Reduce Drag - Water is 800 times (yes 800!) denser than air. Therefore anything you can do to reduce the amount of water you disturb and move while swimming will improve your efficiency and speed. If you think about your body as a cylinder with the widest part (generally the shoulders) the diameter of this cylinder. Now look or feel if your body stays within this cylinder as you swim (backstroke and front crawl). Improvements could include fixing sinky legs, having a more compact leg action, looking at the position of your catch, altering the head position, ensuring your breath action is integrated into the stroke- the list goes on!
2. Improve your horizontal position/ balance When we swim our body is obviously horizontal with gravity working all along the body, as opposed to vertically down through spine and legs when moving on land. Our body is like a see saw in the water with the middle/fulcrum being at the most buoyant part ie our lungs. The lungs are in the top third of our body with a lot of weight in lower torso and legs below the lungs. Good news is there are various things you can do to move this fulcrum and add weight in front of the lungs by: A: Diaphragmatically or belly breathing ie learn to breathe and fill the lower part of the lungs which will move the fulcrum/balance point lower down away from the head. B: Add weight in front of the lungs by having the neck relaxed and allowing the water to hold the weight of the head (resulting view will be the bottom of the pool) and also learn how to maintain a better streamline position throughout the stroke. C: Ensure the head doesn't lift out the water while breathing (see tip 4).
D: Develop a good streamline position during the arm recovery ie add weight to the front from the lead arm.
3.
Move as One Unit On land gravity works down through our head, spine and legs and makes our arms hang by our sides. In water we are not only horizontal but lying in an unstable, moving medium. Gravity acts on the whole length of the body making it much easier for the legs and arms to disconnect from the movement of the torso. Learning to attach the arms via the scapulae and the legs via the hip flexors/pelvis position improves the body's ability to move as one unit through the water reducing drag and improving body position- see it's all linked!.
4. Better breathing
This can often be the most disruptive part of a person's stroke and we often hear from swimmers that they find it hard to breathe. Various things to look at:
A: Diaphragmatically breathe while swimming
B: Breathe out through the nose and in through the mouth
C: Have as little disruption to the stroke as possible while breathing ie rotate head with body rotation/ breathe with a spilt face
D: Try breathing every 2 strokes- this results in more breaths per minute and less intake of air needed with every breath.
Technique leads to free speed. Swimming can be the most infuriating sport. The harder you try to move faster the slower you become and the more exhausted you feel. Many people believe the more and harder they train the better they will become because that's what happens generally with other sports like running and cycling. However water drag is exponentially increased as speed increases and often technique will deteriorate the further we swim. Focusing on good technique throughout every session will lead to a faster stroke with a good drag profile and can result in you getting faster as the session progresses and your technique cues all start to come together.
How can you improve your technique? Book a 1:1 initial swim assessment with us for a full review of your current stroke using video analysis plus identification of the main areas for improvement.
Come to our Improve Front Crawl Workshops
Find a Swim Mastery Coach near you Our Members — swimmastery
Buy the Swim Mastery Way book
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