If you're into swimming, you must have heard swimmers and coaches talk bout swimming efficiently. Swimming in an efficient way is the main goal of improving your stroke, but how do you know you're not already efficient in the pool?
How many of the below dead giveaways apply to you?
You're super out of breath after 1 lap
You think of yourself as quite a fit person, but as soon as you take your fit body into the pool you seem to be out of breath. Just 1 lap of Freestyle needs a 2-minute rest to build up the courage to do it again.
Efficient swimmers can easily swim lap after lap without getting out of breath. I mean, of course, after a 50-meter sprint even the best swimmers are out of breath. But at an easy pace, you should be able to keep going comfortably.
You take over 30 strokes to swim 25 meters
Have you ever counted how many strokes it takes you to get to the other end of the pool? If not follow these steps:
Determine the length of the pool. Is it a 25 or 50 meter pool?
Swim one lap at an easy pace and count every time you do a stroke.
Just a little disclaimer here, the fitness watches only count one arm, we are talking about numbers here that are based on counting both arms.
My benchmark numbers are:
20 strokes for a 25 meter lap
40 strokes for a 50 meter lap
Any numbers higher than this, swam at an easy pace, show that you are not swimming efficiently.
Swimming slowly is not easy
You know the swim sets where you swim fast for a bit, followed by an easy recovery swim? If you struggle to recover while swimming is, this shows you are not swimming efficiently.
Swimming easy is a real test of good technique. Most people can swim a fast lap and call it a day, but the best swimmers can swim slowly for a long distance.
The reason is that while moving slowly through the water, you are really testing your body position and balance. If you are not in full control of this, easy swimming will always be hard.
You put more effort in but you don't go faster
Ever timed yourself for a few 50's and the one where you put the most effort in is not your fastest 50? You slaved away for 50 meters, finished completely out of breath, and a heart rate close to 200 bpm, but the time shows you went slower than when you were putting less effort in.
This shows that you are losing your efficiency when upping the pace. You start slipping when pulling your hand through the water, and you've lost your grip on the water.
Swimming efficiently at a higher effort level is what we're all striving for.
How many boxes did you tick? Even if you ticked one box, there is work to do my friend! This is exciting as it means that there is an improvement to be made and goals to be smashed.
If you would like help with becoming a more efficient swimmer, I have the Online Program for you! The Foundations of Freestyle Online Program takes you through the 4 super important foundations that you have to get right to get to an efficient Freestyle stroke.
Each week we focus on one of the 4 foundations presented with drills and swim sessions to practice.
Remember, swimming efficiently should always be a focus in your swim training. Just swimming up and down the black line without intentions, is pretty much a waste of time if you are trying to become a better swimmer.
If you have any questions, place your comment below or send me a message.
