been at the elite level for over a decade, but she’s not looking to hang up the goggles anytime soon. She’s getting stronger, fitter and faster. You’re about to find out why. Does this make you want train?
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Marc Evans is an experienced triathlon coach who’s with some of the greats including Dave Scott. He’s recently finished a book, “Triathletes in Motion” which goes into great detail about how to develop better movement patterns, core stability and posture for triathlon. Traditionally, the focus of swimming and triathlon is volume, intensity, training periodisation and doing a particular work out […]
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In this episode of the Effortless Swimming podcast, we have a good friend of mine – Master Swimmer Paul Bailey. He will talk about how consistent training and continual focus on technique has helped him improve his times. 01:30 – Back in the 80’s 02:10 – Out of the pool 03:00 – Fast track to […]
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Every now and then you perform a workout that takes every last inch of will power to complete. Your arms and legs are filled with lactate, but you know if you keep switched on mentally you can get through it. This set is a little different though…it only ends when you puke. It might not be the […]
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Eney Jones is a successful Master’s swimmer, open water swimmer and accomplished triathlete. She lives and works in Boulder, Colorado and has worked with many of the top triathletes to help them improve their swimming. We talk with Eney about technique, posture, tempo, catch and pull, open water racing tips and awareness in the open water. This episode is […]
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Swimming should be fluid and relaxed? Not so much when it comes to your posture. In this short clip you’ll see the difference in power that you can achieve from being lazy with your posture to ‘switched on’. Our rule of thumb is to swim tall by lengthening your core, keeping your shoulders back and […]
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Motivation is like a roller coaster. It peaks and troughs throughout the day, the week and your entire season. When we talk about ‘motivation’, it’s easy to be ambiguous with what it means. I’m talking about having the motivation to ‘get it done’. To do the training you’ve set yourself. To do what you said […]
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Not all changes to your stroke need to take months of intense focus. Many changes can be made instantly if you know what it is you’re doing, and what you need to do differently. Take for example, a swimmer entering across their head instead of in front of their shoulder. If they can see what they’re […]
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We meet hundreds of triathletes and swimmers during our freestyle clinics. A common trait the fastest of them share is great flexibility through the shoulders, hip flexors and ankles. It’s very obvious in underwater filming when an athlete is tight in these areas as it causes errors in their stroke. Tights shoulders, back and lats = Dropped elbow during […]
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Our guest for this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast is someone we’ve had twice before – Chloe McCardel. She’s now opened relay and individual Channel slots for 2016. You can find her details at the bottom of this article to apply to a 2016 position. 00:48 – England to Melbourne 02:04 – 4 Buoys & A […]
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In all high level swim squads there is a big focus on perfecting these three skills: Push offs/streamline Turns Finishes/No breathing from the 5m flags Even for open water swimmers and triathletes I believe there should be at least some time spent teaching athletes how to do each of these three skills properly. Even though […]
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One of the principles of fast swimming that we teach is flexibility. In our work with swimmers and triathletes we notice that hip, hamstring and glute flexibility is often poor. This can change a swimmer’s body position by causing their legs to drop and hips to sit below the surface. Athletes that are sitting for […]
The post The Solution To A Tight Lower Back appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
[three_fourth_last]Katie Ledecky smashed the women’s 400m freestyle world record last week in a time of 3:58.86. Here’s our top 5 freestyle technique takeaways from the swim. 1. Don’t Hang Around (While Breathing) This image shows Ledecky after taking a breath. She’s gets her breath quickly and returns her face back down right away. Her lead […]
The post 5 Things All Swimmers And Triathletes Can Learn From Katie Ledecky’s Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Today’s guest is Rait Ratasepp. Rait is a member of Effortless Swimming Membership Program – our online swim coaching community. He just completed the Double Ultra World Cup in Hungary and won in convincing style. It’s a double ironman distance triathlon. In this podcast, we cover his training, the things he focused on for his swim and […]
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In this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast, I interview a friend of mine, Jon Muller. Jon is an author from Wellington, New Zealand and been following some of our swimming workouts and technique programs. In the last couple of weeks, he finished writing a book about swimming which describes swimming in a way that […]
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In this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast, we have Chloe McCardel. She is a 6x solo English Channel swimmer. We talk about how to get started in channel swimming and how you can be part of a relay team in 2015. 01:25 – How do you help people with channel swimming? 02:00 – It […]
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In this episode of The Effortless Swimming Podcast, I am talking to Julie Robinson. She was an elite level swimmer and today we will talk about mind training for swimming and how it fits into the swimming puzzle. Julie is a clinical hypnotherapist and a neuro-linguistic programmer. She has worked with a number of swimmers […]
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Underwater is where it all happens. In this video you’ll notice the huge difference between an elevated elbow during the catch and a dropped elbow. There’s also one more thing which you might have missed, as you’ll soon see. Plus you’ll discover two of our favourite drills for improving your high elbow catch. In the […]
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In this episode of The Effortless Swimming podcast, my guest for the third time is Steph Lowe – The Natural Nutritionist. We talk about: 00:40 – The Start of My Baking Career 00:52 – What is Gluten-free? 01:06 – The Real Food Movement 02:20 – It’s a lifestyle. Not a fad. 02:53 – Nutrition is […]
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In an online forum I’m a part of, a member recently posted this: “I seem to be getting faster in the pool by just swimming (3 to 4 days a week). No drills, no fancy equipment, just more time in the pool.” He’s damn right. You can’t beat consistency. Swimming is one of those sports […]
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In this episode of The Effortless Swimming podcast, our guest is Mark Breadner. Mark has done a lot of work with the Australian team in relation to some strength and conditioning work, some mindset training. Mark is going to talk about that and how you can implement it into your own swimming and triathlon training […]
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As we lead in the competitions, one of the things we focus on is stroke count and distance per stroke. How We Use It Training We’ll typically swim an easy and relaxed 50m, counting how many strokes we take for the lap. Then we’ll go a set of 10-20 100’s with 20 seconds rest in between. What […]
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A smooth transition from your entry into your extension forward is critical in freestyle. Creating minimal drag so you’ve got that smooth transition that will get you in the correct catch position nice and early. One of the mistakes that we quite often see here is swimmers will either enter too early or too late. […]
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When I’m coaching swimmers, it doesn’t matter what their level, whether they are National level swimmers and triathletes or beginners, one of the most important things is maintaining your speed in freestyle. What your fingertips do as you’re extending forward affects your speed. How It Works What we are looking for here is keeping your […]
The post It’s All In The Fingertips appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
If you’ve tuned into any of our recent videos, you’ll know the importance of stroke rate. When you race competitions it’s something that is often forgotten about. Instead we look at splits, technique, positioning, etc but rarely check stroke rate. Your coach or training partner can do it with a reliable swimming stopwatch or you can check […]
The post High Performance Stroke Rates appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Have you ever wondered wetsuit is fastest – a sleeved or sleeveless? Is there a difference? You might be surprised by the results of a 400 meter time trial I did recently. I was lucky enough to borrow a sleeved and sleeveless Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit from Craig Percival from Aquashop in South Melbourne. I went to the […]
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Wayne Goldsmith is a thought leader in the swimming coaching community. We talk about Ultra Short Race Pace Training (developed by Brent Rushall) which is starting to become a more widely used training method. I came across an article about a young swimmer in the US called Michael Andrew who is breaking age group records […]
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In this podcast, my guest is Aaron Davis from Venture. Aaron runs an adventure travel company . He is the one running the behind the scenes logistics for The Great Ocean Road Trip in February 2014. The reason why I am running this trip with Aaron is because I want to be able to focus […]
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There’s a lot of ways to increase your speed, and by improving one thing at a time you get gradual improvements in your swimming. One of the most important things is stroke rate. Your stroke rate is how many strokes you take per minute. We count them as one arm stroke equals one count. It’s particularly […]
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Before we head into 2014 there’s a few things I’ve learnt this year that might help you. 1. Training Hard Will Only Get You So Far Don’t get me wrong, you need to bust your arse in training…but it’s not the only thing that’ll get you to where you want. The smartest athletes know that […]
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In the first article I covered why my squad now does the majority of their warm up with fins on. If you missed it you can read Part 1 here. This article is about the type of fins we’re now using and why I’ve had my whole squad change to them. I’ve tried several different […]
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If someone had told me two years ago to warm up with fins, I would have asked them which ‘Learn To Swim’ class they had just came from. Today however, you’ll see my squad wearing fins in their warm up nearly every session. I can hear the sceptics already. “Fins ruin your technique” “You don’t […]
The post Why I Warm Up With Fins (Part 1) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
John and Bevan are the legendary and very entertaining Kiwi’s from the IM Talk podcast. Listen in as the boys share the things they’ve learned from 7 years of being deep in the trenches of ironman and triathlon. 01:10 – The Ugly Duckling 01:33 – 7 Years of Solid IMTalk podcast 03:49 – Consistency is […]
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Renee Trost is a Naturopath in Melbourne. Renee has a background in field hockey. She was an Australian team member for a number of years. She played in World Cups, World Championships, the Champions Trophy and was also in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. In this podcast we discuss strategies on how to feel better […]
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“He runs like a swimmer”. Yep, we swimmers have a look about us when we’re running that makes us look like ‘fish out of water’. This podcast is all about how a legendary run coach is changing that. Bobby McGee, 5x Olympic run coach joins me on this episode of the Effortless Swimming podcast. This […]
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Helen Walker is a physiotherapist at Physio4Athletes and has worked on Australian Swim Teams. Helen has been doing musculoskeletal screenings with a number of my swimmers. It tests flexibility and strength in the parts of the body which are important for swimming. I recommend all swimmers have this done to help prevent injury and improve your […]
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“It’s very, very tough.” Not exactly the kind of thing you want to hear from an Ironman World Champion about a training session. But that’s what Chris McCormack (Macca) says about the Elevator set. Earlier this year I was asked by Chris McCormack to join his MaccaX team as a swim coaching expert to advise […]
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This week I’ve got a challenge for you. I want to challenge you to try what I’m about to talk about. To see if you can get an increase in speed by trying this one thing. In the next few weeks we’re releasing the Effortless Freestyle DVD which we’ve been working on for the last couple of […]
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Welcome to another episode of The Effortless Swimming podcast. In this episode I chat with a good friend of mine, Andy Anderson. Andy Anderson is the CEO of Ultimate You which is a gym here in Southbank, Melbourne. He is also the editor of Ultimate You Magazine. He is a strength and conditioning coach and […]
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On the weekend one of the swimmers that I coach, Stuart Moffat, broke the world record for the 50 breaststroke short course in the 50-54 years age group. The world record was 30.61. Stu went 30.48 with a great swim. (Update Due to a technicality at the meet itself it can’t be counted as a […]
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The Good Thing About Being Slower If you are a swimmer who is may not be as fast as you’d like to be then the good thing is that you have a lot more room for improvement. Swimmers at the pointy end of the field find it harder to improve because the improvement is much […]
