3.Speed is Sacrificed because of a “Pause” While Breathing. A typical scenario is that you feel like you’re cruising along just fine and then you take a breath and it feels like you’ve just lost all your momentum. To remedy this, when you breathe, concentrate first on breathing to side (as in #1), then on having your mouth parallel to water, instead of over water. The latter will take a while to master, but once you do, it will take care of pause, and improve your speed overall.

4.Difficulty breathing while navigating in a race. You need to look up to see where you are going, and at same time grab a breath. How can you do both? Start with bilateral breathing (breathing on both sides every 3 strokes). This will help you to see about where you are without lifting your head up as much. When you need to lift your head up to sight, try not to look straight ahead- this will make your hips sink and throw you off balance. Instead, take a quick peek at your target, roll to side to breath, and bring your head right back down into position.

5.Sucking In Water While Taking a Breath. In practice, this will sometimes occur because of #1 and #2 above. In a race, waves may cause inhalation of water instead of air (bilateral breathing will help here as well). The drills to practice to improve balance and avoid this unpleasant occurrence are side kicking and shark fin drills, as well as one-arm drill. To perform one-arm drill, swim a full stroke with one arm while your other arm rests at your side. Breathe on opposite side of stroking arm. This is a difficult drill and takes some practice, but it will pay off! For more and to view this and other drills, see Full Package from Tri Swim Coach.

3.The Fewer Strokes, The Better. When improving your score in golf, you want to take fewer strokes to get ball in hole. To improve your swim (especially open water), you want to take fewer strokes per length, in order to utilize your energy for entire swim or triathlon.

4.Follow Through is Important. When you hit ball, it is important that you follow through all way with your club. In freestyle swimming, to get most out of your stroke, you must extend your arm and glide.

5.Power Comes from Core. Your arms and legs themselves do not need to be incredibly powerful to have success in either sport. With both sports, power comes from core- abdominal muscles, lower back, and hips. Legs are used more for stabilization than to propel you forward in swimming. Legs in golf are also used more for stabilization, rather than for more powerful strokes.

Both sports can also be frustrating, but with practice, patience, and persistence, swimming and golf can both present you with a meditative-like form of exercise that I have found to be both fulfilling and fun!