How CSS Training Works & Our New Charity: Level Water

Last Xmas shipping dates in the Swim Smooth Shop: 3rd Dec: Asia, Far East, Aus, NZ 5th Dec: Africa, Caribbean, South & Central America, Middle East 8th Dec: Canada and Eastern Europe 12th Dec: USA 13th Dec: Western Europe 19th Dec: UK Salisbury 1to1 Analysis Full information here Salisbury SS Squad Full information here Twickenham Video Analysis Full information here Lancaster SS Squad Full information here Lancaster UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here Abingdon Clinic Jan 24th Full information here West Lothian Video Analysis Full information here Prague Junior Swim Club Full information here Richmond SS Squad Full information here and here Acton Video Analysis Full information here Swim/Tri Camps Alicante All year round Full information: here Upcoming Swim Smooth Clinics / Camps: Dubai Video Analysis Dec 2014 Full information here Dubai/Richmond/Wimbledon Workshops Full information here For more info on SS Certified Coaches see here

The most common questions we get tweeted to Paul Newsome's and Swim Smooth's twitter accounts are about CSS (Critical Swim Speed) training. Why does it work? Is it for me? Why am I getting strange results from the test?

To answer those questions we've just released this new video on Youtube:



In it Paul explains:

- What CSS is
- Why the CSS test works
- Understanding what sort of athlete you are
- How you should go about trying to get faster as a distance swimmer

To get you started with CSS training you can see the CSS test here: www.swimsmooth.com/css

Consider using a Tempo Trainer Pro which is the perfect tool to pace yourself accurately through a CSS set: http://www.swimsmooth.com/finis-tempo-trainer-pro.html

And you'll find plenty of CSS sessions in one of our excellent Waterproof Training Plans: www.swimsmooth.com/trainingplans.html

Consistent CSS training through the winter will really take your swimming to another level - let us know how you get on!

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Things We Love: Level Water

Level Water is a new UK swimming charity. They find disabled children who are being left out of group lessons and teach them to swim one-to-one lessons until they're good enough to join group swim school or competitive clubs. They're growing fast and they need your support!

We've signed up to their newsletter and encourage you to do the same - you'll be entered into regular prize draws for free Speedo and Level Water swim kit. You'll also stay informed of where they're working and when they're holding fundraising events - Open Water Swims and Triathlons.

Sign up and find out about the UK's new national swimming charity here.

Swim Smooth!

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Announcing Swim Smooth's New Partnership With The ITU

Swim Smooth Bathers The Perfect Xmas Gift! Upcoming Swim Smooth Clinics / Camps: Dubai Video Analysis Dec 2014 Full information here Dubai/Richmond/Wimbledon Workshops Full information here Salisbury 1to1 Analysis Full information here Salisbury SS Squad Full information here Twickenham Video Analysis Full information here Lancaster SS Squad Full information here Lancaster UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here Abingdon Clinic Jan 24th Full information here West Lothian Video Analysis Full information here Prague Junior Swim Club Full information here Richmond SS Squad Full information here and here Acton Video Analysis Full information here Swim/Tri Camps Alicante All year round Full information: here For more info on SS Certified Coaches see here

Swim Smooth are very pleased to announce that the ITU have selected Swim Smooth as their coaching provider for swimming.

Similar in nature to our partnership with British Triathlon, all ITU coaches will now be taught to use Swim Smooth's principles, coaching methods and coaching tools in their countries around the world. If you're planning on taking ITU qualifications then we hope you're as excited as we are about this new relationship!

The ITU is the Triathlon governing body for the Olympics and represents 119 nations around the world developing the sport at all levels from grass roots up to Olympic competitor.

Today in Bucharest we've just kicked off the first swim module for Level 1 Course where Swim Smooth's Adam Young is working with the first 20 coaches to sit the course. Many many more will follow:

We're very proud of this new relationship and are excited about our coaching being used ever more widely. We see it as part of our overall mission to raise the standards of swim coaching around the world - we hope you're on the team with us!

Swim Smooth!

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Video: How Trying To Glide Harms Your Catch

Swim Smooth Bathers The Perfect Xmas Gift! Upcoming Swim Smooth Clinics / Camps: Dubai Video Analysis Dec 2014 Full information here Dubai/Richmond/Wimbledon Workshops Full information here Salisbury 1to1 Analysis Full information here Salisbury SS Squad Full information here Twickenham Video Analysis Full information here Lancaster SS Squad Full information here Lancaster UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here Abingdon Clinic Nov 15th Full information here West Lothian Video Analysis Full information here Prague Junior Swim Club Full information here Richmond SS Squad Full information here and here Acton Video Analysis Full information here Swim/Tri Camps Alicante All year round Full information: here For more info on SS Certified Coaches see here

[Warning: If you are on a mobile or slow internet connection you may need to give the video in this post a short time to buffer and play smoothly.]

If you've been following Swim Smooth for a while, you'll know that we advise against adding a pause-and-glide into your stroke to try and make your stroke longer. One reason is that water is 800x more dense than air and you simply decelerate during the glide before have to re-accelerate on the following stroke - which is a very inefficient way to swim.