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If you look at what the top swimmers do in their training, they focus their training for one event in particular. They won’t use the shotgun approach where they target the 1500 freestyle, the 100 butterfly and the 400 medley all at once. They target their training towards one event. If you’re racing a number […]
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This week I want to show you one of the things that makes for a fast tumble turn. If you’re a triathlete or a Master’s swimmer who is having trouble tumble turning, this might be why. Good Tumble Turns Have… If you look at a good tumble turn here, as the swimmer goes in, they […]
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- Sponge Tie a piece of elastic around the sponge and then around your waist and use the sponge as resistance. 2. Rubbish bin Make sure the bin is clean and empty and do butterfly kick under the water with fins on, holding the bin out in front of you. It will catch all of […]
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Have you ever been in the situation where you’re in a race and you’re next to someone who you feel you shouldn’t be beating, so you pull yourself back and you don’t allow yourself to pass that person? I have lost races before because I didn’t have the confidence in order to swim faster than […]
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If you need a towel that dries quickly, then I’ve got a good towel for you. I got sent 2 towels from a company in Canada called Discovery Trekking Outdoors. Now I met these ultra fast drying towels. They’re similar material to what you might see in some of your race competition shirts, if you do […]
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I want to talk a little bit about breaststroke and what you can do to bring your times down, and be more relaxed, more comfortable and swim faster breaststroke. I got a email out from one of our Effortless Breaststroke customers this week and he’s been taking his son through some of the drills over […]
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If you’re looking to improve your butterfly, then it makes sense to improve your rhythm because butterfly is all about rhythm. Here’s two drills from our Effortless Butterfly program which you can find at EffortlessButterfly.com and that’s a training program where we go through a series of drills which will take you step-by-step through the […]
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This week is hell week. And like I promised you last week I was going to give you one of our workouts from hell week. So that’s coming up very shortly. The rest of the workouts I’m adding in to Effortless Swimming Membership Program which is our online swim coaching program. So head on over to […]
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Next week I’m taking my squad through a “hell week”. Which is one week of very, very challenging training where we increase the intensity and we increase the duration of our main sets. We also add an extra session in there. The reason that we do this is because with one week of solid training […]
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John Konrads holds 26 individual world records and won the 1500 m freestyle in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He now coaches up in the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Queensland. One of his mantras is “swim easy”. In this podcast episode I will talk to John and see how we can prove how swimming […]
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Now, if you’re like me and you’re not a very good dancer because you lack rhythm on the dance floor, it doesn’t mean you can’t be a good swimmer. In swimming, you need to have a good rhythm because it reduces the amount of dead spots in your stroke and it means that you can […]
The post How To Develop Rhythm In Freestyle (And Get Rid of ‘Dead Spots’) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
If you’re on any sort of underwater filming, whether that’s in one on one sessions with your squad or with your group then I’ve been using a really good little set up. It doesn’t cost too much money but allows you to get high quality video and get every single angle that you need to […]
The post What I Use For Underwater Filming appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I’ve been doing a lot of one-on-one stroke correction sessions where we do underwater filming, where we get great footage of the swimmer. We then do analysis on the computer and then we jump back in the water and we go through some drills and exercises to help the swimmer improve their stroke. One of […]
The post The Momentum Entry appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
If you swim in open water whether you’re a triathlete, an open water swimmer or you just enjoy swimming out in the sea or in the lake then, you’ll need to be sighting because it’s very easy to go off track and off course if you’re not sighting. There are two main ways to sight. […]
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We’re back for round two for the second podcast with my favourite nutritionist, Steph Lowe of TheNaturalNutritionist.com Today we’re talking about the two big misconceptions about food. I’ve made some changes to what I eat lately based on misinformation I learnt when I was in school. Let’s get into it. Brenton Ford: Welcome to […]
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Music as an accompaniment to a swim workout is a great source of motivation, inspiration and distraction from exhaustion. However, when it comes to swimming and water sports, having your dose of entertainment with your favourite beats can become a challenge. Considering that water is an integral part in swimming, we always wonder how we […]
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If you’ve worn a band in your freestyle before, some of those rubber bands or those synthetic bands that you can tie around your feet so that you don’t kick…then you’ll know just how important it is to kick to balance and time your stroke. When you’ve got a band on, it keeps your feet […]
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Last month I did a one-on-one stroke correction session with a swimmer and she was entering too early in her freestyle. So she was entering her hand before she needed to which meant that she was creating a drag as she extended forward. So we needed to move her hand entry out a little bit. […]
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This week I’m in Fiji and topic of today’s video is “What do you like to do in holidays to stay fit?”. Here in Fiji most of the islands are surrounded by coral, you can’t swim around a lot of them. So, I have do some different things to stay fit because when you stop […]
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If you’re like me and you’re a swimmer and an athlete. If you eat a lot of food and you go to cupboard more than once to see what is there to eat then what I found to work really well to not only help me eat less but to make sure that I eat […]
The post Quick Food Preparation For Hungry Swimmers appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
When you are looking to breath to your other side in freestyle, sometimes it can be challenging because most of the time you’re used to breathing in to one side and the other side, you haven’t got that practiced and sometimes isn’t as comfortable as it is breathing to the opposite side. So if you […]
The post How To Breathe To Your Opposite Side In Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This week I drove from Melbourne to Sydney on our way to the Master’s National Championships. And on our way there, I listened to a really good book called Born to Run. And I listened to it through Audible which is a really cool service if you haven’t used it before. But the premise behind […]
The post Are You Enjoying It? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I know that when I haven’t set a goal for the next couple of months to train towards it is very difficult to get myself off to the pool to get training. If there is nothing to look forward to then there is really no reason to get yourself out of bed early in the […]
The post Why Do You Do It? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This week you will notice the video is a little bit different to what we normally do. The reason is I am going to show you a video that I have just posted in our online coaching program. We are looking at increasing stroke rate; a lot of swimmers can struggle with because they are not […]
The post The “Gentle” Entry appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I went down to watch the Ironman Melbourne this weekend which was absolutely awesome. There were over 2000 competitors starting at once in the age group category. It was pretty choppy conditions and it was really rough particularly out the back. Quite a few swimmers I saw started the race and then said no I […]
The post How To Be More Confident In Open Water appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
What could I mean by the fake catch? I have spoken a little bit about this in our online coahing program this week as well. Quite a few swimmers enter at an angle like that rather than keeping their hand flat there. The reason why some swimmers do it is because entering like that means that […]
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Bobby McGee has 31 years of coaching experience. He started intensely coaching triathletes in 2002. He has coached the Olympic champion in Atlanta in a marathon. He also coached some age group race walkers, some amateur race walkers to world titles and then the last decade has been full on with the triathletes. Watch some […]
The post #20 The One About Running (with Bobby McGee) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
If we look at the freestyle catch one of the biggest mistakes swimmers often make is that they will enter and extend forward and lock their elbow out for longer than they need to. What that often causes them to do is push down on the water and then pull through. They are only catching […]
The post The Locked Elbow Pull appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Jeff Booher is a triathlon coach who specialises in custom designed training programs. He works with all levels of triathletes from age groupers to professionals. He also leads a coaching team of 15 Tridot certified coaches who work with hundreds of athletes all over the world. —- Free offer for Effortless Swimming listeners —- In […]
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If you look at the top swimmers, Olympians or the swimmers of really good ability – they look like fish in the water. It looks like the water is their second home. Compare that to someone who is brand new, they’ll usually be tense, nervous and they’re fighting the water. So, how do you get […]
The post How To Be Comfortable In The Water appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
If you followed our videos in the last few weeks you will know there is more than one way to swim freestyle. If you look at Ian Thorpe versus Michael Phelps they both have very different techniques but they are both very fast swimmers. If you look at swimmers in a certain race they will […]
The post How To Adjust Your Technique While Racing appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Gary Barclay of TheSwimmingExpert.com is the author of Swimming for Parents – a book about how to best support your child in swimming. In this episode of The Effortless Swimming podcast Gary will talk about how to raise a champion swimmer. Brenton Ford: Welcome to another episode of the Effortless Swimming podcast. Today’s guest is […]
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Do you need to wear a wetsuit? I have been doing a number of triathlons lately and what I have noticed is that in the shorter events, the sprint triathlons where you are doing 400m – 500m swim the majority of swimmers are wearing wetsuits when the water is not to cold. I believe based […]
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In Effortless Swimming’s Membership Program, one of the things that we talk about a lot is getting your stroke rate up in open water swimming. A lot of our athletes are triathletes and open water swimmers and in order to go faster in open water swims you might need to get your stroke rate up. I […]
The post How To Increase Your Stroke Rate In Open Water appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
A few changes that we made lately with my squad’s sprint freestyle is making sure that we get the energy transfer from our recovery into the water. Quite often you will see swimmers in their recovery they will extend and then enter; then they have lost their momentum they have got from the recovery coming […]
The post Sprint Freestyle Tips – Energy Transfer appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
One of the things that I am constantly asked is do you need a coach or can you go about this thing on your own? My answer is always the same whether you are a triathlete or a swimmer. My answer is you don’t necessarily need a coach; if you know enough about training plans, […]
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In Effortless Swimming’s Membership Program, one of the things that we offer is video analysis. You can upload a video to YouTube and post it in the forum and I will take a look at your stroke and give you some personal suggestions as to what changes you should make with your stroke, if you want […]
The post Why Bad Technique Causes Shoulder Injuries appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I got emailed by someone last week who suggested that my accent was a little too strong and I mispronounce words like ‘lever’ and ‘water’. I know when I say water sometimes it sounds like I am saying it with a ‘D’ but that is just how I talk. What I want to know is […]
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A lot of triathletes are very fit cardiovascular-wise; they have built up their engine so they can run for a long time and bike for a long time. If you find that your swimming is not up to scratch to where you would like it to be then it might be because you haven’t developed […]
The post Why Being Fit Doesn’t Equal Being Fast appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
On the weekend I had to put up some shelving in our house which was a new experience for me. I had never done it before so I had to learn it from scratch. To be honest I got pretty frustrated when I got something’s wrong, I had to re-do some things and it took […]
The post What You Should Know before You Change Your Technique appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
It is one of the most common mistakes in freestyle where a swimmer pulls across their body and is crossing over their midline with their hand and arm. There are two main causes of crossing over the body; the first one is keeping your arm straight in your pull through rather than bending your elbow […]
The post How to Stop Pulling Across Your Body In Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
USA Swimming’s “Pull” Presentation I posted a link to a presentation in online coaching program, I have posted that link and I have to say it’s one of the best presentations I’ve seen so check that out if you are a member. 00:05 – USA Swimming’s “Pull” Presentation 00:32 – Are You Training Too Hard? […]
