Simple Swim Tip for Triathletes

Easy Correction for a Common Swim Flaw

It's no secret, one of the biggest barriers to entry for triathlon is swimming. This is for a lot of reasons, but especially because swimming is a very technical sport.

Unless you on 'swim team' growing up, most people struggle to become proficient swimmers.

Fortunately, as professional triathlon coaches, one of the services we offer are swim lessons via our 1 on 1 Sessions.

Each year we work with well over 100 athletes  of ALL abilities to help get them swimming. Some are starting from scratch and others are looking to get FASTER.

Every athlete is unique and faces their own challenges when it coms to swimming but there are definitely a handful of common flaws we see often.

Below we will share one of them that happens to have a fairly easy correction and typically yields quick results. 

Coach Chris offers a technique correction during a 1 on 1 Swim Session

Swim Tip for Triathletes

A common flaw we see among triathletes is that their hand “slips” through the water as they stroke instead of actually gripping the water and moving more of it (to go faster!).

Focus, First

First, become hyper focused on how your hand is moving through the water as you stroke. You want to make sure your FINGER TIPS are facing DOWN and your PALM is facing BACK all the way through your stroke.

Sometimes athletes can actually feel they are doing it incorrectly when you bring it to their attention, but many times video (even above water footage) really helps the athlete actually SEE what they are doing (or not doing).

Then,… the very simple correction: FINGER TIPS DOWN, PALM FACING BACK can bring IMMEDIATE RESULTS,….

Practice & Repetition

HOWEVER, you will have to practice it and get lots of repetition in order to reprogram yourself and make it stick. …

And yes, it is common for it to feel harder at first or take more effort initially. It’s because you are just not used to moving this way.

Check out the video below for a visual and explanation from Coach Chris.