Seven Tips To Better Swimming

The editors of Men’s Health’s excellent Triathlon Training Center asked swimming phenom Michael Phelps and Terry Laughlin, president of the New York-based swimming
think tank Total Immersion (totalimmersion.net), to help them put together
a step-by-step swimming workout guide. Here’s what they came up with:
1. Swim tall. Imagine a central axis extending from the top of your head to the
opposite end of the pool. Rotate your body along this axis with each
stroke, stretching your leading arm (the one reaching out front) as far
forward as you can. Keep the muscles in your lower back and abs taut as
you power through the water–doing so will keep the propulsion coming
from both your arms and legs and stop your midsection from sagging like
an old first-mate’s belly.
 2. Drop an anchor. Grip the water with your entire forearm and hand, holding your forearm at a
right angle to your upper arm and digging in like you’re gathering sand
with a shovel. Keep your hands broad, flat, and firm. You’re not
pushing your arm through the water as much as anchoring it and pulling
your body over it.
3. Put yourself on heavy rotation.
Each stroke begins with your leading arm having entered the water, and
that side of your body–the low side–pointing almost at the bottom of
the pool. The other side of your body–the high side–should be raised,
with the arm that just finished its stroke getting ready to return to
the water. Power is triggered when you drive down the high side of your
body.
4. Keep your head down.  Not only does
this technique cut drag, it keeps your torso high, reducing strain on
your neck and lower back.
5. Find your glide path. Your goal should be a high
DPS–swim-speak for “distance per stroke.” Elite swimmers like Phelps
can easily traverse a 25-yard pool in seven strokes (each hand entry
counts as a stroke). Try to keep yours below 20 by conserving momentum.
Pull yourself over your anchor and continue to glide forward with one
arm forward and the other back.
6. Drag your feet.  Your legs should be
taut, scissoring you through the water, while your feet remain
flexible. This will help them snap at the downstroke of each kick,
adding oomph and helping twist your torso along the central axis.
7. Don’t waste your breath. Make each breath count. Emphatically exhale the air from your
lungs (all of it, not just 90 percent) before snagging a quick, full
breath on the high side.  Try breathing on alternate
sides–that is, after three strokes. It’ll reduce the strain on your
neck and shoulders that results from always breathing on the same side.

Read more from Men’s Health Triathlon Training Center.