The post The Best Video On Pull I’ve Ever Seen, Nutrition For Swimmers, Freestyle Catch appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
When you’re swimming in open water and it’s choppy, you might need to adjust your strokes so you’re swimming with more punch and flow. So what does that mean exactly? Swimming with more punch and flow means that you’re entering the water a little bit more forcefully. So you’re entering with a bit more force […]
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Steph Lowe is a Nutritionist, a tri-athlete training for the Hawaiian Half Ironman, she is about to complete her master’s degree in nutrition and she specialises in sports nutrition using natural food and ingredients. In this episode of The Effortless Swimming podcast, Steph will talk about high performance nutrition for swimmers. Brenton Ford: Welcome to […]
The post #17 The One About High Performance Nutrition (with Steph Lowe) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
On the weekend I was part of a team that did an Olympic distance triathlon. One of the main things that I got from this is that people will generally work harder for other people than they will themselves. For example in this team I did the swim leg and I worked my arse off […]
The post The “Team” Advantage appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
One of the biggest differences between swimmers in the fast lane and swimmers in the slow lane is the initial catch. Swimmers in the fast lane; in their freestyle they will enter and be going forward, then they will allow their hand to drop down while they keep their elbow high. Getting that initial catch […]
The post How To Develop Freestyle Catch appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
One of the most important components of a training program is slow aerobic work. One of the mistakes that I have made before and I see a lot of athletes commonly making this mistake; is that they do their slow aerobic work at a pace which is a little too quick to work the right […]
The post Do You Train Too Hard? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
If you have ever been told by a coach to get your hips up what you might have done is bent at the hips and stuck your bum up higher in the water; therefore your bum is higher but your legs are dragging. What that does it creates more resistance and more drag than what […]
The post How to Swim Higher in Freestyle appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
I have been getting a lot of questions lately about losing weight and swimming and do the two go together. The thing about losing weight is the majority of it comes down to what you eat and how much you eat. Swimming can play a good part in losing weight and maintaining weight but the […]
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In this video I am going to share with you some smart training hacks for you to improve your triathlon swim training. In the recent triathlon world championships held in New Zealand, one of our swimmers who uses the Effortless Swimming Workouts won his age group in the 45-49 years age group for Olympic distance […]
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The strategy we are going to talk about today is Find Feet and Hang On. You see, if you are not the fastest swimmer but you know there are swimmers out there that are slightly quicker than you then, you can swim pretty much the same pace as them for the race if you find […]
The post Open Water Swimming: Find Feet & Hang On appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
If you want to swim a faster 50m or 100m freestyle there are a few changes you can make to your stroke in order to swim faster. 0:11 – How To Change Your Technique For Sprinting 0:27 – Shoulder Driven Freestyle 0:36 – Start The Catch Deeper 0:54 – Keep Momentum From Your Entry 1:12 […]
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Russell Smith is the current age group triathlon world champion in Olympic distance & Asia Pacific age group champion in Ironman. He has been using the Effortless Swimming Workouts as part of his training program. In this podcast, he will talk about how he is using the Effortless Swimming Workouts to succeed in triathlon. Download […]
The post #16 The One About Becoming Triathlon World Champion (with Russell Smith) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
What changes should you make to your technique if you’re wearing a wetsuit compared to swimming without a wetsuit? Well if you’ve got a good wetsuit then the chances are you’ll be swimming higher in the water than you normally are. 0:14 – Good Wetsuit = Swim Higher 0:25 – Create less Drag With a […]
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Over the holidays, I gave a friend of mine The Mastering Freestyle Program for him to try. Now in 4 sessions he dropped his time from a 1:40 down to 1:36 for his 100 meter pace. And dropped his stroke count from 42 down to a 34. 00:11 – 1:40 down to 1:36/100m pace 00:15 […]
The post How To Develop Hip-Driven Freestyle Technique appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Welcome to swimming news this week; this week we talk about the importance of consistency, why you should get flexibility tested and I have a back stroke and a breast stroke tip for you. 00:21 – Is Your Training Consistent? 01:22 – Flexibility Testing 02:25 – ‘World’s Best Swimmer’ Now Free 02:58 – Supercharging Your […]
The post How to Continually Improve Your Swimming appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Access The World’s Best Swimmer – FREE TRAINING here
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Welcome to swimming news this week. This week we look at how to pull through with a high elbow, where to enter your hand in freestyle and also we’ll talk about my favorite mindset training that I find most effective for better performance in racing. 0:45 – How To Pull With A High Elbow 0:57 […]
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On this episode of Effortless Swimming podcast, I have Koe Davidson who is a swimmer with me at PowerPoints and he is also a chiropractor. I have been seeing Koe for the last couple of weeks about a sore back, but going in to get that treated I have had a lot more come out of it than just that. I felt better in the pool, I have more power and I have felt a whole lot better just generally from getting treated twice a week.
Visit Dr. Koe Davidson at www.peakpotential.com.au
Download the transcript
The post #15 Why Usain Bolt Travels With a Chiropractor (featuring Koe Davidson) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This week’s triathlon news we are going to talk about how you can simulate a race in training so that you improve your performance and improve your results in your triathlon swimming races.
00:24 – Initial Speed and Fine Rhythm
01:30 – Fartlek
02:15 – Broken Swim at Race Pace
All these types of workouts are in our workouts program
Initial Speed and Fine Rhythm
There are three types of sets that I like to do; the first one I can initial speed and fine rhythm. We did this yesterday in training and an example would be 600m, 400m and 200m. What we do we go out the first 100m at 90%; so you are working pretty hard that first 100m. Then after that you go around 80% where you just try to stabilise your heart rate, find a rhythm and get comfortable in your swimming. What that does is in a triathlon race you are going to go out pretty hard in that first 100m – 150m so you can find your space, get away from the pack and find your feet. After that you will want to find your rhythm and just find a comfortable pace and a comfortable way of swimming so that you can swim well for the rest of the race. These are really good sets for doing that; for example last night we went 600m where the 100m you go at 90% then you swim at 80% after that. Then we do 400m with the same thing; 100m fast and then 300m that little bit easier, then 200m with the same sort of thing. They are good sets to practice your triathlon races.
Fartlek
The second one is Fartlek; most of you are probably familiar with it where you go some speed then some recovery but you’re going continuously. My favourite Fartlek set that we do is 30 x 50m’s with every third one fast. The first two would be at about 80% and every third one we go at 90%. You are constantly getting your heart rate up and then just trying to control it after that. It is a really good one just for practicing your speed. In your triathlon races you might need to use a little bit of speed here and there if you need to get on someone’s feet or need to catch up to a pack so it is really good to practice your speed in your sets.
Broken Swim at Race Pace
The third one is broken swim at race pace; let’s say that your race is 1.9km let’s imagine you are doing a half ironman then it is good to practice doing that but broken. You might go 19 x 100m’s with 20 seconds rest in-between each of the 100m’s and your aim is to swim at your race pace; the pace that you want to go in your race. It will help you get a feel for how hard you need to go to hit your desired pace and just a good way to practice those races. When you get more comfortable with it you can bring down the rest. You might do 19 x 100m’s today with 30 seconds rest in-between then you might do another month down the track go 20 seconds rest in-between still trying to hold that same pace that you did before that. That is a way that you can make it more difficult.
These are three types of things that I like to do with my guys in training as to improve their open water swimming and their Triathlon swims.
That’s it for Triathlon news this week, see you next week.
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Trent Grimsey is an open water swimmer, he is an Australian team member and most notably he has recently broken the English Channel world record. He went 6 hours 55 minutes, breaking the old record by 2 minutes and 50 seconds. We chat to Trent about the Channel swim but also his training, technique and how he avoids injury doing so many km’s in the pool.
Keep up to date with Trent:
Website
Download the transcript
The post #14 The One About Epic Races (with Trent Grimsey) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This week we look at the 80:20 rule, why you should always aim to lead the lane, when to wear fins in training and we also have details about our Melbourne Workshop which is being finalised for Saturday 8th December. We also chatted to Trent Grimsey who is the English Channel world record holder so we have the details of our interview with him.
00:33 – The 80/20 Rule
01:01 – When to Wear Fins
01:43 – Lead the Lane
02:14 – Adjusting Speeds in Training
02:33 – Trent Grimsey Podcast
03:05 – Melbourne Freestyle Clinic 8th December, 2012 Ready To Lead The Lane? – This Is How We Do It
The 80:20 Rule
You might have heard about the 80:20 rule where 20% of things get you 80% of the results. In swimming I find that is usually body position. If you want to improve your swimming a lot of times the 20% of things that you can do comes down to body position. That is why in The Mastering Freestyle Program we go through a lot of body position drills and when I am working one on one with swimmers I will work on their body position because they will feel the difference when we improve their body position.
When to Wear Fins?
If you are wondering when to wear fins in training then there are three situations that I usually use them for in our squad. The first one is for drill so in The Mastering Freestyle Program and Effortless Form then I often suggest wearing fins because it will help you do the drills right. The second one is we that we use them a lot for speed work; so if you want to get your stroke rate up, your speed up and get used to racing then it can be good to put on fins. We sometimes also use paddles as well fins are very good for getting your speed up and getting you used to swimming at race pace. We also use them a lot for kick; because if you want to improve your leg strength then quite often it is good to put on fins to develop your leg strength.
Lead the Lane
If you are in a lane with swimmers about your speed then your goal should be to lead the lane, rather than hanging back and wanting other swimmers to go in front of you get out there, take charge and lead the lane. Not only does it make you work harder because you are not dragging off the other swimmers but you also get clean water so it is not quite so chopping and your are not sitting in everyone else’s wake and in their waves. Get out there, lead the lane and take charge and you will improve your swimming that way because you are training harder and you have the pressure of working hard out the front.
Adjusting Speeds in Training
If you are wondering how to move from slower aerobic swimming into sprinting in a training session then it is all in your leg speed. If you want to get your stroke rate up and start sprinting then start kicking your legs faster and that will help determine your arm speed. If you are going from slow aerobic to fast sprinting then pick up your kicking and that will help improve your arm speed and get you swimming faster.
Trent Grimsey Podcast
This week for the Effortless Swimming podcast at SwimmingPodcast.com I interviewed Trent Grimsey who has won a huge amount of open water races but the thing he has done recently is he has broken the world record for the English Channel crossing. So he is the fastest person to ever swim across the English Channel. I interviewed Trent this week to talk about his training, technique, race strategy; mind set and talk about a lot of things that you might find useful for your own swimming. Listen to the interview with Trent.
Melbourne Freestyle Clinic 8th December
The details for our Melbourne freestyle clinic have been finalised, it is coming up this Saturday the 8th of December. From 2.00pm to 3.30pm at the Carnegie Pool just outside of Melbourne. What I am going to be teaching there is; I have been fortunate enough to work with a lot of good swimmers of the past few years. They have broken world records, national records in Master Swimming. Some of the guys who I have worked with online have won their age group championship in Triathlon in New Zealand recently; some of the guys have broken world records for marathon swimming. I am going to be teaching everything that has been working well for these swimmers over the last couple of years. I am going to be teaching them in this 90minutes action packed workshop. So you won’t be stuck at the pool all day like you are with most clinics this is a 90 minute session where you are going to be in the water going through some drills, exercises, practicing different things with your swimming and it is going to be a lot of fun but you will learn a lot. It will give you something to come away with and you will improve your swimming on that day and also for the next couple of months as you lead into your events. Register For The Clinic Here
That’s it for news this week, catch you next week.
The post The 80:20 Rule, When to Use Fins, Lead the Lane appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Our only freestyle technique workshop in 2012 where you get the fastest result in the shortest amount of time.
What is it?
