doin laps is great for general health and fitness but what aboot actual surfing? you know, the 'up and riding' part. well, not so much it seems to me at least but i found that my "bust-a-move" potential is upped by practicing flip turns. you know; the harder you whack them the more core atheticism you develop. watch taylor knox or mendia grind into a full roundhouse cutback and tell me they're not well core-developed athletes. the pool is great for paddlers but if you wanna give john-john a run for his money in the "look at me" department i suggest trying out pool training thats heavy on the flip turn.
It does a lot for your lungs and is a good supplement to paddling. One thing I notice is that when I come back from a day of surfing in the thick wetsuit, it throws off my swimming technique in pool. That said I think since we are so explosive when we paddle it would be best to train sets of 25 yard sprints as hard as possible if you want to simulate the real thing.
sorry I didn't even acknowledge the flip turn part. Swimming technique is very hip dependent if you have a swimming background so I would think that the undulation of underwater dolphin kicking and the explosiveness of flip turns would translate pretty well to better cutbacks.
Doing those somersaults in the pool also conditioned my brain to stay calm and not dizzy when I get pummeled on a major wipeout.
you can try to bounce from the bottom to the surface holding a little weight . When surfacing grab a breath then sink slowly til feet hit , still holding the weight, and repeat . Change up the tempo slower or fast to change breathing and heart rate and more weight for resistance . Its kinda like a stress / endurance test . After all that , then try to hold the surface while holding the weight . Its a good work out .
I just started hitting the pool again. I have no competitive swim experience, so kick turns I don't do. I tried them and bounced off the bottom, or got water up my nose. I usually swim 1/2 mile, rest, 50's sprints for 1/4 mile, rest Then a 1/4 mile cool down.
No better traing then when you get a herd of fat women doing water aerobics while you are doing laps. It causes a current and I swear to god a little wave from the wake of their hooves moving in liquid. Mean *****es too that simulate a hostal crowd.
try this: momentum/flip/plant feet/half twist/push off... blow out air from nose slowly but steadily so water can't get up... the key is momentum.if you go into it with a little speed the other stuff can fall into place.
For years I would swim a mile or so at the pool and it was fine. I would Mix it up some but mostly just swim. Recently I joined Masters Group at the YMCA. It is great! I get pushed and great "coaching" on stroke, kicking Flips etc. much better.
I did underwater laps with dolphin kicks to get ready for my pr trip. It helped a ton. I can take hold downs a lot better. Yoga is awesome for core n the scenery is great
Clipped this from one of the surf mags awhile back. Think it comes from Nick Carroll. Pro tip, get this to fit on a single sheet of paper, print it out, get it laminated, bring it to the pool: THE 1500-METER SURF SWIM TRAINING SESSION (a la WTFK) (4 - 5 times a week, all done freestyle, except where indicated) 1. Jump in and swim 400 meters, nice and smoothly, not too quick, not too slow. This is to warm up and loosen your whole body. 2. Take a short rest, just a couple minutes. Let the heart rate return to somewhere near normal. 3. Do a set of short quick sprints. You're probably swimming in a 25-meter pool, so do this: 8 x 25m, each one pretty much as quick as you can, with a 20 second break between each 25m. (Or start each 25m exactly 40 seconds after you started the last one - a 40-second "interval". Intervals keep you honest.) 4. Take another rest. That little sprint set should've limbered you up and got some heat running through your brain and body. 5. Now a set of sturdy strengtheners. 5 x 100m, smooth and strong, with a 30 second gap between each 100m. (Or on a 2-minute interval.) 6. Take another rest. That should've opened your lungs right up and got some endorphins moving. Healthy tingling through body, etc. 7. Now a finish-off power set. 6 x 50m, with a 20 second break between each. (Or a 50-second interval.) 8. Roll right into a slow "warmdown" 100m, swim very gently, 25m free, 25m backstroke, 25m breaststroke, 25m free to finish. 