Time-Saving Tips for Lazy Swimmers #1

Most swimmers are aware of WHAT they should be doing to go faster. The trouble is, there's a HUGE difference between knowing...and DOING. If all we had to do was KNOW...then DO, coaches wouldn't have to say the same things over and over again, and there'd be no reason for DVDs or drills or articles or anything fun like this website. If your excuse for not DOING is that you're lazy, we've put together a series that will at least make you a FAST lazy swimmer. Here's Tip #1 in this 7-part program.

Streamline!
I recently worked with a young swimmer and had to ask him repeatedly to streamline off his walls. He COULD do it, he knew he SHOULD do it, but on lap after painful lap, he WOULDN'T do it. I tried to explain the importance of it, but he persisted on pushing off like Superman. Finally, I asked why he wouldn't do what I asked. "Cause I'm lazy," was his reply. I jumped on that and said that streamline was PERFECT for lazy swimmers. In fact, it was the one thing I focused on when I didn't feel like swimming. I explained to the young swimmer that if he streamlined really well, he wouldn't have to swim so far and he'd be faster. That seemed to do the trick -- at least for a little while (I mean, this kid was LAZY!).

So this series is named in honor of that young swimmer. It will cover all the things that coaches say over and over again. Why repeat things that are so painfully obvious? Because sometimes we are too lazy to do the easy, obvious things that will make us faster. Because our sport is all about repetition  --doing things over and over and over again. This series will be a collection of simple things that you can do to make swimming easier. Implementing these basics is KEY to becoming fast, so presenting them over and over again can't hurt.

With all that being said, tip #1 is STREAMLINE. 

Streamlining puts you in a position to create the smallest amount of resistance in the water. This, in turn, allows you to travel FARTHER off the wall (swim less), travel FASTER for a longer period of time (reduce time), and carry more speed into your initial few strokes (easier strokes).

With that simple reasoning understood, go get REALLY lazy, and streamline off EVERY wall.