A freestyle technique workshop where you get the fastest result in the shortest amount of time. You’ll be in the pool going through drills and exercises to improve your swimming.
Who is it for?
Triathletes, open water swimmers and pool swimmers who want to shave a few minutes off their times.
What you will get out of it:
- How to swim faster while using less energy
- Technique tips for easier swimming
- Racing strategies for better results in competition
- Training ideas for increasing fitness and performance
What we’ll cover:
- The ‘Lowest Hanging Fruit’ – How small changes to your stroke can increase your speed and save you energy
- Pacing To Perfection – Timing your race so that you start strong and finish strong
- Breathing Rhythm – Know when to use each breathing pattern in training and in racing
- ‘Holding’ The Water – Pulling through with a good catch and really moving yourself through the water
- Using Your Rotation For Consistent Speed – Find the right balance with your rotation and swim with consistent speed
- The Power Position – The small change that lowers the chance of shoulder injury and increases your power
- The Three Types Of Freestyle – Discover which type of freestyle is best suited to you so you can make the most of your strengths
Details:
7.00-8.30am Saturday December 8th
Carnegie Pool
Moira Avenue, Glen Huntly, VIC
Early bird price (before 8th December): $79
Price on the day (if positions still available): $99
How To Register:
Click the ‘Add To Cart’ button below and complete your order through Paypal. You’ll then be emailed all of the details for the workshop.
The post Melbourne Freestyle Workshop (December 8th) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
How it works is the more you spend, the more floatation you get and the more flexibility you get. The Helix has a 1mm arm and then lots of cuts and different shapes. Whereas with Sprint, it’s just a very basic suit.
00:10 – How to Choose a Wetsuit
00:39 – Does the Distance of the Race Change which Wetsuit I should Get?
01:42 – Sleeve vs Sleeveless
02:34 – What are the Most Popular Models?
03:39 – How to do you Best Fit Your Wetsuit?
04:52 – How Do You Avoid Wetsuit Chafe?
05:34 – Where to Find Aquashop?
Does the Distance of the Race Change which Wetsuit I should Get?
Definitely the bottom end of the race suit will cater for 750m or olympic distance of for say 1km swim, maybe if you’re doing a half iron man at 1.9 or up to 2k swim, probably want drop the bottom of the range and at least move to the Reaction. It’s significantly more comfortable and better cut than the base model. If you’re going to do an Ironman or you’re doing 5km swims, you really wanna be in the top half of the range. Significantly more flexibility once again and more floatation. The Axis has extra buoyancy in the bum and the quads for someone who’s a big leg dragger. Sleeveless suits are for people who really feel the heat or have any sort of shoulder problems, sometimes we get them into those because of the less load on the shoulders.
Sleeve vs Sleeveless
So usually it’s a warm thing, in most cases, obviously in Victoria we usually need a little bit of extra insulation but when you buy a sleeved suit, and it depends on which model but whenever you add millimeters to your paddle, you’re grabbing more water. Most of the suits these days have variations of grip a panel. So everytime you take a stroke, maybe you’re swimming 30cm more or whatever it is. So in theory, a 2mm arm grabs more water than what a 1mm arm does. The Helix actually has a pervious panel on the inside so you get that sensation of grabbing the water. That’s by far the fastest suit because you’ve got the most buoyancy in the middle and surely the best flexibility.
What Are The Most Popular Models?
To be honest, it’s probably split. The reaction covers a lot of distances. I’ve sold that to people who do Ironman and they get through it no problems. And then obviously, top of the line Helix goes without saying – it’s the Ferrari, it’s definitely the nicest suit. Probably they’re the most 2, definitely 9 out of 10 of my sales are sleeved suits. What we definitely offer is if you come in, you buy this one and you go for a swim in it, one, it’s absolutely no problems to change sizes. If you win the lotto that night, no problem. Just bring it back and give me a couple of extra hundred dollars and you take the Helix.
How to do you Best Fit Your Wetsuit?
Generally I’d say to someone start the suit a couple of fingers above your ankle – 2-3 fingers above your ankle. Use a plastic bag that helps, put a plastic bag on your foot like it’s a sock. That helps the suit to slide on. Feed the suit up. Give yourself a wedgie. You gotta have a wedgie no matter the top of the line suit, if you put it on wrong, it won’t feel anywhere near good as it should. Once you got the wedgie, put the plastic bag on the hands, slide the arm on, slide the other arm on. Generally, you want to start the suit around your watch mark. Once you’ve got the suit on and you’re zipped up, one of the best things to do is actually bend over the waist. Grab a whole heap of rubber from your belly button if you like, stand up, keep hold of this rubber and then feed it up the core. Effectively just shifting all that rubber from your mid section up on to your shoulders and that always creates a lot of flexibility. That’s obviously what we do. We make sure it’s 100% spot on and show you how to do it and give you all the tips and stuff.
How Do You Avoid Wetsuit Chafe?
Yup, I actually got some last weekend because I forgot my Body Glide. Body Glide is the most well known anti chafe. And you just want to use something that’s non-petroleum based. So no Vaseline and no baby oil. They’re petroleum based. So Body Glide’s is the better known one. There’s a few other products that work. Paw paw works. I’ve never used it. Hair conditioner works. You’re going to swim a thousand strokes, you have sand and salt mixed in there against rubber and skin, it’s probably going to chafe.
Where to Find Aquashop?
Aquashop is run by myself and my wife, Linda. We’re at 250 Park Street in South Melbourne. We stock a whole range of swimming toys and obviously the range of wetsuits and swimming race suits. Hopefully we know what we’re talking about! We’d like to see you there!
The post How to Choose a Wetsuit With Craig Percival from Aquashop (Melbourne) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This week we will look at – “Is there a secret sauce to become a better swimmer”. We’ve also got a technique workshop coming up in Melbourne which we’ve got the dates to watch out for at the end of this video.
00:17 – Is There A “Secret Sauce”?
00:51 – Why The Fundamentals Don’t Change
01:18 – Melbourne Workshop
The “Secret Sauce”
Quite often I’m asked what’s the secret to become faster at swimming? Is there something that Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte know that I don’t know? But if you look at the success of all top swimmers and top athletes, there is no surprise that they’ve gotten to where they are – they have done the hard yards, they have done the right things and they have got the right team of people around them to help them get to where they got to. If you are wondering what that means for you then if you do the right things and you do the hard work and you have the right information then you are going to improve your swimming. That’s why with our products we teach things that will work for you today and 2 or 3 years down the track and into the future.
It’s like in The Mastering Freestyle Program, how we go through body position, head position, pull, kick. We teach you each of the different elements that make up a good stroke. There are things that you would constantly be working on and improving over the next few months or the next few years. From time to time we recommend different things that will help you with your training and with your swimming like different pull buoys, paddles, GPS watches. But we are never going to recommend things that are short term solutions to improving your swimming and getting faster.
Melbourne Workshop
We have got a workshop coming up in Melbourne where we are going to go through some of those fundamentals that will make you a better swimmer. This is for triathletes and open water swimmers. And if you are wondering how you can come along at this workshop, there is a form at the bottom of this video on the EffortlessSwimming.com website where you fill in your name, your email address and in the next couple of days, I will send out an email to let you know the details of this event so if you are interested in coming along, fill in your name and email address below and get those details sent to you very shortly.
It’s happening mid-December, 2012 in East Melbourne. It’s the only workshop we’re running this year.
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We are in Trinity Beach up at North Queensland on a training camp; hence the nice background. This week we are looking at a common mistake that slows swimmers down in freestyle. We are looking at which GPS is best to use if you are doing open water swimming and we also look at how to choose the right wetsuit
00:23 – Keep A Level Head
00:48 – My Hot Tip For Faster Freestyle
01:04 – The Garmin Forerunner 910 XT
01:25 – How Do You Choose A Wetsuit?
01:49 – Swimming For Parents
02:10 – Swim Camps Are Training On Steroids
Our Most Popular Program For Improving Your Freestyle
Keep A Level Head
When I am doing private lessons with people one of the main mistakes I see made is that swimmers will dip their head under the water. They will have it above the water and then every couple of strokes they will dip down under which will slow them down. If you are doing long distance swimming you are best to keep you head nice and even in the water so you are not going up or down and keeping it straight. That will mean that you are swimming faster and be more consistent with your stroke.
Where’s your head at?: Sam keeping an even head position in freestyle Shoulders Back and Chest Out
One of the main things I tell swimmers to do I swim with their shoulders back and chest out so that will put you in the right position in your freestyle to swim with good technique. New swimmers usually tend to hunch forward but if you have your chest out, shoulders back you will be in the right position for good technique.
The Garmin Forerunner 910 XT
The Garmin Forerunner 910 XT seems to be the best GPS watch to use when you are going open water swimming. I have spoken to a couple of swimmers about which one they are using and that one seems to be the pick of the bunch. If you are doing open water swimming and looking for a good watch to track your times then the Garmin Forerunner 910 XT is the one to go for.
How To Choose A Wetsuit
This week I spoke to Craig from Aqua Shop in Melbourne and I got him to explain some of the differences between the wetsuits and how to choose the right wetsuit with sizing, should it be sleeveless or should it have sleeves. If you want to know which wetsuit to choose then check out that video. VIDEO COMING SOON.
Swimming For Parents
If you are a parent of a swimmer and have kids that are swimming then I recommend you get Gary Barclays books, Swimming for Parents. It is a comprehensive book that talk about everything you need to know about having a child growing up in swimming; from dealing with coaches, to training, to diet everything in-between. If you are a parent I strongly recommend getting that book which you can find at the bottom of this video.
Swim Camps Are Training On Steroids
Like I mentioned at the start of the video we are up here on a training camp. If you can organise a training camp with your squad; you can go away, forget work and eat, sleep and swim then it is a great way to improve your fitness and also really good fun. We are up here and training hard, it is nice and hot as you can see and we are having a really good time and getting fit in the process. If you are a coach or a swimmer and you can organise that type of thing with your squad then it is really beneficial for your training.
That’s it for new this week, we will see you next week.
The post How’s Your Head Position? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Welcome Effortless Swimmers to another week of Swimming News. This week we look at what to do if you are getting gassed quickly in your races. How to have more energy for the second half of your race. We also give you some sprinting tips that will help bring down your 50m and your 100m times, and we look at some ways to improve your kick without following the black line up and down.
00:30 – Getting “Gassed” Quickly?
00:58 – The Two Things All Good Sprinters Have Are…
01:18 – Three Ways To Improve Your Kick
02:21 – Is Scull Important?
03:23 – The Chopper Rescue Story
03:43 – 10,000 Fans Giveaway!
You can join Effortless Swimming Membership Program here!
These are the workouts we do in training (for triathletes and pool swimmers)
Getting “Gassed” Quickly?
If you find in your races that you are getting gassed quickly and you haven’t got that much energy at the back end of your race…it might be because you are not breathing enough. When I do video analysis for swimmers in our membership community, the swimmers that are having trouble backing up the second half of their race are usually breathing every 3-4 strokes. It is denying their body the oxygen that it needs to fuel itself for the second half of the race. If you try breathing every two strokes or a mixture of every three and two, then you might find you have more energy to finish off strong.