Another reason is that trying to glide has a strong tendency to harm your catch technique at the front of your stroke. Here's Paula who is relatively new to swimming:

Paula's trying to pause the lead arm out in front of the head to make her stroke longer. Like nearly all swimmers who are trying to do this, she is dropping her elbow and wrist, and showing the palm forwards. Here's a slow motion close-up of the front of her stroke:

You can clearly see how she's leaning on the water in order to try and pause her lead hand in front of her head. Not only is she applying a brake and slowing herself down but by dropping the elbow and wrist like that it's almost impossible to get a good hold of the water and press it backwards effectively during the stroke that follows.

If you push forwards like this in your own stroke then you will feel quite a lot of water pressure on the palm of your hand. Don't mistake that feeling for a good catch - it isn't! In fact, when you correct this position (see below) you will actually feel less pressure on the palm of the hand, which can feel wrong at first.

Pushing forwards on the water has many knock on effects in your stroke, such as sinking the legs downwards at the back. If you look back to the top video again you can see how hard Paula is having to kick to try bring them up to the surface and to make up for a lack of arm propulsion in her stroke. Kicking that hard is hugely energy sapping!

Gliding And The Catch

Instead of dropping the elbow and showing the palm forwards, we should be entering and extending with the elbow slightly higher than the wrist and the wrist slightly higher than the fingertips:

In this position there's no braking effect on the lead hand and the swimmer is perfectly set-up for engaging with the water and pressing it backwards.

The important point to appreciate is that when the hands extend forward into the correct catching position, the flow of the water actually pushes your hand and arm into commencing the catch. Elite swimmers use this little push from the water to engage the catch and keep their stroke continuous and flowing at the front. Here's marathon swimming legend Shelley Taylor-Smith doing just that:

If you are trying to deliberately pause at the front of the stroke there's really no other way to stop the next stroke commencing other than learning to push forwards against the water. This is why nearly all Overgliders have learnt to 'put on the brakes' like this in their stroke (as you can see in this Youtube sequence).

The solution? Take a leaf out of the elite swimmer's book and don't try and glide in the first place! Not only will this improve your catch mechanics but it will lift you stroke rate, improving your sense of rhythm. Don't rush the stroke but keep it continuous and flowing to give yourself every chance of developing a great catch and pull, you'll be a much faster and more efficient swimmer as a result.

Swim Smooth!

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Should You Embrace A Swimming Plateau?

Upcoming Swim Smooth Clinics / Camps: Swim/Tri Camps Alicante All year round Full information: here Salisbury 1to1 Analysis Full information here Salisbury SS Squad Full information here Twickenham Video Analysis Full information here Lancaster SS Squad Full information here Lancaster UK, Video Analysis Consultations Full information here Abingdon Clinic Nov 15th Full information here Richmond/Wimbledon Workshops Full information here West Lothian Video Analysis Full information here Prague Junior Swim Club Full information here Richmond SS Squad Full information here and here Acton Video Analysis Full information here For more info on SS Certified Coaches see here

If you've been swimming for a while you've probably hit a plateau in your swimming performances at some point in time, in fact it's quite likely you're on one right now. You might have been swimming for weeks, months or even years without seeing any improvements in your swimming ability, which is a very frustrating place to be.

There's a common school of thought out there that says in this situation you should 'embrace the plateau' and enjoy it for what it is - as if doing so is in some way virtuous.

At Swim Smooth we fundamentally disagree with embracing plateaus because to do that you're believing either:

- You are already as good as swimmer as you can be (vanishingly unlikely).

or:

- By repeating the same things for months on end, without improvement, that one day you're going to wake up and suddenly be a much better swimmer*.

Should you embrace a plateau? Here's our answer:

Getting Off A Plateau

Here's some questions to ask yourself to help break off a plateau:

- Do you ever practise your exhalation technique? If not, there's some free speed right there by improving it.

- Are you performing the right fitness training? Consider 'chasing speed' using a Finis Tempo Trainer Pro rather than waiting for it to happen using our The Swim Smooth guide to systematically improving your CSS pace.

- Are you thinking of yourself as an individual in regard to the type of technique work you are doing? As we mentioned on the blog last week, our Swim Types system is a great way to address this.

- Are you consistent with your training?

- If you race in open water, have you thought how a good open water stroke might differ?

- Do you practise your open water skills regularly? Your ability to swim straight, draft and punch effectively through disturbed water can all be practised in the pool during the winter and are arguably worth as much time saving as conventional technique work.

Practising open water skills in the pool is essential
to reach your potential as an open water swimmer or triathlete.

- What are your pacing skills like? Go off too fast every time you start a set (or start a swim within a set) and the quality of your training will be reduced. See here.

What Is Holding You Back?

As humans we get tied to our beliefs and habits but more often than not they are what ends up holding us back. Try making a few changes and introducing some fresh ideas to your swimming - you will be surprised at the results!

Swim Smooth!

* The definition of insanity? Keep doing what you've always done and expecting a different outcome.

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