Why is Efficient Swimming So Freaking Hard?

After another week of knee pain limited my running and North Carolina’s first snow of the year prevented time on the bike, I’ve spent my last several workouts in the pool.  I clearly need to become a better swimmer as 5 of my 35 goals are directly related to swimming and many more are focused on triathlons.   The extra time in the water is probably a good thing but it’s damn hard.  With it dark and cold outside, jumping in a pool isn’t exactly something I look forward to every morning. 

How do I do it?  Well, I constantly have to refer to my previously invented acronyms on motivation (See post “Where does Motivation Come from?”) and yell at myself “NASTY DOPE BUS!” to get psyched up.  For those confused by “NASTY DOPE BUS” and looking for a more meaningful arrangement of the letters, you can always use the more common “DON’T BE A PUSSY!”  


I guarantee if you say that out loud to yourself the next time you are debating whether to jump into cold water, you will jump…immediately.  It’s an amazing trick.  When I can’t say that out loud because of those around me, it’s also fun to watch people’s faces when I do a cannonball into the pool screaming “BUSY NOTEPADS!”  They have no idea what I’m talking about and I’m easily entertained.  In the end, any of those phrases gets me in the pool ready to swim…mission accomplished.

Anyway, last week I spent some time thinking and writing about the “hardest” sports.  We discussed (I use the word “we” generously here to mean me plus the 2 or 3 people who post comments) different methodologies to figure out an answer.  While we didn’t settle on one single hardest sport, most seemed to agree that ESPN’s ranking was pretty much meaningless.  Is a meaningless system going to stop me from using it again this week to see where swimming ranks?  Of course not!  Let’s do it…

Turning to the worthless ESPN sports difficulty rating, we see that “Swimming – Sprints” ranked #45 out of 60 and “Swimming – distance” is on the chart at #36.  I’m really glad their system broke those 2 apart as the debates would never end if they only had one consolidated swimming category.  That last sentence is what is known as “sarcasm.”  As an aside, sarcasm was first used in English in 1579 and 433 years later I have a difficult time using sentences that don’t contain this writing style. 

Ok, clearly this post is going to prove that drinking and blogging at the same time is not recommended for quality output.  In fact, drinking/blogging should definitely be a category whenever ESPN decides to update their sport difficulty ranking.  I’m guessing it will come in somewhere around “drawing perfect circles while great white shark diving” as ESPN attempts to keep their rankings as meaningless as possible.

Damn, I can’t stay on topic today.  What was I talking about?  Oh yeah…swimming sprints is #45 on the list but swimming distance is #36.  Doesn’t this beg the question of what’s in the middle between the 2?  Let’s take a look…

Of course, “Rodeo: Bull/Bareback/Bronc Riding.” Everyone knows that riding a bull is harder than swimming sprints but easier than swimming distance…very logical indeed.  As another side note, while I have no experience riding a real bull, I tried the mechanical bull on spring break in college in Cancun.  Trust me, not easy.  It turns out it is even more difficult if you stand on the bull in the Karate Kid Crane kick position…really tough to stay on like that as I found out. 

Screw it, maybe I should just change the topic of this post and tell you about that spring break trip.  Jeez, I really am all over the place today…please stay with me…chances are pretty good I’m going to have a point about efficient  swimming eventually.  Ok, let’s get serious.  Stop distracting me.  Here we go again…

Have you seen people swimming that look like they just guide along with no effort?  Have you seen people who swim across the pool and basically look like they’re ready to drown?  It really is amazing seeing the different swimming strokes people have and thinking about how important being efficient is in the stroke. 

Next time you’re at a pool, count how many strokes different swimmers take to get to the other side.  At my gym, in an average 25 yard pool, I see some swimmers take as many as 45 strokes to get across.  Good swimmers do it in about 12.  Think about that for a sec…the bad swimmer is taking almost 4X the number of strokes as the good swimmer and no doubt is taking significantly longer to get across as well.  Holy inefficiency…no wonder why weak swimmers tire so quickly…they are working so much harder.  When I first started a few months ago I was around 30 strokes to get across and now I average about 16 so I’ve seen huge improvements. 

