

The Effortless Swimming Podcast
Brenton Ford
Faster times and better technique aren't a guarantee when you train hard. What really makes a difference to your speed and efficiency in the water? The Effortless Swimming podcast helps make a complex sport really simple to better your swimming. We cover open water swimming, triathlon swimming and pool swimming. Hosted by Australian National swimmer and coach Brenton Ford.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 21, 2022 • 23min
#241 : Can You Really Get Faster As You Get Older? with Garry Wheeler
My guest today is Gary Wheeler from New South Wales. He has gone through our online courses and seen great results! We will talk about his progress over the last couple of months. 00:48 Joining The 8-Week Faster Freestyle Course 01:51 Swimming Background 04:41 Going Through The Course For The Second Time! 06:15 Finding The Rhythm 07:35 Get Faster By Improving Technique 08:35 Swimming Tall And Proud 09:29 Tune In To How You're Feeling 12:58 It's A Challenge! 13:59 Swimming Solo 16:12 Using Tempo Trainer 18:17 Going Straight To The Catch? 21:13 Focus On The Fundamentals

Jul 14, 2022 • 26min
#240 : [Case Study] The Power Of Consistency And Being Technique-Focused with Bronwen Stacey
My guest today is Bronwen Stacey who attended one of our freestyle clinics a few years ago. We will talk about the progress she has made since doing the clinic. Tune in to the episode now! 00:55 Three Sessions A Week 01:54 What Is A Towel Session? 03:30 Bronze Medallion Course 05:23 Noosa Triathlon 07:34 Thoughts On Core Shorts 09:09 Learning Something New Is A Struggle But... 10:42 Key Takeouts From Swim Clinic 14:15 Follow-Up Filming And Analysis 15:08 There's Always Something To Learn And Improve 16:05 Front Quadrant Timing 17:54 Stay Relaxed To Get Faster 19:03 Wearing Form Goggles 20:40 What I Love About Swimming 21:27 Swimming In The Ocean During Covid 22:13 Consistency And Technique 23:51 Have A Good Coach

Jul 7, 2022 • 12min
#239 : 5 Ways To Get Into Flow State When You Swim with Brenton Ford
In today's podcast episode, we are talking about five ways that you can get into a flow state while you swim. 00:24 Why It's Important 02:06 Eliminate Distractions 02:32 Take Off Your Watch 03:42 Get Into It With A Clear Mind 04:09 Box Breathing 05:00 Meditation 05:17 Journaling 06:57 Listening To Music 08:28 Single-Task Focused 9:16 Using Trigger Words/Cues

Jun 28, 2022 • 1h 1min
#238 : How To Fix Your Swim Stroke
This episode is a repost from a podcast that I recorded on the Get Fast Podcast with Jordy and Gerard Donnelly from TriVelo Coaching. Check out this episode now! 01:02 Who Is Brenton Ford? - Effortless Swimming 02:47 The Most Common Mistake Triathletes Need To Fix 04:30 Why You Should Aim To Be "front quadrant" 05:39 Stop Leading With Your Head 07:05 How To Get The Right Timing in Your Stroke (sweet spot) 08:26 Timing Is Key To Improving Speed 10:01 The "Slow to Fast" Principle For Timing 10:59 It's Not About Strength 12:34 How To Know If You're Breathing Too Late 15:42 How To Time Breathing In Open Water With "sighting" 17:37 Should Sighting Be Part Of Your Pool Sessions? 20:23 Brenton's Best Starting Breathing Drill 23:42 Are Swim Drills As Important As We Keep Saying 25:53 Adequate Time VS Frequency In Doing Drills 28:27 Technique Matters Most 29:41 Understanding The Complexity Of Hydrodynamics And Reducing Drag 31:57 Buoyancy: How To Get Yourself Higher In The Water? 34:40 Getting Your Head Down To Get Your Legs Up 36:00 Should Endurance And Speedwork Be Combined? 39:29 What Are The Optimal Rest Periods For Different Training Sessions? 42:26 Frequency And Total Volume Of Swimming Throughout The Week 46:27 Discussing The Norwegian way Of Training 52:31 Off-Season Approach To Swim Training 54:26 Brenton and Gerard's Advice For Overcoming Anxiety On Race Day

