Apparently Sutton used to have CW doing loads of it.
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The band only drill would be a drill to help with that gliding at the front of the stroke surely? I remember hearing the IM Talk boys talking about dong a 1km of it on Epic Camp and John and Scot Molina not finding it hard but OK but the ‘non-swimmers’ really struggled. I really struggled with the various bits of advice with this drill about engaging the core, glute max, etc. I just couldn’t seem to get that. Then I heard Gerry Rodrigues talking about tautness through the body, with the hand and feet connected through the stroke, even with the band on and this really helped me. I now find keeping my feet up much easier than I used to, I think this then helped improve the timing of my kicking too.
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I would ask two question’s about “finishing your stroke” first, where do you exert most force on the water, and how would you maximise your time exerting the most force on the water, second, knowing Newtons 3rd law watch the hand of the swimmer as it exits the water and think about what the equal and opposite reaction is to that action.
When I was first getting back into the swimming all those years ago in 2007 (wow), I did read the TI book, in fact I bought it. I never really took to their stuff, but one thing I did pay attention to was being a ‘Front Quadrant’ swimmer.
practice floating, go back to “ducklings” again. Its harder than you think but you want to put all your effort into swimming, not staying afloat. Thorpe said he’d float before every session and then when he had his body position right he’d start to pull himself through the water.
I tried to google this with no success. I’m also rubbish at floating. I can’t do it at all. My legs are just so heavy, or so it seems
Ducklings was the L2S program when I was a kid 
google things like star floats, just float on your front, think about ways to get those legs up. add a little scull action to bring head up to breath if needed
Yeah, I cannot float at all.
My daughter was laughing at me this weekend, when she was demonstrating her superior #skillz (I soon wiped that smile off her face by making her do some diving practice )
Ah, ducklings, we called it seals Oop North.
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This is me. I’m a sinker… 
me too… If I star float, no matter how hard I try, my legs just head south until I’m vertical, and then the rest of me follows!
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I console myself by claiming it’s due to my low body fat… 
It’s not though is it…
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A bit sluggish today. Tried the Mile pyramid today with 10s rest per 100m and the splits were: 1:34/3:17/5:00/6:42/5:01/3:17/1:34
Yesterday’s tempo run maybe didn’t help. It was a decent run though 
Second swim back for me today after my shoulder nerve problem. Did 5x200s, with some 40m kick on side drills between each rep.
The 200s were roughly 3:15ish, except the first where I eased in with a 3:19. I did drop in one slightly faster one at 3:08. I can definitely tell it’s a different endurance system. I was fatiguing pretty quickly. But the short rests did help refresh. Couldn’t imagine doing one of my staple 2k straight through swims right now.
I did also find I was naturally getting into some slightly better technique as the reps progressed, and felt like the “feel” for the water was getting progressively better.
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A guy I gave some 121 lessons in the summer sank like a stone. Like whole body just to the pool floor. I’d never seen anything like it but I researched and have found other examples. Seems it could be down to bone density, muscle mass and a very low body fat.
Exactly the same as me, if I had a bulletproof coffee I would double the fat in my body instantly. 
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That about sums me up… single digit body fat without trying too hard… 5’ 6”, 140lbs wet through. I sink like a stone.
Same height as you but I weigh less. I float wonderfully! I have been told often that as women naturally have a higher percentage of body fat than men we make more natural swimmers. I dunno. I am certainly not quicker with a pull buoy. The ankle band drill - reckon that’s more about core - it’s a bugger!
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I’m at the, ahem, other end of the bodyfat spectrum and, whilst my upper body floats fine, my legs sink like a stone. I have quite big legs from years of weight training/rugby etc. and if I try and float in the shallow end, I end up at 45 degrees with my feet on the floor.
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Did 8 * 25 of that band drill again this morning.
Far easier that way.
Think I’ll build it up to 50m, then 100m!
The core doesn’t tire as easily that way.
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I feel like I’ve posted about this a few times, but isn’t sinking legs actually just rotation?
Think about looking at yourself side on. Your center of mass (downward force) is likely closer to your legs than your center of bouyancy (upward force ) hence your legs ‘sink’ as the upward and downward forces cause you to rotate (looking side on).
Tensing you bum and putting your head down and exhaling would counteract the rotation to some extent but probably for some people it’s not enough to stop it. Hence you need a slight kick to provide enough bouyancy to stop the rotation.
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