Yeah. My legs sink fast.
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You will need to report out on the snorkel? Never used personally - I use paddles and pull buoy.
The snorkel intrigues me as it eliminates a distraction to focus on your stoke, but I don’t understand the bands. Good swimming requires your feet to be near the surface (not sinking), what is the point of swimming with the bands (other than to piss you off) and be an anchor?
I know years ago the bands (old bike tube wrapped around your feet) were the rage on slowtwitch to make you “stronger”, but I still don’t get it! Seems to me to reinforce bad form.
All very good questions…
When using the band, according to the theory, you need to focus on core…as in you are fighting to keep your body straight in the water. The idea is to make the core strong so when you dont have the bands on, it will make you swim correctly… there are huge " " on all of it…
The snorkel has intrigue me for a while, and finally pull the plug on one. Seems like a good idea to do drills…focusing on form rather than rotation or breathing. Will see…
HA!
You apparently haven’t met the swimming drag bags!
http://www.swimmersbest.com/products/drag-gear-power-bags/
I used them once. Was sore for a week!
I have a snorkel but forgot to wear a nose plug the first time i tried it and inhaled a lot of water…naturally I didn’t try it again for over a year 
I just tried it again WITH a nose plug and I found it was more distracting than normal swim breathing. I guess I’ve trained myself to not breathe with my face in the water so I kept going to turn my head to breathe with the snorkel on. I am going to give it a few weeks though and try it a few more times.
Hi. I’ve even swimming competitively for nearly 40 years so might be able to help. The main goal of using a snorkel is to give your brain and muscle memory time to learn keeping your body taut by taking out the largest reason swimmers loose tautness, breathing. As you know, focussing on removing as much drag in as possible in the water should be paramount as you train. That along with building power and overall conditioning will get you faster. With the snorkel on, look straight down and keep your head very still while only moving your shoulders and torso as one unit. Breath normally (i.e. relaxed) and focus on the tiles on the bottom of the pool and I find I get the most benefit when I incorporate the snorkel on long swims (i.e. over 400M). Trust me, the more time you practice, the easier and more second nature the feeling will become. Keep at it @SteveM!
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And there’s a special technique to doing a flip turn with a snorkel 
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Its called open turns!
Nah, no slowing down! It’s good for breath control. And very funny to watch.
I was told once… there is no wall on the ocean/rivers/lakes.
I took it to the heart and haven’t bother to try again to learn how to flip turn.
Not planning on competitive pool swimming.
In any case… Ive seen people doing flip turn slower than i can open turn… so breath control benefits… but not much on keeping the speed.
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It is true that doing an open turn is an option considering we race in open water with no walls but I like the fluidity of doing flip turns in all my workouts. To flip with a snorkel, you’ll want to exhale slightly from your nose when you drop you head to start your turn. This will keep water from rushing up your nose which is super common for new snorkel users. But with practice it’ll become second nature and you’ll stop consciously thinking about exhaling when flipping.
Perfectly put. I had a coach who got on a snorkel kick one time, and I got very good at this. And I’m too lazy to do open turns!
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I use a nose plug (otherwise I would be super plugged and unable to breath for a day)…
So this shouldn’t be an issue for me… an issue is learning HOW to flip turn
Approach wall, when at arms length try head butting yourself hard in your own crotch. First flip around your hip, you’ll be pointing in the right direction but facing the sky / ceiling. Push off the wall and rotate 180 around your long axis. Doing a couple of dolphin kicks into and off the wall helps making things smoother but it is not necessary.
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I cant dolphin kick… I do try tho…
Thats too many things happening at the same time for me right now.
I just STARTED to get used to dual side breathing. Maybe if I really become proficient next year I will try flip turns again.
I am always afraid of hitting the wall with my ankles!
I think if you have 2:00, 1:42 and 1:30 dialled, you have three respectably separate paces.
Most people, without thinking about it, kick less when asked to go slower and vice versa. If you haven’t already, I would suggest working on stroke rate - I think that’s a better way to gauge and effect different speeds.
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Id just add to this that the breath throws a lot of people’s technique out without them realising mostly. The snorkel takes that away and allows you to practice/embed - better catch and pull.
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That’s me, but I’m not doing it for speed.
Ive only been allowed to use my snorkel once since I bought it and it was fine to flip and eject the water if it gets in. And I’m a novice flip turn guy.
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True - but there is something else to consider. The big reason any swimmer who wants to progress needs to master the flip turn is that virtually all swim training takes place in pools and the other swimmers you will be working out with and/or sharing a lane with will be doing flip turns. Since flip turns are faster than grab turns you’ll miss out on the training benefits of hanging with the faster folks in the pool. Or worse, you’ll get full on booted out of the fast lane. That loss of folks to push you is a huge loss.
Sure, you can train alone or be “that guy” messing up your lane mate’s workouts but either of those options puts a cap on how much you’ll ever progress.
Mastering a decently adequate flip turn is worth the effort even for open water swimmers.
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Oh I definitely agree and I am not saying people shouldn’t do flip turns
I guess I was trying to make a joke about it, but it didnt land correctly…
IN any case. I know there a huge benefits in doing flip turns… If not for speed, for the feeling of continuous swimming.
When you wall flip you are stopping and taking a breather (even tho is just a fraction of a second)
pushing the wall you dont have that, if anything…make things slightly harder as a novice to do…
The reason I am not even trying is the level of swimming I am right now.
I dont think I have the technique to be able to accomplish that.
In the off season I will try to learn this. And continue to improve my alternate breathing.
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If you need a good source of material on all things triathlon swimming I strongly suggest you check out the Tower26 podcast if you haven’t already. Gerry R. is a legend in his own right and works predominantly with triathletes so his focus in open water swimming as it relates to triathlon, not pool swimming. They have a Youtube channel that I think would be more beneficial for you if you’re trying to refine your technique. The channel offers visuals that you don’t get on a podcast. They also offer up a free workout with each episode.
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