What I’ve learned is good form in any sport is relatively important but in swimming it really isn’t optional.  You can get by with a variety of running styles…you can survive if your cycling stroke isn’t perfect…you can even shoot free throws at an extremely high percentage underhand as some of the best free throw shooters in NBA history have demonstrated.  There is something about swimming though where you have to be efficient to be good and you have to have good form to be efficient…no exceptions.

So how much is there really to learn?  Well, glad you asked.  First, there’s breathing.  Simple enough except you have unilateral breathing, bilateral breathing, inhaling techniques, exhaling techniques, proper head position, open water breathing vs. pool breathing, etc. to think about.  You’ve also got body position, body rotation, the catch, the pull, arm extension, kicking, stroke rate, high elbows, rhythm, timing, streamlined position, flip turns etc. to add into your mindset during the stroke.  Putting it all together takes a lot of work.

I’ll leave you with this video of a guy swimming a version of freestyle called “Total Immersion.”  He does 9 strokes to cross a 25 meter pool and looks so effortless. 

That’s so awesome, crazy smooth gliding…so efficient. There are a variety of excellent websites to help get your swim stroke become more efficient but I enjoy www.swimsmooth.com if you’re interested in learning more.  They provide very clear explanations with videos that really help with swimming efficiency.

I’ve obviously got a lot to learn but you’d be surprised what improvements you can make when you combine web research, youtube videos, and a little practice in the pool on cold mornings after screaming “NASTY DOPE BUS…BUSY NOTEPADS…DON’T BE A PUSSY” to yourself.  

Moving right along.

Schmeis

What is the Hardest Sport?

I’ve played a lot of sports throughout my life.  I started with soccer when I was in kindergarten and played competitively for about 10 years.  I started dabbling in Tennis in 1st grade and took several lessons while I was growing up.  I added Baseball in 3rd grade and loved it until I realized by about my 4th day that it was one of the world’s worst sports.  In 5th grade, I figured out I loved basketball and it ended up dominating my life for the next several years.  I went to several camps, clinics, etc. throughout my ~10 years of playing it competitively.  In 7th grade I ended up picking up golf and I took lessons very early on which helped me become a solid high school golfer.  In high school, I started lifting weights and have continued that throughout my life.  I didn’t start snow skiing until my freshman year of college but got into that for the next 10 years as well.

Until last year, I hadn’t picked up or attempted anything new athletically in ages.  Sure, I tried the occasional Yoga class and Rock Climbing at the gym, but that doesn’t really count.  Finally, in 2011, I added a new sport for the first time in years when I picked up triathlons.  That meant adding running, cycling, and swimming to the list.

I literally had never run on a treadmill, never done a spin class, and never tried to swim laps until the middle of last year.  Obviously, I had to be able to run for several of the other sports but running for distance is far different that short bursts of speed required for basketball, tennis, etc.  Riding a bike is no problem but hammering along at 20+ mph in an aerodynamic position for 30+ miles is far different than my short loops around the neighborhood as a kid.  I’ve always been able to swim, but playing Marco Polo in the pool growing up is not quite comparable to swimming a mile efficiently that’s required for some triathlons.
So why am I telling you all of this?  Well, it got me thinking about an interesting question…what is the “hardest” sport?  The Schmeis 35 for 35 List has a lot of variety but I was thinking even more broadly about the hardest sport out there.

Welcome visitors, you have just arrived in the “completely subjective, debatable, if I was drinking I would argue about this for hours zone.”  


To start our research, let’s see what a quick Google search has to say on this topic.  As a side note, I always find it fascinating to see what pre-populates as I type in my search.  In this case, it appears typing in “what is the hardest” leads to this sequence of choices:
- Language to learn
- Sport
- Wood
- Bone in the Body
- Instrument to Play
- Nut to Crack

It seems others are wondering the same question as me since “Sport” was #2 on the list!  Also, there is no way you’re not going to immediately Google what the hardest “nut to crack” is right after reading this.

Anyway, when clicking on sport I found an interesting article on ESPN.  They tackle the question of “what is the hardest sport?” by looking at 10 categories (Endurance, Strength, Power, Speed, Agility, Flexibility, Nerve, Durability, Hand-Eye Coordination, and Analytic Aptitude) and asking experts to rate the importance of each category on a scale of 1-10 across 60 different sports and adding up the total.

