This is a continuation of my observations on how DragSox affect my swimming. In my previous post, "Dead Spots and Inefficiencies in Your Stroke," I mentioned that DragSox help me improve my rhythm and timing by exposing dead spots in my stroke. In this post I wanted to talk about an effective body position in the water.

Recently, a coach of a local masters swim team invited us to give a demo workout with DragSox to his swimmers. We designed the workout to show different ways you can train with DragSox. Even though we kept the sets relatively short, it was still a challenging 1.5 hour workout. Everyone finished the entire workout including the optional set. Very impressive!

After the workout, one of the swimmers asked why DragSox affects the body position. When I designed DragSox, my goal was to create a device that did not interfere with correct technique so the question took me by surprise. I had always thought of DragSox as NOT having a negative impact on body position and had failed to think about the positive impact. This was precisely what the swimmer wanted to know and the coach had a very good answer.

He said that the human body usually assumes the most efficient/effective body position to perform a difficult physical task. For example, imagine you are in the deep end of the pool and you want to pull yourself out on the deck. You never think about where and how you need to place your hands on the deck to get the most powerful pull. It happens automatically.

I think the same thing happens when you swim with DragSox. Since DragSox add a lot of resistance, your body tries to find the most effective position to move through the water. If you are too high in the water, you’ll be forced to press more with your chest to stay lower. Swimming with DragSox will help you realize that the narrow boat is a faster boat. By keeping your body in better alignment you’ll be able to create that narrow boat, becoming a more efficient swimmer. This is very similar to the affects of DragSox in relation to dead spots in ones stroke. If you have dead spots, you’ll be forced to develop better rhythm to be more efficient. DragSox affect your body position by encouraging you to swim in the most efficient manner.