Jun 20, 2022 • 36min
#237 : The Science Of Swimming Better with Kenneth Graham
My guest today is Kenneth Graham. We've been working together on a product called SwimBETTER by EO, which helps swimmers swim faster. Check out this episode now! 00:42 Working As A Sports Scientist 02:19 MAD System 03:24 What Is Exciting About The SwimBetter? 04:36 Producing Force At The Right Time And Direction 07:09 Refine Your Stroke 07:43 Technique vs. Fitness 08:44 When Do You Use The SwimBetter? 10:57 How To Swim Faster 14:23 Using Pool Buoy 15:43 Increasing Proprioception 17:44 Doing Sessions On Your Own 18:57 Swimming Speed 22:34 Learning To Apply Strength And Power To Your Propulsion 26:33 Workout For Endurance Swimming 27:43 Direction Of Forces And Consistency 31:47 Make Your Stroke Consistent 32:45 Get Out Of Your Head And "feel"

Jun 14, 2022 • 25min
#236 : [Case Study] How A Freediver Went From 2:00 to 1:30/100m with Ioannis Aliazis
I've got Ioannis Aliazis on today's podcast episode. He has recently been through the 8 Week Faster Freestyle course and is here to share his improvements over the last couple of months. Ioannis is also a freediving instructor, and we will talk a little bit about some of the crossovers from freediving to swimming. 01:01 Swimming Background 01:23 The Best Exercise For Freediving 02:03 I Found Your Channel 02:25 Going Through The 8th Week Freestyle Course 03:39 Kick Timing 06:16 2-Beat Kick In Open Water Swimming 06:53 Following A Structure 07:40 Getting Your Questions Answered 09:34 Swimmers To Freedivers 13:31 Keep Calm & Don't Panic 16:05 Build Your Confidence 19:22 Friendly Competition 20:58 Practice More And Get A Good Coach 22:00 Find The Reason To Enjoy Swimming 23:10 Listen To Your Body 23:58 Swimming Is A Feeling Activity

Jun 7, 2022 • 28min
#235 : [Case Study] 8:25 to 7:13 for a 400m Time Trial with Anthony McDonald
Today, my guest is Anthony McDonald, who has been going through some of our online courses and made such incredible improvements over the last couple of months. Tune in to this episode now! 01:01 There's Always Room For Improvement 01:34 Swimming Background 04:45 Focusing On One Or Two Things At A Time 07:38 Going Through The Highs And The Lows 11:38 Swimming On Top Of The Water 14:05 Breathing Position 18:41 Goldilocks Approach 19:23 Posture 21:05 Swimming Long Distance 24:14 Being On The Right Headspace 25:24 What Is Your Long Term Approach? 27:57 A Little Bit Of Direction

Jun 1, 2022 • 51min
#234 : What Amateurs Can Learn From The Mistakes Of Elite Swimmers with Brant Best
My guest today is Brant Best. We've been working together on a product called SwimBETTER by EO which helps swimmers swim faster. Check out this episode now! 00:22 The SwimBETTER 02:10 Working With Elite Athletes 04:34 Too Much Length Is Not Good 07:45 Overreaching 13:04 Why Your Hips Need To Be In The Right Position 18:30 Breath Timing 27:31 Build Up Awareness 29:32 Speak To Your Coach 32:49 Core Fundamentals 41:02 Moving Efficiently 44:49 Avoid Distractions And Increase Your Focus

May 26, 2022 • 28min
#233 : The Easiest 1:10/100m Ever with Dan Smith
Glad to have Dan Smith back in today's podcast episode! Dan is a former Olympic swimmer and now the founder of Worldwide Speaking. Join us as he shares his journey in helping parents and athletes all over the world. 00:29 It's A Fantastic Video 01:46 Retiring From Swimming Sport 05:59 Helping Parents And Athletes 09:06 Parental Pressure On Athletes 12:29 Sporting Strategy For Parents 13:38 Results Are Powerful 18:45 Developing People Skill 20:48 Worldwide Speaking & Courses 21:53 Parent Program 23:56 Small Habits Have A Big Impact

May 16, 2022 • 31min
#232 : [Case Study] 2:00/100m to 1:20/100m with Scott Harpham
In today's episode, I wanted to get Scott Harpham from New Zealand to share his swimming improvements over the last couple of years. We talked about going back to fundamentals, consistency, and more. 00:53 Swimming Background 03:08 Starting Training 06:04 Finding Effortless Swimming 08:05 8 Week Faster Freestyle Course 09;23 Seeing A Big Difference 13:11 Constant Reinforcement To Relax 16:40 More Effort Does Not Equal More Speed 18:26 Going Back To Fundamentals 23:58 Getting The Body Position Right 27:52 Consistency Is The Key