Hey, that actually sounds like a reasonable way to figure this out.  Let’s check out the results they came up with:

Degree of Difficulty: Sport Rankings (ESPN)
SPORT	RANK
Boxing	1
Ice Hockey	2
Football	3
Basketball	4
Wrestling	5
Martial Arts	6
Tennis	7
Gymnastics	8
Baseball/Softball	9
Soccer	10
Skiing: Alpine	11
Water Polo	11
Rugby	13
Lacrosse	14
Rodeo: Steer Wrestling	15
Track and Field: Pole Vault	16
Field Hockey	17
Speed Skating	17
Figure Skating	19
Cycling: Distance	20
Volleyball	20
Racquetball/Squash	22
Surfing	23
Fencing	24
Skiing: Freestyle	25
Team Handball	26
Cycling: Sprints	27
Bobsledding/Luge	28
Ski Jumping	29
Badminton	30
Skiing: Nordic	30
Auto Racing	32
Track and Field: High Jump	33
Track and Field: Long, Triple jumps	34
Diving	35
Swimming (all strokes): Distance	36
Skateboarding	37
Track and Field: Sprints	38
Rowing	39
Rodeo: Calf Roping	40
Track and Field: Distance	40
Rodeo: Bull/Bareback/Bronc Riding	42
Track and Field: Middle Distance	43
Weight-Lifting	44
Swimming (all strokes): Sprints	45
Water Skiing	46
Table Tennis	47
Track and Field: Weights	48
Canoe/Kayak	49
Horse Racing	50
Golf	51
Cheerleading	52
Roller Skating	52
Equestrian	54
Archery	55
Curling	56
Bowling	57
Shooting	58
Billiards	59
Fishing	60

Ok, let’s break this down.  As with any analytics, the best thing to do is some spot checks to see if this makes sense.  In last place…Fishing!  Ok, I’m cool with that.  Sitting on a boat or dock and waiting for a fish doesn’t require much other than patience and beer so that makes sense.  

Number 1?  Boxing?  I can’t accept that.  I agree that a lot of the skills that are rated are required but here is where the ESPN system starts to fall apart.  Sure, endurance, agility, strength, etc. are all necessary but I think an average guy could get reasonably decent at boxing given some coaching and practice.  For some other sports, there is no way that’s true.  I’ll restrain from calling their system worthless though until I check out a few more…

Let’s keep going with this.  Tennis ranks ahead of Gymnastics.  My apologies to Federer and Nadal, but no freaking way.  I’m pretty sure most humans can get competent at tennis but I know there is no way they’re doing a Double Twisting Double Layout.  I feel the same way about Diving at #35 on the list.  Sorry Badminton, but there is no way you’re harder than doing the crazy shit these guys do off a 10 Meter platform.  Most people wouldn’t even jump from there, let alone dive, let alone try to do a diving trick.  I mean, I was pretty good at Badminton as a 6th grader in PE.  

Also, Golf at #51?  Clearly this panel of “experts” has never played.  Actually, that’s not fair.  According to their methodology, it probably does belong at 51 which again shows how ridiculous their method is.  

I think a better methodology is just to think about it in terms of one question…

”If you took an average person off the street who had never played the sport before and gave them 1 week with a professional coach, how close to competent could they look?”

With this question, I have to think the Gymnastics, Diving, and Ski Jumping type of sports have to be the most difficult.  Given I’ve never lost an argument, I guess that settles it…unless, of course, someone dares to challenge me with their views in the comments…

Schmeis

Comparing 35 for 35 Against the Best in The World

For the last few days, I have been walking around with a bounce in my step (my left knee ache aside).  My chest has been out, my head has been held high, and I have somehow been feeling even more confident/cocky/arrogant than usual.  After all, in just one short month, I had:

• Destroyed my 225 lb bench press goal by 30% (13 reps vs. 10 goal)
• Blown away my pull-ups goal by 20% (30 vs. 25)
• Annihilated my jump rope goal by 50% (150 in 1 min vs. 100)

Well, this morning all of that cockiness slowly started disappearing when I began doing some quick Google searches to try to put my 35 goals in context.