The Two Things All Good Sprinters Have Are…
If you want to improve your sprinting then let’s keep it really simple. If you have a strong kick and a high stroke rate (and you are able to maintain your stroke length) then you will improve your sprinting. Next time you are in training if you are thinking about having a strong kick and a higher stroke rate, they are two of the fundamentals of being a good sprint freestyler.
Three Ways To Improve Your Kick
There are a few ways to improve your kick without following the black line up and down. A few things that we like to do in training are:
- Vertical kick: Where you are in the water, you are upright you either have your arms crossed against your chest, your hands out or your hands in streamline position if you really want to challenge yourself. If you do that for a couple of minutes at a time you will find that your kick develops and becomes much stronger very quickly because vertical quick if quite challenging.
- Kick against the wall: You might go 60 seconds on, 30 seconds off. But for that 60 seconds if you do 40 seconds at a medium pace, 20 seconds hard that will tire you out pretty quickly and improve the strength of your kick.
- Partner kick: If you have a partner in the water grab a kickboard, someone goes on one side someone goes on the other side and you are kicking against each other trying to push the other person backwards. If you are doing that for 40-60 seconds at a time it is very challenging and very tiring but a good way to develop your kick.
Is Scull Important?
When I have new swimmers join the squad a lot of times they will ask why we do sculling, because we do quite a bit of sculling in our swimming training. There are two reasons why I like to do it. The first one is it works on good positioning for your catch. If you are doing a scull out the front then we are practicing the catch position for our freestyle, butterfly and breaststroke as well. Where you have a high elbow and your hand is lower than your elbow and you are just practicing that initial catch position.
That is one of the reasons, the other reason is it is good for practicing your feel of the water. When you are pulling through, if you are slipping through the water then you haven’t got a feel for the water. If you are practicing scull then you will you get a feeling for what it’s like to hold that water and move yourself through it.
A few keys with sculling if you look at the video is you want to keep your hand your forearm very straight so that you can hold water with that whole part of your arm, rather than just your hand. It’s a figure eight motion so thumbs up and then thumbs down as you sweep out.
There are two ways to improve your scull and improving your scull with improve your catch and feel for water in swimming.
Latest In Effortless Swimming Membership Program
This week in our swimming community I spoke about a massive mistake that I made last week in an open water training session that involved a helicopter rescue. Members of our program can login and see that now where I have put some details about a big lesson that I have learnt in communication when out in the open water.
10,000 Fans Giveaway!
This week we hit 10,000 fans on our Facebook page so I want to thank all of you who are fans of our Facebook page at facebook.com/effortlessswimming we have got a giveaway. Michael Klim has donated 3 MILK skincare packages for us to giveaway to our fans so head over to our Facebook page and you can find out more about that.
That’s it for swimming news this week. We have more videos coming, more tips more articles, more ideas to help you improve your swimming. So stay tuned we will be back next week with another swimming news video.
The post How To Avoid Getting “Gassed” In A Race appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Welcome to the first triathlon news video. Today we’re going to cover a couple of things including what you can do to maintain the same pace in a triathlon, how you can best warm up for a triathlon so you don’t take a few hundred meters to get into it and we’re also going to look at what are some things you can do in training to improve your open water skills.
0:19 – How to Maintain Your Pace
1:12 – Should You Warm Up Before a Race
2:03 – Finding Your Legs
3:02 – Fun Ways to Practice Open Water Skills Improve Your Swim Fitness With These Workouts
How to Maintain Your Pace
If you want to maintain your pace throughout a triathlon, then the best to do that is to have a constant speed with your technique and your stroke. What I mean by that is I see a lot of swimmers overgliding in their stroke. So they’ll extend a little too far out the front, which means that with their stroke they’re going slow and then fast as they glide and then slow and then fast. That’s not maintaining a constant speed with their stroke. So if you want to maintain a constant speed, you keep a nice evenly balanced technique and stroke.
That way you can maintain your pace throughout a triathlon much easier than if you’re going fast and then slow with your stroke. We show a few good examples of these in the Open Water Mastery Program and in the Mastering Freestyle Technique Program where rather than over gliding with your stroke if you keep it nice and balanced with your rotation, then you’ll probably find that your stroke feels a whole lot easy to do and maintain for a longer period of time.
Should You Warm Up Before a Race?
Have you ever found that when you get to a triathlon and you get into the swim, that it usually takes a couple hundred meters to warm up and get into it? And by that time you might have dropped off the pace?
One of the best things that I’ve found to do is to do a land-based warm up if you can’t get into the water but if you can get into the water then if you can do a couple hundred meters, between 6-8 hundred meters, just to get your stroke feeling good get your body warmed up get the blood flowing. You’ll probably find that you’ve got a lot more energy at the start of the swim. You can get out there faster. If you’re not doing any warm up before you get into a race then it takes a good couple hundred meters to get started. By that time that can already have lost you the race. So if you can’t get into the water, do a land-based warm up with some running, a couple of push ups, squats, jumps, those sorts of things just to get the body ready to perform and to get out there and race.
Finding Your Legs
When you finish your swim and you’re running out of the water, it can take a little bit of time to get your legs used to being back on land. The first couple of strides out of the water, just slow it down if you need to find your feet and then you can get into it. Cause there’s nothing worse than running out as fast as you can, losing your feet and falling over and then needing to start again. So just bring it back a little bit, find your feet and then you can get into it.
Keeping Warm In Cold Water
Now if you like me, being in the colder part of the world where the water isn’t very warm then there’s a few things you can do to stay warm in the water. If you haven’t got a wetsuit on then one of the best things you can do is to use Vaseline and to put it on your chest, under your arms, on the back of your neck, in the places where you lose heat the fastest and that will help insulate you and keep your body warm for when you’re in the water. Another thing you can do is to do a land-based warm up before you get in so you get your heart rate up and you just get the blood flowing. That way the body’s is ready to get going once you jump in the water and the blood is flowing and you can stay warmer for a longer period of time.
Fun Ways to Practice Open Water Skills
Now it’s good to keep your training interesting and to mix things up. So there’s a few things you can do in training to practice your open water skills, to keep your training fun and just to change it up from your normal day to day follow the black line type of frame.
Some things we tend to do in training we’ll go on each others’ feet, so for example we might do a 30×50’s, where there’s 3 people in a group and the first person will go at 90%, and the 2 people behind will leave right on their feet but they’ll go around 80 % so they’ll go a little bit easier. And the person at the front is working hard, the other 2 are keeping up because they’re sitting in the other person’s draft. It’s a good way to practice drafting skills and get a feel for how much energy you can save if you’re drafting correctly. So that’s a good thing to practice drafting.
Another thing you can do is to practice your sighting by looking up every couple of strokes. So you might say every 10 strokes you take in a siding at the end wall and it’s just a good way to get used to that kind of rhythm and get used to spotting yourself in the water.
And another thing that we like to do as well is if you’ve got quite a few of you in training, is you get half of you to get a kickboard and line up on either side of the lane and then the other half of you start at one end and you swim through individually, while the swimmers on the outside of the lanes have got the kickboards and they’re splashing water at you. They’re making waves and they’re being a little bit rough with you. Just to get you used to that rough and tumble of being in a triathlon race. That’s a good fun one. You’ve got to be careful depending on who’s in there but if you’re pretty confident with your swimming and you know each other quite well, then that’s a very good way to get used to some choppy water and battling with other people in the water.
If you’re already a part of our triathlon email newsletter and you’re not part of our overall swimming newsletter then you can join that on the right hand side of this website. So just put in your email address and you’ll also get those once a week where we give you out swimming tips not specific to triathlon swimming but they’re general swimming tips which will help you with your swimming. So you can sign up for those on the right hand side of the website.
Thanks for watching this week. Looking forward to seeing you in 2 weeks time because these are fortnightly videos and we’ll see you then with some more triathlon tips.
The post How to Maintain Your Swim Pace in a Triathlon appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
This week we look at your head position when you breathe in freestyle and how you change it to make it make your stroke more efficient and faster. We also give you a diving tip which will help you get off the blocks quicker. And we also look at exercises that you can do in training if you have injured your shoulder and have to resort to kick.
00:32 – One Goggle In/ One Goggle Out Of The Water
01:04 – How To Be More Efficient
01:17 – Breaststroke Breathing Tip
01:45 – The 500m Trick
02:19 – Swim Down = Feel Good!
02:44 – Use This To Dive Quicker
03:27 – What To Do When You’ve Injured Your Shoulder
03:53 – Drills From The Intro Lesson of Mastering Freestyle Are Good For This
Before I do private lessons with swimmers I have them to go through this program
Want more technique tips? Watch these videos
Breathing In Freestyle
Now one of the biggest things I see done in freestyle which slows swimmers down is when they breathe with their head too far out of the water. So rather than keeping one goggle in the water, one goggle out of the water when they breathe which is ideal they are breathing with both goggles out of the water and lifting their forehead too far out.
If you look at this video with Sam swimming here you will find that half of his head is in the water, half of it’s out and his body stays in alignment when he takes that breath. Now a lot of swimmers will breathe too far around so they lift their forehead and eyes too far out of the water and that will throw your hips out of position and it will slow down your speed.
Open water swimmer Sam Sheppard demonstrates correct breathing position So if you want to swim with a faster head position to keep your speed going, then breathe a little bit more towards your shoulder so you keep your body in alignment when you take that breath.
Ever See This In Breaststroke?
I see the same thing happen with breaststroke is that swimmers will lift their head up too high when they take that breath and their head and torso won’t be in alignment when they come up out of the water. If you look at this video of Jeremy swimming you will see that his torso and his head is in alignment when he comes out to take that breath. So if you want to maintain your speed in your breaststroke, a good way to do that is to keep those two things aligned.
Good technique: Jeremy Saunders keeping his head and torso aligned. The 500m Trick
A problem that we all have is motivation with training and getting to the pool when you don’t feel like training. A good solution for this I have found is to say to yourself that all you have to do once you get to the pool is 500m. You don’t have to finish off a whole session you have just got to do 500m.
What you might find when you get there is that your mind wants to complete the task, so you might get there and do 500m, but you will feel like that is not enough and you want to complete the whole session that you intended to do.
If you only do 500m and you want to call it quits that is fine as well, but more times than not you will probably find that you want to finish off the whole session.
Increasing Performance In Training
A good way to back up your training for the next session to make sure you are feeling good and you perform well for your next session is to have a good swim down, or a cool down as we like to call it.
I find that 400m or more is ideal and if you can add some short sharp sprints into that cool down, then that is a good way to flush out the lactic acid from your system that you have built up throughout the session.
So if you are doing 400m cool down then if you can do 4-6 15m sprints then you might find that helps get rid of the lactic acid from your system…so that you can perform better at the next session.
Use This To Have A Fast Start
If you look at elite swimmers when they start from the blocks you will find that their centre of gravity is just over the front of the block, so that when the starter says ‘go’, all they have to do is shift their weight forward and then they can go from the blocks.
They are not leaning back and they haven’t got their weight behind them because then they have to shift their weight forward which can take an extra .2, .3, half a second which is to long off the start.
