A strong kick is key to swimming faster. It reduces drag and gives you a finishing boost in those last few meters. Mastering a high-elbow catch is another easy way to speed up your freestyle stroke. It removes a common fault, called the “low-elbow catch,” that causes your arm to drop below your wrist.
Streamline your body
One of the first steps to swimming faster is streamlining your body in the water. This is important because it reduces resistance and drag, which can make a significant difference in your speed. The fastest swimmers in the world are very disciplined about keeping a tight streamline at all times, including during push offs from the wall. To see a good streamline in action, watch any Olympic freestyle swimmer (even during warm up).
The key to streamlining is getting your hips and legs out of the water as much as possible. This will allow you to move through the water with less resistance and get more velocity out of each stroke. It is also helpful to keep your arms in a high position, rather than lower down and closer to the surface. This allows your hand and forearm to work together. Creating a larger paddle that will help you travel through the water more quickly.
Another way to streamline swimming
Another way to streamline your body is by taking shorter, quicker breaths. This will minimize the amount of time that your head is out of the water. Which can disrupt your streamline and slow you down.
You should also work on keeping your core in a strong, tight position and avoid swaying or dipping your shoulders. This will help you stay balanced in the water and reduce drag.
In addition to working on your stroke technique, you should focus on eating well and getting plenty of rest. This is because your body needs fuel to swim fast, and if you don’t give it the nutrients it needs, it won’t be able to perform at its best. Ensure that you are getting lots of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats to give you the energy that you need.
Finally, it’s also a good idea to participate in swim meets as much as possible, because the adrenaline can often motivate you to swim faster than you would at practice. If you have a coach, they can help you prepare for these meets and teach you techniques that will help you swim faster.
Kick through your break outs
Many swimmers stop or slow down on their breakout from every wall, wasting momentum that they could have otherwise carried into the next stroke. We work with participants to make sure that they can push off each wall, tighten their streamline and kick as quickly as possible into the water so that they are able to get into their first recovery stroke with maximum speed.
When it comes to the 50 free, dropping a second here and there can have a big impact on your overall time. It can mean the difference between a personal best and just missing one!
We have worked with our swimmers to improve their underwater dolphin kicking, so that they can push off the wall with more force and carry that momentum into their flutter kick. We have also taught them to do this in the correct sequence, starting with their back, then their side and then their stomach. This is a much quicker sequence than simply pushing off with your feet together, because it helps to prevent the swimmer from losing their momentum by over-kicking in the wrong direction!
The other important element of swimming
The other important element of the breakout is to keep the head down on the chest. Lifting the head at any point during the underwater phase creates frontal drag that will take away from a swimmer’s initial stroke speed. Finally, we have taught our swimmers to keep their lead arm straight throughout the whole underwater phase of the breakout – this ensures that they maintain the full potential of the full arm pull, which is essential for creating power in the water.
At the elite level, walls aren’t just used for turning around – they are an opportunity to generate speed and momentum into the next lap. Many swimmers view their flip turns as an opportunity to take a breath and relax, when they should be using them to accelerate into the next lap! We teach our swimmers the three steps to a faster flip turn – a fast approach, no breathing and 3 quick dolphin kicks. Once they can master these techniques, their flip turns will be much faster and more efficient than ever before!
Avoid illegal turns in swimming
If you want to improve your race times, you need to focus on your technique. While having a big VO2 engine helps, proper technique can take your times down by seconds and even minutes. This is especially true for the front crawl, where a strong flutter kick and the ability to perform a quick, compact stroke are crucial.
One common cause of slow front crawl times is a late or long recovery of the arms. This causes drag and reduces the efficiency of the stroke. To avoid this, you should ensure that your hand enters the water during a forward phase of the stroke, and that it exits the water close to your face. This will allow you to generate more momentum and make your swim faster.
Another way to improve your front crawl stroke is to reduce your drag through your legs. You can do this by ensuring that your feet break the surface of the water as little as possible and that they are kept mostly in the shadow of your body. This will help to prevent unnecessary drag, which can shave seconds off your time.
Gain speed in the pool
Drafting can be an effective way to gain speed in the pool, but you must be careful not to obstruct other swimmers. This is an infraction that can result in a DQ (disqualification). You can reduce your risk of this by staying close to the person in front of you, and only moving ahead when they are fully clear of the wall.
Another important tip for swimming faster is to practice head-up swimming. This is the most efficient way to swim, but it can be challenging for beginners. To start, try
performing short sets of 25 or 50 yards with your head above the water. Once you are able to perform these sets, you can increase the duration of the set and add more repetitions.
Finally, you should participate in a regular swim meet to get the most out of your training. Swim meets are typically more exciting than regular practices, and the adrenaline can push your body into a different zone. This is where many swimmers see their fastest times and it’s a great place to try out new techniques. That you may not have been able to use in practice.
Pay attention to your head position
The position of your head in the water is one of the biggest factors. That can make or break your speed. If your head is too high, it will cause your feet to sink and create a lot of drag which will slow you down. If your head is too low, it will put unnecessary strain on your neck. Instead, try to keep your head in a neutral position by focusing on keeping it level with the water. This will not only reduce the amount of drag that you experience but it will also prevent injury.
Breathing is a crucial aspect of swimming, but it can be difficult to get the hang of. Many swimmers take too long to inhale, which causes them to feel winded much quicker than they should. It is important to start breathing early in the stroke. Which can be accomplished by focusing on the early vertical forearm. This will allow you to catch the water and generate more power from the pulling phase of the stroke.
Avoid taking on too much water in swimming
It is also a good idea to try to avoid taking on too much water when you are inhaling. This can be done by ensuring that your face is underwater when you rotate for your breath. You can also try to remain low to the surface of the water. That you do not have to push so hard to breathe.
Another thing that you can do to improve your breathing is to practice kicking while you are inhaling. This will help you to keep up with the momentum that you have built up with your arm stroke.
Lastly, you can also try to improve your technique by participating in swim meets. This will allow you to practice all of the tips that we have discussed above in a competitive environment. This will also help to boost your confidence and motivation to continue improving. In addition to that, attending swim meets can be a great way to boost your adrenaline levels. Which will also make you faster in the water. This will give you a great advantage on race day and increase your chances of winning!
