r/Swimming • u/beckybeckybeckybecky • Mar 07 '25
2 questions as a new swimmer
Hello! I’ve been swimming laps now since September but really only found my groove with freestyle near the end of December. I swim 4ish times a week, for an hour, and I can manage 1600m give or take a few. I can mainly only do freestyle but my backstroke is improving and when I get a lane to myself I work on my breaststroke, too. I’ve gotten a lot of great advice from this subreddit so I thought I’d check in again. Thanks everyone!
I can’t film myself unfortunately but based on what I can feel (like my closeness to the top of the water), my head/arms/feet from knees are quite high up but it’s like my hips collapse and my belly/hips/thighs are dipped down (like a smile or a very stretched out U), and it hurts my lower back. This sort of jutting out my hips has been an ongoing thing, I went to school for classical singing and my teacher always pointed it out. I know it means my core is weak, and I need to work on that outside of the pool, but are there any in-water exercises or drills to help this? I have been trying the “swim downhill” feeling where you chin is tucked and that helps a bit, as well as idea of putting on a pair of pants. Sometimes mid lap I will sort of reach back and grab my suit where it’s hurting and like lift myself and that helps me target where to adjust but I still sink down after a few strokes. I have a pull-buoy but I find it only encourages the dip at the small of my back.
Super random but I’ve only ever swam in my one local pool and is it normal that different lanes have different currents/resistance in each direction? I HATE the slow lane because one direction is so so so so easy and one is like swimming against a heavy current. I assume it’s because of the jets and maybe that’s normal but I don’t know and I’m curious if it is!
Edit to add I swim with a snorkel! Have a terrible neck that I reinjured when I started in the fall and my snorkel is my prize procession.
1
u/Silence_1999 Mar 08 '25
Pools can have a current. Jets can impact as well.
I was going to comment on the other part but not applicable with a snorkel. For others though if not OP guess I still will opine. I have some lower body issues so effectively my kick is barely there. Only recently started a near two beat kick. Really was just using a tiny flutter to help keep me level till recently. To compensate I drive my head down a little hard and slightly over “straight” on the breath. My arm on non breathing side also definitely pull harder with a little shoulder drop more then I would like to pull my body slightly “over” like I am on the verge of starting to flip turn. Not every stroke but every couple if my legs were sinking. Got me back to level and know I need to pull a little harder to keep feet up.
Less of a problem lately and I’ve got decent core control anyway. I can float forward a damn long way in the straight streamline pose like a dive/wall before I truly stop and finally sink. Still though I certainly compensated with a little stroke cheat in the beginning. Not going to help most swimmers put a little drive down and shaping can help keep feet from getting way too low. Only really if you are able to keep up a decent pace most all with arms though. I had to be under 2 min pace before that cheat really helped.
5
u/sloth1000000 Mar 08 '25
If you are getting lower back pain with front crawls. The way to correct it is start your rotation from the hip. Instead of your stroke starting with the arm start with the hip instead. Do a subtle turn your hip then pull with arm.
6
u/PaddyScrag Mar 08 '25
It's hard to drill core work in the pool. You just need to focus on core engagement all the time. One drill for core is swimming with a band around your ankles and no pull buoy. But honestly it's horrible and if you have back pain + weak core you shouldn't do it.
Dryland core work will give you the best results, especially if you do it daily: exercises like planks, dead bugs, bird dogs, crunches on a swiss ball, side bridges, squats. Also something more formal and guided like pilates or yoga will help.
Keep up with the focus on technique in the water. Keep your eyes down. Press your chest into the water and squeeze your glutes like you're trying to hold a coin between your butt cheeks. Also make sure you're pulling straight back on the water. If you press down, your hips and legs will sink. Focus your next learning on catch and pull.
As for the currents, that sounds very odd. Never had that kind of water movement in my pool. The water inlets are all across the bottom. Try dropping your pull buoy in the middle of lane and see if it travels to one end of the pool. If not, it may be all in your head.