Weight is forward on the blocks So if you want to have a quick start and you have got the new blocks with the step at the back, then keep your weight just over the front of the block that way you don’t have to move your weight forward to much and it’s a good way to get out quickly off the start and give yourself a good chance at getting out there at the very start of the race.
When You Can’t Use Your Arms…
If you have injured your shoulder and you have to resort to doing kick in training then it can be frustrating but it is a good opportunity to work on some skills with your swimming. So I like to get a snorkel and practice butterfly kick with your arms by your side. You will find that is a very good way to work your core and it’s a good workout.
You can also do single arm freestyle and just work on your pull with your other arm. You can also do body rotation kicks, so you have got a snorkel, your head is down you have your arms by your side, you are kicking freestyle and rotating from side to side. That way you are practicing your rotation from using your hips and your core to rotate.
If you have to resort to kick and you can’t do pull in your swimming if you’re injured then just resort to the skills and the basics and just practice those things while you can. Another good thing to do is grab the stretch cords that you use out of the pool. The ones with the hand paddles and to practice your pull with those, so it is a good way to maintain your strength outside the pool if you can’t do it inside the pool, because you’re injured.
That’s it for swimming news this week, looking forward to seeing you next week.
The post Do You Breathe Like This In Freestyle? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
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Here are some of the modules from the Open Water Mastery program for you to get started.
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We look at how to improve your kick, we’ve got a sprinting tip if you’re a 50 or 100m swimmer, and we’ll look at getting back to basics and what that can do for you. Now with kick, there’s two main mistakes that I see made.
00:16 – The Two Biggest Kicking Mistakes
00:47 – The 6 Stroke Setup
01:25 – Do You Need A Strong Core?
01:52 – Why We Still Practice The Basics
02:37 – Open Water Tips Coming Soon
02:59 – The Best Goggles For Backstroke Get 3 months of training workouts
Freestylers: This is our most popular program
The first one is not turning your feet inwards. So if you turn your feet inwards, you’ll find that you’ll have a better range of motion to be in the right position for kicking. And the second thing is, a lot of swimmers kick too big so that their feet and legs would come too far apart. The best thing to do is to kick a little bit smaller and to brush your feet past each other. Because its unlikely that you’ll go faster by kicking bigger and kicking harder. Kicks should be done quite small and you’re not bending your legs and your knees too much.
The 6 Stroke Setup
One of the main tips I like give to our sprinters is the 6 Stroke Setup. So the first 6 Stroke should be used to set yourself up for the rest of the race where you work on good feel and hold of the water and good technique at the start of the race and then you pick up your stroke rate after that. And I got that tip from a National backstroker, so an Australian swim team member and I’ve used that with our sprinters and the results have been very good. So if you’re looking to try something new with sprinting, try with the 6 stroke setup where you don’t go all out with the first six strokes instead you hold back, you go about 95% instead and you’re just using those first six strokes to set yourself up and then you accelerate after that.
Do You Need A Strong Core?
Having a strong core is the key to being a good swimmer. So strong abdominal and strong stomach muscles. Now that will hold everything together because if you have a strong core, then you can get the timing right with your kick and your pull and hold everything together. If you’re doing Prone Hold or if you’re doing Pilates or an exercise similar to that, then you’ll find that your swimming will most likely improve because your core is what holds everything together and helps you find the right rhythm and the right timing for your strokes.
Why We Still Practice The Basics
When I’m doing stroke correction with younger swimmers, the main thing to work on is the basics like scull, kick, pull and body position. So we’re not doing anything too fancy we’re just looking at getting the very basics right and then building on them from there. So that’s why programs like the Mastering Freestyle Program and Effortless Form that we start out very basic and we look at getting those things right and then progressing on to more advanced exercises and more advanced drills. So if you’re looking at improving your technique, if you’re already doing some things to work on that, then the very best place to start is with the basics. So your scull, kick, pull and body position.
Open Water Tips Coming Soon
If you’re a part of our weekly newsletter, you know you get an email sent to you each week with this video. Now I’m going to be starting a separate video that will be just for triathletes and open water swimmers so that’s an extra video on top of the one that I do each week. So if you are looking into improving your open water swimming, then there’ll be an email coming in the next few days where you can click the link and that will sign you up to the email list so you can get those open water swimming updates and tips. Keep an eye out for that email and I’ll send it out in the next few days for you.
The Best Goggles For Backstroke
If you find that you’re running into the lane rope with backstroke, then it might be because your goggles don’t allow you to see your peripherals, so the outside vision when you’re doing backstroke. The best goggles for this are Swedish goggles, they’re the ones with the rubber around on the outside and they’re the clear ones because they allow you to see your peripherals a bit better and you can see the lanes ropes on either side. So if you’re having troubles with backstroke because you can’t see the lane ropes, then give the Swedish goggles a try. They’re not for everyone, some love them some people can’t really wear them but just give them a shot and you might find that you can see a lot better with your backstroke and with your other strokes as well.
That’s it for swimming news this week. Looking forward to seeing you next week. Keep your eye out for that email about the open water swimming too. Catch you next week!
The post The Two Biggest Kicking Mistakes appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In swimming news this week we look at 3 ways to improve as a swimmer, how to cut seconds from your times with a better streamline, what to do if you’ve got sore shoulders from swimming. We also ask – do you need the perfect conditions in training to improve? And we also show you how you can get the workouts that we do everyday in training.
00:29 – Three Ways To Get Faster
01:35 – Shave Off Time With Better Streamline
02:20 – ‘The Shoulder Guy’ Podcast Interview
02:40 – Training Conditions Don’t Need To Be Perfect
03:15 – Private Facebook Group Ready To Join Now
When a swimmer comes to me and they ask, “What can I do to swim faster?” We take a look at 3 things: their workouts, their technique and their strength training. And if they’re weak in any of those areas then we put a plan together to improve them. So if they need to improve their technique, we’ll get drills from the Mastering Freestyle Program and Effortless Form if they are a butterflyer, backstroker or breaststroker. We put together a drill program based on those programs that will improve their technique. Now if they need to improve their fitness, we’ll get workouts from the Effortless Swimming Workouts Program, if they’re a triathlete, we’ll get a triathlete program, if they’re a pool swimmer, then we use the pool workouts. But we’ll give them instructions to follow to improve their fitness. And if they need to improve their strength, then we’ll bring them workouts from the Swim Gym Pro Program which works on balance and control. So if you find that you’re becoming tired and fatigue and your technique goes out the window, then it’s probably because you haven’t got the right stabilization or core control. And if you’re doing exercises from Swim Gym Pro that’s going to improve your ability to maintain your technique when you’re tired.
Shave Off Time With Better Streamline
Now the easiest way to swim faster without any effort is by improving your streamline. So as a coach, I stand on deck and I watch swimmers a lot and I see one of the biggest weaknesses is streamline. I see most swimmers are streamlining poorly, which obviously isn’t very streamlined. The other way to do it is to lock-in your elbows and have no gap between your arms and your ears. And the best way to do it is with a better hand position. So one hand on top of the other, wrap your top thumb around your bottom hand and that will help you lock out your elbows and straighten your arms.
Improve your hand position by wrapping that top thumb over your bottom hand and you’ll be able to lock in a much tighter streamline which will make you more streamlined and you’ll be able to push off the wall faster.
‘The Shoulder Guy’ Podcast Interview
Now if you got problems with your shoulders from swimming, then take a look at the lastest podcast I did with Luke Van Every. He’s known as ‘The Shoulder Guy’ for a reason. Luke gives us a few strategies to improve our shoulder strength and to fix shoulders if they’ve been injured from swimming. Watch the podcast here.
Training Conditions Don’t Need To Be Perfect
As a triathlete or a swimmer, you don’t need the perfect conditions in training to become an elite sports person. Sometimes the adversity from not having perfect conditions makes you stronger and you’re able to adopt to conditions when they’re thrown at you. So if you’re at a competition and it’s raining or its windy or its cold or there’s a lot of noise, then training in conditions that aren’t perfect will help you deal with those conditions in racing.
Private Facebook Group Ready To Join Now
Every time I take a training session with my squad here at Melbourne, I’m taking a picture of my white board so you can see the session and I’m uploading it to a private Facebook group that I’ve set up. So if you want to get access to that private Facebook group, it’s only $10 a month for 3-months. And there are a few swimmers who are in the group and they’re doing those sessions with us everyday. Click here to get access to the workouts
That’s it with Swimming News This Week, I’ll see you next week.
The post 3 Ways To Swim Faster appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Swimmers clock up 1,000’s of laps in the pool every year. Our shoulders cop a lot of the brunt of this. Luke Van Every is known as ‘The Shoulder Guy’. He’s a physio from Queensland, Australia.
In this podcast I ask Luke about:
- Common swimming shoulder injuries
- How to avoid and treat shoulder injuries
- Do’s and dont’s of stretching
- What to be aware of if you’re hitting the gym
If you’d like to find out more about treating shoulder injuries you can visit Luke at his website at http://www.theshoulderguy.com/
The post #13 Fixing Injured Shoulders (with Luke Van Every) appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Forget about stroke count. Now why would I say that when I talk a lot about stroke count and so do most other coaches? Well, the fact of the matter is that very few swimmers, only about 1 in 20 actually do stroke count. Now stroke count is when you are counting your strokes for each lap and you’re working on maintaining the same stroke count or reducing it as much as you can. So ideally, you want to have a lower stroke count because it uses less energy and is more efficient. Most swimmers don’t count their their strokes, that’s why I say forget about it ,because most people don’t do it anyway.
00:06 – Forget About Stroke Count
01:24 – Slower Swimmers Need to Rotate More
02:00 – Download The 3-Month Training Plan FREE
02:17 – Upgrade To Get All of Our Workouts
02:37 – Lead With The Back of Your Hands In Butterfly
02:49 – Relax!
03:04 – How To Stop Smelling Like Chlorine
03:57 – Have a Recovery Drink After Training
04:29 – Share This Video To Your Friends
But if you want to improve as a swimmer, then start to count your strokes.
And one of the best times to do it is in your main set. Let’s say you’ve got 5×200’s, and you’re working on get faster for each one. Count your strokes for each lap that you do and if you can maintain the same stroke count as you get faster, then you’re becoming more efficient as a swimmer and eventually your times will come down and you’ll become better in the water and better with your technique. So next time you’re in the main set, count your strokes in each lap and work on maintaining the same stroke count. Now it is difficult. The easy option is to let your stroke count go up as you get faster. But if you can work on limiting how high your stroke count gets, then you will be better off as a swimmer.
Slower Swimmers Need to Rotate More
The biggest difference I see between faster swimmers and slower swimmers is that the slower swimmers aren’t rotating their upper body enough to get their arm in the right position in their recovery for freestyle. So if you want to get more of an angle with your freestyle recovery, then rotate your upper body more. Because if you’re flat in the water, you’re limited to how far you can get your arm back and your elbow up. So if you rotate more, then you can get much more of an angle and you can come over with the correct recovery.
