Tri Swim Coach Podcast · Dominic Latella

Swimming Philosophy- From Potato Sticks to Mudskippers - #154

·47 min·3 clips

The speaker thought she had a catch for over two decades, then learned underwater footage showed she did not.

The episode opens with thanks. The hosts talk about listener messages and a breathing course that, by their account, has helped some swimmers change how they swim. They invite more comments, questions, and wild triathlon stories, then shift into the coaching problem. The heart of the episode is a question about what it means to engage the armpit while swimming, especially when a swimmer is trying to change an old movement pattern and make the cue useful in the water rather than just in theory. They break it down. One host says the feeling comes after the shoulder has rotated the arm into the water, when the catch is set in the palm and the swimmer pushes back against the resistance of the water. At that point, the armpit tension shows up, especially if the elbow is pointing outward from the torso instead of squeezed uselessly against it. That makes the idea less mystical. The pair keep translating the cue into plainer terms, because the goal is not to squeeze the armpit for its own sake but to find a body position that loads the water and gives the swimmer something concrete to repeat. A plank helps. They use plank and side-plank images as the bridge, since even a rough sense of those positions can make the effort feel obvious. The analogy lands. From there they joke about bad planks, rounded shoulders, dropped hips, and all the ways people can work hard without organizing themselves well. That is the point. The hosts keep circling back to the difference between doing something with force and doing it with the right shape, and they treat bafflement as a good sign because confusion often means a swimmer is noticing the gap between effort and effect. The talk gets personal. One speaker admits some of these realizations landed only much later, after college and into adulthood, which gives the coaching a little humility instead of pretending every useful cue arrives early and cleanly. The closing thought is simple. It is okay to feel like you are swimming through molasses as long as you are actually pushing hard, but you do not want to get so vertical that it stops looking like swimming. They end with a grin, a joke about not being Jesus and not running on water, and the usual request to subscribe, comment, and share.

As heard by us

A blunt cue, translated into body logic for swimmers who need it to feel real.

Try Swim Coach turns a small cue into something practical: engage the armpit after the shoulder rotates, let the catch settle, and push the hand back through the water.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you want one cue that can change how your swim feels, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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