Five Top Tips to Improve Technique, Fitness & Performance
Swimming is great exercise for so many reasons. Water provides resistance, helps strengthen muscles, improves cardiovascular fitness and the buoyancy of water can protect painful joints. It can also be an ideal option for maintaining winter fitness, when the idea of exercising outdoors becomes less appealing! Poor stroke technique, however, leads to frustration and even injury, causing many people to give up swimming.
The following five tips can fit into any swimmer’s workout to maximize fitness and improve performance:
1. Breath Control
As respiratory physiotherapist Amanda Thomson once told me,
“It’s all about the lungs, Di!” The first step to improving your swimming fitness is to take control of your breathing. Sounds simple, right? But many swimmers struggle with breathing. Try this simple drill called Bobbins:
- Bob up and down slowly in the water
- While you are under water, breathe out long and slow
- Watch the bubbles float up
- Once you bob up above the water, breathe in deeply
- Then bob back under water, breathe out long and slow
- Focus your mind on breathing
- Think “in with the good, out with the bad”
- It may help to growl or shout whilst under water
- Bobbins are also great for relieving stress
2. Alternate Breathing
Breathing every third stroke during freestyle (front crawl), or alternate breathing, is a great way to keep your stroke even and allows you plenty of time to exhale. Remember, it is inefficient to both exhale and inhale when your head is turned to the side to breathe. Alternate breathing also helps triathletes keep an eye on opponents and track the buoy.
Boost your swim sessions with these 2 breath-related sets:
1) 10 x 50 metres, 25 metres freestyle “No Breather,” 25 metres backstroke, breathe all you want, 25 seconds rest
2) 9 x 75 metres, 25 metres breathing every 3rd stroke, 25 metres breathing every 5th stroke, 25 metres breathing every 7th stroke, 15 seconds rest
3. Flip Turns at Every Wall
No, there are no walls in triathlons. Yes, triathletes, you need to do flip turns at every wall during swimming pool sessions. Why? In my experience, a flip turn will keep your head (quite literally!) in the water and your mind focused on swimming. Earl Walton, head coach of TriLife in New York City, agrees with me. On his website triathlon.competitor.com, Walton argues that triathletes need to do flip turns in order to “keep going and be successful in this sport. An open turn allows a amental and physical break in the swim.” It’s best not to think of them as tumble turns – that sounds too gentle, too easy, too much like laundry tumbling around in a tumble dryer.
If you don’t have a swimming coach, the following sites will help get you started on flip turns:
http://triathlon.competitor.com
http://www.isport.com
http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic-games
4. Streamline
Now that you’ve made the commitment to flip turn at every wall, be sure to get into a streamlined position. Pushing off the wall is the fastest part of each lap. Capitalize on the push off by making sure your body is streamlined.
Here are some tips to achieving the perfect streamline:
- Stand in front of a mirror, feet together
- Place the palm of 1 hand over the back of your other hand
- With your arms above your head, point your fingers to the roof
- Squeeze your arms gently against your ears
- Now take it to the pool
- Push off the wall under water
- Get into a streamline position
- See how far you can glide
5. Look at Your Hands
If you swim with goggles, it’s a good idea to look at what your hands are doing. Open your eyes under water and focus on what each hand is doing when it enters the water. Do you see loads of bubbles exploding around your hand? This indicates an inefficient hand entry into the water. To decrease resistance with hand entry, tilt your hand so the thumb and index finger slice into the water at a 45 degree angle.
Diane Daly, Senior Physiotherapist, The Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth
Former All American Swimmer for Southern MethodistUniversity in Dallas, TexasGraduate of the American Coaches College, USA Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Featured image: © Dave Dugdale
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