Download The 3-Month Training Plan FREE
Last week I talked about the 3-month plan that I’ve got for my squad as we lead into the main open water event for the season which is the Pier to Pub. It is a 1.2km swim here in Victoria that we’re targeting. Now we’ve put together that 3-month plan, it’s available for you to download and its free and you can see what we’re going through for the next 3 months as we lead up to the main open water event. And there’s an option there if you want to get all of the workouts and the programs for the next 3 months. There is option there to upgrade and get each of those workouts every single day that we do them. Download it here.
Lead With The Back of Your Hands In Butterfly
Now butterfly is is great for fitness. It’s very good to get you fit and it’s also good to mix up your strokes, something different than doing freestyle. So if you want to improve your butterfly, there’s two things which I recommend. The first one is when you come over in your recovery, rather than leading with your thumbs, as your arms come over, lead with the back of your hands. So the back of your hands should be facing the end wall as you come over.
Relax!
And the second thing is, you should be staying relaxed in your recovery. If you’re tense and you’re trying to force your arms over, then you’ll find it very difficult to keep the rhythm and the right timing for your stroke. So keep your arms wide as they come around, and keep them relaxed and keep the back of your hands facing the end wall.
How To Stop Smelling Like Chlorine
Now if you’ve ever been told by your friends or your family that you smell like chlorine…I remember going on a school bus everyday and always got told that I smelled like chlorine. Of course I didn’t know about it because you become immune to it once you’re in the pool a lot. But if you want to get rid of that smell and get rid of the chlorine feel in your hair and on your body, then this stuff is very good. Its called Swim Spray. I got sent two bottles of it by Andrew; he’s the guy who invented it. And I’ve been using it for the last week and I found it very good and it actually works very well. It’s a very simple thing, you just put it on halfway through the shower so you rinse yourself off, spray it on your hair and on your body and then you can use your shampoo and your conditioner and finish off the rest of your shower. If you want to get rid of the chlorine in your hair, on your body and that general smell, then I find that this stuff is very good for it.
Have a Recovery Drink After Training
Now something that I always harp on about with swimmers is to have a recovery drink after training. And I recommend a protein drink, protein powder with water. And have that after your session within 15 mins and you’ll find that it gives you the nutrients that your body needs to repair and recover. So that next session that you go back for, you will be a whole lot better off, you’ll feel stronger, you’ll have a lot more energy and you won’t feel as flat like you can sometimes after a hard session. So just a reminder, have a recovery drink after your training sessions.
Share This Video
If you find this video useful, don’t forget to share it with your fellow triathletes and your friends and other swimmers that you know because as a coach, I know how important it is to see swimmers progress and improve. There’s nothing worse than stagnating or plateauing in your speed. So if you know a few swimmers or triathletes that would enjoy these constant tips, share it with them and help them out. I’m looking forward to seeing you next week.
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This 3-month training plan is an overview of the next 3 months of training that I will be doing with the squad that I coach. It’s preparing for a 1.2km open water race which is the main open water event of the season.
So if you’ve got an event coming up in the next couple of months, if it’s an open water or its a long-distance event, then this is a good guide to follow.
Click here to download the 3 month training plan
Upgrade and get all of the workouts via our private Facebook group below:
Its got the training phases that we’re going through and the target kilometers that we’re going for for the week. And if you want to get a little bit more of detail, in terms of the exact sessions that we’ll be doing for the next 3 months, I’ve set up a private Facebook group where I’m be posting the workout from every session into the Facebook group so the members of that group can see what we’re doing and follow along and do the same sessions with us if you choose.
So it’s good if you’re a triathlete, a swimmer or you just want to improve your fitness for the next 3 months.
Now if you’ve got any questions, any clarifications or anything in the training plan, then just put it in the comment section below and I’ll get back to you and help you out where you need help. But if you want to join the private Facebook group, it’s only $10 a month for 3 months. You can cancel anytime and I’ll give you access to this private Facebook group where I will be posting a picture of each of the workouts that we’ll do for the next 3 months.
So if you want to learn more about what a master squad is doing leading up to these kinds of events or if you want some extra workouts for your own workouts for your training, then this is a good thing to join. As a community we can go through the workout sessions–improve our fitness, improve our speed and we can get a whole lot fitter and have a lot of fun together as we go through these workouts in the next couple of months.
The post 3 Month Training Plan appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
There’s usually three reasons why your training times are off if you’re not swimming well in training. And that is either you are sick, fatigued or inflexible. And I just want to focus on the third one for the moment: the inflexibility. Now it’s usually one of the main reasons why swimmers’ times are off in training. Because it means you can’t put yourself in the right position and perform the right technique because your muscles aren’t able to access that position. So a little bit of stretching will go a long way to improve your training times and get your swimming better in training
00:07: Why Athletes Fail To Perform In Training
00:40: Fix Your Freestyle Entry With This Drill
01:21: Why Do We Do Drills
01:32: Elite Swimmers Do Drills Regularly
02:44: Get My Three-Month Training Plan
02:53: My Biggest Pet Peeve As A Coach
03:20: Make The Most Out of Your Sessions
03:36: Get My Learnings From A Recent Coaching Conference
Now if you find that your freestyle entry is a little bit off and it just doesn’t feel right, then there’s one drill which I love to do in the Mastering Freestyle Program that helps you get your entry correct and gets it feeling good. And that is fingertip drag freestyle. Now it’s a popular drill, it’s where you drag your fingertips on the surface of the water as you do your recovery. And the reason it fixes your entry in your freestyle is because if you enter too soon, your arm will catch in the water, it will push under and you feel that drag being created. And if you enter too far out, then your elbow will enter first and your fingers won’t enter first. So you know that is not the way you should be entering. So it’s a really good drill, fingertip drag, to fix up your freestyle entry.
Why do we do drills?
You hear a lot of coaches and a lot of swimmers talking about them but it doesn’t matter how good you are as a swimmer, you’ll still be doing drills in your swimming program. Usually the better you are as a swimmer, the more drills and more technique focused your training program is. And the reason we do drills is two reasons. First one is efficiency. So they’ll help you move through the water with less effort, creating less drag and less resistance. And the second one, is it will help with your timing and propulsion. So the timing of your stroke plays a big part in how fast you move through the water . So if you can activate your pull, at the same time you activate your hip rotation in freestyle, then you’re going to be swimming better and have a better technique. And with your propulsion, if you can hold more water in freestyle, and you can kick and generate more propulsion from your kick, then you’ll also swim faster in freestyle. So those two things are why we do drills.To improve efficiency and your timing and propulsion. So that’s why a lot of our programs that we offer are so drill focused.
I have nearly finished the three-month plan for my training squad as we lead up to our main open water event.
And if you want to get your hands on the three-month training plan, look at the distance, the types of workouts and the milestones along the way, then enter your email below. When that 3 month plan is ready, in the next few days I’ll send it out to you. So you can take a look at what a high level Masters squad goes through in the lead up to one of their main open water events.
First Name
What is it with swimmers who go to training and don’t try?
That’s got to be one of my biggest pet peeves as a coach. That swimmers will come to training but then they’ll just flop around in the back and cut corners, pull on the line rope and not putting in any effort once they’ve come to the session. What is the point if you’re going to come to the session, why don’t you make the most of it put in some effort and really work hard and get a benefit out of the training session rather than just spending an hour and a half there flopping around at the back and not really trying, not really focusing on technique and turns and all the skills that make a difference in your swimming. If you’re at the session, why not make the most out of it?
We were in a coaching conference on the weekend with some of Australia’s best swimming coaches where they were talking and they shared a lot of their ideas, and strategies and workouts and drills and techniques to help the other coaches improve their swimmers. So I’ve just added a video to the Effortless Swimming Membership Program membership where members can log in and see some of the key things that I personally got out of it so that you can go back and implement them into your training and your squad.
That’s swimming news for this week. Look forward to seeing you next week.
The post Why Swimmers Have A Bad Training Session appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
How important is your kick in a triathlon? Well, if you’re doing a 70.3 or full distance ironman then your kick isn’t as important as your pull is.
Because you want to save your energy for the bike and your run leg. So to do that you have to kick smaller and not kick too hard because the fastest way to burn energy in swimming is to kick too hard. Your arms can continue to turn over, you continue with the high stroke rate for much longer than your legs can. So if you can put most of the effort in your swim into your pull and your upper body rotation than what you do with your kick, then you’ll find you have a whole lot more energy for the other two legs and in the swim leg itself.
The post How Important Is Your Kick In Triathlon? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Brenton Ford with the swimming coaching tip.
There’s always the debate about whether you should show your swimmers the entire set or just give it to them in stages. And it all depends on, will they try as hard if you right up the entire set.
So sometimes if its a big main set and there’s some hard efforts in there, then it’s best to write up the entire set so your swimmers know what’s coming up and they can mentally and physically prepare for it.
Then there’s also the argument that swimmers won’t try as hard in the whole session because they might save themselves for the very end of it. Now, it’s a judgement call by you, if you feel that it’s better to wrap up the whole session so that you can convince them to prepare for it, then do that. But if you feel that they might take it easy for all of the session except for the very end, then just put it up in stages so that they continue to work hard for the whole session. But it’s up to you. I usually write it up in stages but if its a big set, then I usually write it all up at once so they can prepare themselves for it.
That’s it for the swimming coaching tip this week. I’ll see you next week.
The post Should You Write Up The Whole Session? appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Don’t get caught in the distance trap where you’re more focused on how far you do in a training session than what you do in a training session. Unless you are training for the English Channel, an ironman or a long distance event, then you are better off focusing on what you do in a training session than how far you do.
00:07: Don’t Get Caught In The ‘Distance Trap’
00:24: When Is The Best Time to Improve Your Technique?
00:49: Get Feedback From Your Coach
01:22: Drive Forward In Your Recovery
01:30: Vary What You Do In Training
02:00: Swimming News Updates Now Available As Podcasts
The best place to improve your technique is outside your normal training sessions. Because most squad sessions are focused on improving fitness than technique. So if you can set aside 30-60 minutes once a week where it’s just you, the pool and you are working on drills, kick, body position, all those things that make up a good swimming technique then you’ll improve a whole lot quicker than if you try to improve your technique just in your normal training sessions.
Ask For Technique Feedback from Your Coach
If you want feedback from your coach, the best way to do it is to just ask. Most coaches are busy managing swimmers and managing lanes because they have a lot of swimmers to work with. But if you can just put your hand up and ask your coach to look at you for a couple of laps then they will be able to give you feedback. It’s a lot better than to just wait for your coach to say something. Get your coach to look at your stroke and suggest a few things that you can do with your technique.
The Faster Way To Recover in Freestyle
Now if you ever watch two freestylers next to each other – one that brings their arms forward in their recovery and one that enters across their head or comes across the body, then you’ll know the faster one is obviously the one that drives forward in their recovery. So if you can make that switch, driving more forward as opposed to across your head and across your body, then you’ll be a whole lot better off in your freestyle.
Vary what you do in training
If you found that your fitness and your training has stagnated and it has hit a plateau, the reason might be because you are doing the same thing constantly again and again in your training sessions. You should vary what you do in your training sessions because the body adapts to things that it is used to doing. If you can change that by doing different doing speeds, distances and different drills and
things like that in your session then you’ll find your body has to adjust in different kinds of trainings.