It started off with me thinking about jump roping and really having no point of comparison at all for the 150 I did in 1 minute.  I see people struggle with pull-ups at the gym so I knew the 30 I did was pretty good but the jump rope goal was completely made up without context.  After looking on YouTube for “world record fastest jump rope,” I found this Asian girl going just a little bit faster than what I did.  Check her out:



There are so many hilarious things about this video I'm not sure what to say other than she did 162 in 30 seconds!  Suddenly, my 150 in 1 minute doesn’t look so great anymore.
After watching the video, it occurred to me that other than a few items on the list, I had absolutely no perspective on where I stood versus the best in the world.  Wouldn’t it be more interesting to compare my goals to some world records?  The answer?  It’s definitely more interesting… but definitely demoralizing.  Let’s go through some of my other goals and see what the records look like:

• Push-ups:  My goal is 70.  I tried this in an earlier post and did 70 but the form wasn’t great.  What’s the record?  Oh, only 10,507 by Minoru Yoshida of Japan in October, 1980.  No, that isn't a typo.  Ten Thousand Five Hundred and Seven!  Damn, I suck.

• Pull-ups:  My goal was 25.  I did 30.  Awesome except for the fact that the world record is 232.  The record for most pull-ups in 1 minute though is 50 so I feel a little better about that.  The 232 consecutive is defined as “not dismounting.”  In other words, you can hang and rest (if you really want to call that resting).  Damn, I suck.

• Free throws in basketball:   My goal is 20 in a row.   In the NBA, the record is 97 in a row in games by Michael Williams of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He accomplished this feat over 2 seasons (1992-1993, 1993-1994).  The Guinness world record holder is Ted St. Martin, who made 5,221 consecutive free throws on April 28, 1996. He did it while giving a shooting clinic to students, taking over 7 hours to complete the task.  Damn, I suck.

• 3 pointers in basketball:  My goal is 10 in a row.  Dave Hopla has the record with 209 college 3 pointers in a row and 78 NBA 3 pointers in a row.  Apparently, he does shooting demonstrations at various camps he works and rarely misses.  At a 2007 camp in Los Angeles, for example, he made all 272 shots he took.  Damn, I suck.

• 1 mile run:  My goal is 5 min, 30 seconds.  The world record is 3:43.  That’s beyond insane.  That’s pretty close to as fast as I can sprint 100 meters…assuming I could hold that for an entire mile.  Damn, I suck.

• Longest golf drive:  My goal is to hit a 300 yard drive this year without the help of wind and downhill.  The record distance achieved in The RE/MAX European Long Drive Championship is 474 yards by Allen Doyle in September 2005.  I’m not sure what the wind conditions were but usually that is factored in to whether a record will stand or not.  Damn, I suck.

• 400 yard Swimming Freestyle:  My goal is 6 minutes for 400 yards.  Ian Thorpe of Australia went 3 min, 40 seconds in the 400 Meters (about 10% longer than yards obviously) at the 2004 Olympics.  Basically, he is about twice as fast as me at that distance.  Damn, I suck.

• Juggling:  My goal is just to juggle 3 balls in my hands for 20 seconds.  I’ll try that right now.  World record?  I have no idea but will look that up in a sec.  First things first…let’s give this a shot.



Ha, that didn’t quite go as planned…at least you know these videos are authentic!  Also, all the videos I’ve shown have been done with 1 take in case you were curious…not that there is any doubt when you watch me trying to juggle.   I finally did it but I was pretty much choking in the beginning.  I am confident though that anyone who wants to learn to juggle can practice for about 10-15 minutes and be able to do it.  I would say it’s pretty easy but I didn’t exactly show that on the video.  Anyway, another goal checked off the list!  That’s 4 completed and 31 remaining.  That feels pretty good.

Now, I’m going to make myself feel bad again by checking out the juggling world record.  Something tells me this is going to be impressive.  Ok, here we go…found this video of Bruce Sarafian.




Ummm, yeah.  So I guess juggling 3 balls isn’t that impressive.  See, I told you…finding out where you stand is interesting but pretty demoralizing.  It turns out that no matter how good you are at something, there is someone else who is way, way, way better.

So, what’s the moral of all this?  People like to say there are no winners or losers…they like to say they’re not competing against anyone but themselves…they like to say they’re happy just participating and playing the game.  Here at Schmeis35for35, I call that weak.  In a time with Google searches and YouTube videos accessible from anywhere within seconds, it’s too easy to know exactly how you stack up to not want to find out.

Competing against yourself means you simultaneously finish 1st and last every time you compete…wouldn’t you rather just finish 1st?

Schmeis