Swim Technique: What Do You Need To Improve?

Swim Technique: What Do You Need To Improve?

Swim technique is a very personal thing. Look at any swim session and you will see all sorts of styles and methods. Even when you look at the faster swimmers, you will see very different swim styles, yet all moving at a similar pace.

There are swim fundamentals we all need to master:

• Effective breathing
• Strong body position
• Minimal drag
• Good propulsion
• Efficiency

How we achieve these things, and what they look like on each swimmer, is often very different.

Example One

Some swimmers will achieve good propulsion through long strokes, focusing on travelling well with each stroke. Other swimmers will achieve the same result, but by using a faster stroke rate, moving less with each stroke but moving their arms a little quicker.

Example Two

Some swimmers will achieve a good body position (staying ‘high’ in the water) through a strong and purposeful leg kick. Others will have a very minimal leg kick but will control their posture through a strong focus on their core.

Example Three

Efficiency will mean different things to different swimmers. For some, it will be taking as few strokes as possible. For others it will be reducing the leg kick to save some energy. Or it could be breathing patterns. Or finding ways to relax a little more.

Broad Themes, Individual Focus

During every one to one swim session, I will check the swimmers technique against the technique fundamentals above. What I will ask the swimmer to focus on during the session will depend on what needs most work and what will fit with their swim style and the type of swimmer they are.

When we are working on a particular aspect of the stroke, we are always thinking about how it impacts the above themes. Does this improve body position? Can we improve propulsion doing this? Will this make the swimmer feel better?

Remember though, when thinking about your own technique, and what you need to focus on to improve your own technique depends on your own swim history, your mobility, your strength, your fitness, how often you swim, what your swim goals are … and so on.

Recent One To One

As an example, I had a super successful one to one session with a swimmer recently, where she transformed from one-paced and constantly exhausted, to relaxed, smooth and efficient (and fast).

The Context

A swimmer who told me she was “at the beginning of my swim journey”, aiming for an Ironman 70.3 next year. She swims three or four times per week but was not making any progress, and didn’t really enjoy swimming.

“I’d say I’m bang average at swimming, I can do it it just feels very clunky and I can’t get my breathing under control. Ideally I’m hoping to improve my technique, get faster and breathe easier!”

Our Focus

Usually, in a one to one swim session, we focus on three (or maybe four) specific things that will make the biggest difference to the swimmer. In this session, we managed to change a few more things. This was because this swimmer picked things up really quickly and was keen to hear about what else she could improve!

What broad themes did we focus on?

• Strong Body Position & Minimal Drag
• Efficiency
• Good Propulsion

Specifically, we worked on the following things, in this particular order.

Strong Body Position & Minimal Drag

“Sinky Legs”

This swimmer had a leg kick that meant that her legs were low in the water, causing drag and making swimming harder than it needed to be. We worked on kicking from the hip (and not the knee) and we made the kick lighter and narrower.

Over-Rotating When Breathing

A common problem, this swimmer was turning her head too far when breathing, almost looking at the ceiling. This was a big cause of dropping her leading arm (affecting propulsion and body position) and another factor in “sinky legs”. Reducing rotation and keeping part of one goggle in the water helped.

Efficiency

Stroke Timing

When breathing, her leading arm dropped or started the pull too soon. We changed this to keep leading arm extended and out in front when breathing – a slight pause or glide – before starting the pull. As well as a much better pull, this took the ‘franticness’ out of the swim, becoming much more relaxed.

Tight Fingers

Speaking of relaxed, fingers being squeezed together creates tension through the body. The swimmer started to relax the hand, not squeezing the fingers, particularly on the recovery, making swimming feel a bit easier.

Improve Propulsion

Hand Pressure

A self-confessed ‘one-pace swimmer’ managed to find some different speeds by altering the amount of pressure on the pull. Sculling drill, plus a few analogies, helped with this.

Acceleration

Improved stroke timing, greater awareness of how to hold the water better, now we focused on moving water backwards a little quicker. A little acceleration through the underwater phase, created better propulsion and more rhythm to the swim. Towards the end of the session, this swimmer was covering the 25m length in 17 strokes, at speed.

Lots Of Changes

We usually work on 3 or 4 specific things during a session. This swimmer picked things up quickly, making massive improvements during the hour.

“I’ve never enjoyed swimming before”

“I can’t believe the difference. I’m not exhausted anymore.”

Your Own Technique

Hopefully, this post has given you some ideas to improve your own swim technique. Thinking about technique in broad themes helps I think. “How do I improve propulsion?” is a better starting question – with more answers and solutions – than specific questions about swim technique e.g. “should I have my fingers together or open to hold more water?”

If you need support with your own swim technique, I would be happy to help. Get in touch and we can discuss the best ways to help you improve.

Swim Technique: What Do You Need To Improve?

• Mail
• Facebook
• Instagram