9. Drink a couple pints of water. Most surfers will feel some odd muscles twitching after a couple of these session, but it won't be too bad - not as bad as if you hadn't done any kind of upper body work. After four or five weeks at this pace, you'll be ready to tune it up a bit. Try this one out every second session: THE 2500-METER 6-8-FOOT SURF PSYCHER 1. Jump in for the 400-meter warmup gig. 2. Rest for a minute or so, then straight into this: 3. Serious strengtheners: 10 x 50m, first five on a 2 minute interval, second five on a 1min-50sec interval. (Don't give up on number eight, either!) 4. Rest for a couple minutes, then: 10 x 50m, first five on 1 minute, second five on 45 seconds. 5. Rest for a minute or so, then (ha ha!): 8 x 25m UNDERWATER, each on 1 minute. (You can use a set of swim fins on this one -- not a bad investment.) 6. 6x50, swimming 25 free, 25 other stroke - backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly. Your choice of the other stroke. (If you can mmanage it, try to revolve twice through the three - I know butterfly is a real trick.) Each 50 on 1m15s. 6. Rest for a couple of minutes, then swim right through the remaining 600m without stopping, but doing 25m backstroke for every 75m freestyle. Slow yourself down through the last 100, down to warmdown pace. Keep drinking nice clean fresh water a LOT during the days before and after your sessions, it'll flush out a lot of exercise byproducts and keep your muscles loose and soft. If you don't do this, you'll hurt your cneys and liver and your recoveries will be slower. Spend the bucks you've saved not joining a gym on a good massage from time to time --or just save for a couple new boards. Any good pool center will have some sort of swim group or program where you can hook up with other people and maybe train with 'em a bit, swim training is way easier with a couple buddies.
This is one I used to do 500 warm up, 90 sec rest 5 X 50 Free on 60 sec, 90 sec rest 5X100 flipper kick 25-heads up with hands, keep head facing up and pull with hands and kick 25-no hands head up and kick no hands 25- no breath one pool length underwater 25 back stroke for recuperation ?? sec rest between each 100 90 second rest to next set 5X100 pull- 45 sec rest 60 sec rest 5X50 free on 45 sec 90 sec rest 300 cool down
I swim in pool used by some college swimmers over the holidays. I noticed they were doing underwater lengths of 25 yards doing a dolphin kick with fins with their arms at their sides. Usually followed by a 20 second rest then repeat 4 times. I tried it. It kicks your a$$. I rest for 30 seconds after each one, but will try to shave it down. Lots of what I've read and seen regarding advanced swimming involves intervals like the ones you guys have mentioned, along with greater emphasis on using fins, (with and without a kickboard), and doing lots of laps kicking only, in between your normal freestyle interval laps. It really builds the core. Since tweaking my shoulder I have done this type training more to ease off on the shoulder a bit, along with yoga, and it really helps my surfing and endurance. Unfortunately, I do yoga at home or on the beach, my wife would not appreciate me going to a yoga class filled with women, but I keep telling my clueless friends to get a clue. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
I remember like 6 yrs ago I was living near red bank and got a 1 week pass to some little gym there,and they had free swim fins u can use.its amazing how great those things work,i remember I was able to swim a lap underwater with the fins on.the pool wasn't that big,but it was pretty cool to do,considering I could only swim a half lap underwater with 1 breath. pools wont help u surf better,but its great to build up ur confidence in the water.swimming is everything in surfing,except for surfing itself.its always good to know ur able to make it in if u lose ur board or something,when bodysurfing in isn't an option,but most of the times its the only option unless its breaking on an outer sandbar and u only get pushed to the inside sandbar and u still have to swim 2o yards through the rip with some whitewater help.
The best thing for surfing is surfing. The more you swim, the stronger you get the more waves per session, the more you actually surf. I've done some other surf specific exercises (Taylor Knox surf exercises video) but honestly didn't feel like it helped my surfing all that much. The best I've ever surfed was when I was swimming a lot. Need to get back in the pool...