Swimming news updates now available as podcasts
This week is the first week that these news updates are available as podcasts so you can see above is a play button so you can just listen to it instead of watching me. And you can also go to The Effortless Swimming iTunes page where you can subscribe to the weekly podcasts and so it will go straight to your iTunes every single week.
Subscribe to the weekly news emails
If you are not subscribed to the weekly newsletter where you’re sent an email every time we have a new video for you, then you can do so at the end of this video, you can also do so at the side of this page, just enter your email address and you’ll be sent weekly updates.
The post The Distance Trap appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
Every time a swimmer comes to us for stroke correction, the first thing we look at is body position. There are a number of drills in the Mastering Freestyle program focus on that.
00:10 – How to Improve Your Technique
01:22 – Good Technique Starts With Good Position
01:28 – Athletes Are Like Light Switches
02:04 – A Weekly Schedule Creates Routine
02:37 – Give Yourself More Space In Training
03:16 – Spiky Massage Balls Are Useful
03:33 – Foam Rollers Can Be Used For Self-Massage
Get The Weekly Schedule Maker
What’s the first thing you should do to start improving your technique?
When I’m working on one on one with swimmers, the first thing we that we look at first is your body position. So what are your feet, what are your legs, what are your hips doing in the water. The first thing that I worked on to this morning with Toby, a swimmer that I did a one on one lesson with was that his toes weren’t pointed down. His toes were pointing to the bottom of the pool and that meant that his legs are dropping. And then the second thing he was doing was bending at the hips rather than being straight through the hips so we also worked on that. So the very first drill that we worked, it was kicking with the board at the front and we made him point his toes down so it was in a straight line with the rest of his body, and we also made him tilt his hips slightly backwards like you would in pilates and squeeze his glutes. So he’s straight through the body and that meant he is sitting a whole lot higher in the water. So that’s one of the very first things you could do to start improving your technique – is kick with the board working with the right body position so you’re sitting up high and your heels are breaking the surface in the kick.
Now I realize that not everyone can afford a one on one lesson or the Mastering Freestyle Program, but know that the results that Toby will get in the next couple of months is leading up on his triathlons will far outweigh what the lessons cost him. So you can start improving your technique today with a couple of body position drills because that’s the best place to start if you want to improve your technique.
Athletes are like a light switch.
They have their ‘on’ and their ‘off’. So when an athlete is on, they’re training hard, they’re working hard and they’re eating the right things. But athlete’s also have an off where usually the first two weeks of their off season they’ll eat more than they should, they’ll exercise less than they should and they’ll be sitting around the house on the couch not doing much. And that’s okay because that gives you an understanding of what it is like to feel that way so it gives you more desire to want to be able to get to that top level of fitness and training. So it’s okay to have an off phase in your training because it is hard to maintain that ‘on’ for an entire year.
One of the best ways to get into your ‘on’ phase is to create a weekly schedule where you map out what training to do each day of the week, morning and night. And when you put that schedule on your fridge, its always in front of you and you know what you’ve got coming on that day and the next day. That’s one really good way to get into the routine and the habit of training. And I’ve attached a weekly schedule maker at the bottom of this video so you can download that, you can print it off and put it on your fridge so it gives you a better habit and routine to get into with your training.
What is it with swimmers pushing off two seconds behind the next person?
I coach in the mornings next to a few tri squads. They’re good swimmers and they work hard but they push off two seconds behind the person in front of them. If they want to improve their technique and their stroke, push off five to seven seconds behind and leave a little bit of room. It means you can get clear water and you can get more from your training. So rather than drafting for the whole session where you’re working 30% easier, then push off five to seven seconds behind so you get some clear water to swim well with better technique and you get to work harder in the session and so you get more from it.
If you find that you are constantly sore in specific muscles…
There’s two ways you can loosen them out without getting a massage and without getting therapy for it. The first one is a spiky ball. So it’s a small ball with a spikes in it and you can usually pick it up from a physiotherapist or sports store. And you can put it on the ground and you can maneuver yourself around to massage the muscle. And you can also use a foam roller which is also available from a physiotherapist and sporting stores to massage the muscles while you’re lying on the floor. So these two items will help you loosen up any muscles that you constantly find tight. So for example I have had a sore lower back in the past few weeks and last night I used the spiky ball to massage my glutes and hamstrings which loosened up my lower back. So these two items are great if you are constantly sore in specific muscle. That’s it for news this week.
Thanks for watching and I’ll see you back next week.
The post The First Step To Improving Your Technique appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
You Shouldn’t Breathe Every 3 Strokes [0:07] – Now that sounds silly because you hear a lot of coaches talking about how important it is to breathe every 3 strokes. But you should be breathing in a mixture of 2s, 3s and 4s particularly in training. Now the reason for that is that most of us would breathe every 2 strokes in and out of a turn. And that’s because you need more oxygen as you go into a turn.
Now in a race, if you are doing a 50m sprint, then you want to breathe as few times as possible. But if you are racing anything 100 meters or more, then you should be getting in a rhythm and finding what’s most comfortable for you. So for most swimmers that’s breathing every 2 strokes, some swimmers prefer every 3 and other swimmers prefer to mix it up with 2s, 3s and 4s. So you don’t need to stick to one breathing pattern you can mix it up within a lap or within a race.
How To Best Use The Mastering Freestyle Program [1:14] – The answer to that is that you should watch each of the modules so you can either download them or watch them online, and you watch each of the modules then you print off the drill card which you take in the pool with you and then you go through a 25 to 50 minutes of each drill in the one session. And then at the end of that you will be feeling better and you will be swimming better after that session. And after that to lock that technique in, you pick your favorite 4 or 5 drills and you do them in your warm up each time you have a training session, that activates good technique and it gets you swimming harder in the water and gets you feeling better and feeling more relaxed in the water. That way, you lock in that good technique that you’ve got from doing the Mastering Freestyle program.
Sharing Goal Times in Training [2:11] – Now last week, I spoke about the importance of not sharing goals because you’ve got a better chance of achieving them. That caused a bit of a controversy and I got quite a few emails suggesting that the opposite is true. What I recommend is to try that with one of your goals. So pick one goal and don’t share it with other people, just keep it to yourself and see how you go in a couple of months and see if you do achieve that goal down the track. It’s worth testing and it’s worth trying. Now I do recommend you do share your goal times in training. So if you’re with training partners or you’re a coach or in a squad, share what goal time you’re going for in your set and that will mean you’ve got a better chance of achieving that time than if you hadn’t shared it.
Build Sets Develop Pacing and Speed [3:21] – One of my favorite types of sets to do in training are building sets. So rather than swimming at a constant pace for a whole set, its where you’re building up as you go. So an example is 4×200 freestyle where the first one is the slowest one and the fourth one is the fastest one. And you get faster with each 200 that you do. And the advantages of this is it gives you a better feeling of how hard you need to go in order to swim different times. It’s also good for race practice.
Now Is the Time to Train Hard [4:08] – Now is the time to get stuck in your training and your stroke development. We’ve got a few months before we head into the Christmas and the New Year break – and by getting that basic fitness and basic aerobic fitness over the next few months then you put yourself ahead of most swimmers and most athletes. So now is the time to really get stuck in your training. If you’re looking for programs to get you fit the Effortless Swimming Workouts program is very good to help you build up that fitness and speed as we go into the holiday period. And if you’re looking to develop your stroke, we’ve got the Mastering Freestyle program which will help you develop your freestyle technique. Or if you want to develop your butterfly, backstroke or your breast stroke, there’s the Effortless form program which goes through drills which help you develop the other three strokes.
The post Never Breathe Every 3 Strokes appeared first on Effortless Swimming.
In news this week:
- Keep Your Goals To Yourself [0:07] – Repeated psychology tests have shown you have a better chance at achieving your goals when you keep them to yourself. Share them with your coach, but when it comes to your family, friends and coworkers – you might be better off keeping it quiet. This video explains it in more detail.
- When To Start Kicking Off The Wall [0:43]– Starting your kick as soon as you push off the wall after a turn will slow you down. You are travelling fastest immediately after you push off. Only start to kick once you begin losing speed. Just like a cyclist will only start pedalling after a hill when they start to slow down.
- Open Water Swimmers Still Train In The Pool [1:22] – Pool swimming allows you to track and measure your swimming. You can get your splits, track your distance and get a feel for your pace better than when you are training on the open water. Open water training is still important for experience and open water skills, but pool swimming is important.
- Coaching Makes You A Better Swimmer [1:58] – Try your hand at coaching or watching other swimmers from pooldeck. You’ll start to see the commonalities between the faster swimmers. There’s not one ideal technique, and seeing the differences between swimmers helps you notice where you can improve your own technique.
- Theraband Exercises Improve Shoulder Stability (And Prevent Injury) [3:04] – Therabands are long elastic cords. Many professional swimmers use them before training or warm up because they activate the muscles that stabilise your shoulders. The theraband exercises I recommend are in SwimGymPro and for these exercises I use the light resistance therabands.
We help swimmers and triathletes improve their swimming. I recommend most swimmers start with the Mastering Freestyle program which develops a smooth, fast freestyle.
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In news this week: * How to Stop Choking on Water – If you find that you’re choking on water in freestyle, it’s usually because you’re breathing too far forward. Because it restricts the amount of rotation you can get when you’re taking that breath. The best way to fix it is to breathe more towards your shoulder so you keep one goggle in, one goggle out of the water and you’re breathing towards that shoulder which keeps the rest of your body in line and allows you more rotation so it doesn’t restrict your movement. If you find that you’re having trouble breathing or you’re choking on water, breathe more towards your shoulder. * Swim Slower – Every session you don’t need to go there and just hammer yourself and kill yourself and come out totally bugged. Swimming isn’t just about pushing as hard as you can, it’s about control, form and technique and that comes from slower swimming working on drills, stroke count, techniques and really focusing on those few things. So if you find that you’re hammering yourself every session, try and take at least one session where you just focus on your stroke, form and drills. That’s why we developed the Mastering Freestyle Program because it takes people through the drills that they need in order to get the right body and head position, kick and balance in the water. If you’re not doing any slower sessions in your training week, just include at least one of them because you’ll most likely find that you’ll get a huge benefit from that one slower swim. Don’t worry about not getting the fitness from that training session. Swimming is about staying relaxed and having good form while you swim. * Train in All Conditions – Open water swimming is about being able to deal with the conditions that you get thrown at you. Conditions can vary anywhere from a smooth flat sea to big, choppy swells. If you go to our open water video program which is openwatermastery.com, that’s where we teach you how to deal with any type of conditions that you get thrown at you, and to be able to sight when conditions are choppy and visibility is low. If you want to improve your skills, you can check out our video program at openwatermastery.com. * Hips Up Without Dropping Your Legs – You have probably been told by a coach to get your hips up and the way most swimmers get their hips up is by bending at their waist so their hips are up but their legs have dropped low and that usually causes you to create a lot more drag when you’re swimming which will slow you down and you’re wondering why your coach is telling you to put your hips up. The only way to fix that is to lengthen your body.
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