Swimming Tips

SWIMMING
Distance per Stroke by Coach Emmet HinesApril 1, 1993

How many strokes per length should I be taking?

If you are skillfully applying sculling motions in your stroke you should be able to keep your hand firmly anchored in one plane as you pull your body past your hand. If you are using the fullest extent of your "wing span" in each stroke (i.e.. stretching your stroke out in front and finishing your stroke completely in the rear) you should be able to move approximately the length of your wing span with each freestyle stroke. (In real life we find that some of the best swimmers move even further than their wing span with each stroke. An explanation of why this is possible is beyond the scope of this article.)

Assume you are 6 ft. tall and have approximately a 5 ft. effective wing span measured wrist to wrist. Swimming or pulling with 100% stroke distance efficiency, you should be able to travel approximately 5 ft. with each freestyle arm stroke (10 ft. for each right-left stroke cycle). In a 25 yd. pool you push off from the wall and begin your first arm stroke at approximately the backstroke flags, leaving 20 yds. (or 60 feet) to swim. If you start counting each hand hit as you stroke down the lane at 100% efficiency you should contact the far wall after 12 strokes (or 6 stroke cycles). If you are 5 ft. tall this would work out to more like 14 strokes per length (6'6" about 11 strokes, 5'6" about 13 strokes).

We are, of course, talking about moderate paced swimming. In the best swimmers we see some reduction in efficiency as speed increases. Anywhere from 10% to 40% increase in the number of strokes per length at a flat out sprint. However these same world level swimmers still take fewer strokes per length while sprinting than the swimmers they beat to the wall.

By now you may have taken stock of your own stroke efficiency and found it lacking. "How do I improve my stroke counts?" you ask. First and foremost, start counting strokes. While you are warming up, while you are swimming easy, while you are sprinting etc. Be aware of how many strokes you are taking now at all speeds. Determine what your "normal" number of strokes per length is in easy or moderate freestyle swimming & pulling and also in threshold intensity swimming & pulling and finally in all out sprints. Get out your training diary (I just know you keep a training diary) and write these down.

Next, realize that the numbers we calculated above are considered ideals and that it can take years of training to reach ideals. But, starting right now, you can begin trying to decrease strokes in your all of swims. Do drills aimed at absolute minimal strokes per length using long glides between each stroke. Aim to be down around half of your ideal number - certainly less than 10. Do sculling drills and be aware of where your stroke is sculling dominated and where you let go of the water and just paddle. Also do lots of swimming and pulling at 1 or 2 strokes less than your "normal" numbers at various swimming intensities while trying to keep your speed from suffering.

By doing these things regularly you will find that your "normal" numbers will begin to decrease. When this happens, you win.

This Article first appeared in Schwimmvergnugen, the monthly newsletter of H2Ouston Swims.
Coach Emmett Hines is the head coach of H2Ouston Swims. He has coached competitive Masters swimming in Houston since 1982 and was selected as United States Masters Swimming's Coach of the Year in 1993. Currently he coaches workouts at the University of Texas Health Science Center, the University of Houston and The Houstonian Club. He can be reached for questions or comments at 713-748-SWIM or through the Internet at emmett@usms.org.


Below Swim Tips from Georgia State University . . .

General Technique Tips: Even if you are a recreational swimmer, you will benefit from this advice. Swim speed, or velocity, is the product of Stroke Length (SL) and Stroke Frequency (SF). Increasing the SL (distance traveled per stroke) requires that you first learn to reduce resistance to forward progress. After perfecting a position of low resistance, you can then add power to your stroke. This power originates in the hips and is translated up through the torso to the shoulder. SF is not as important as SL. World class swimmers are not fast and efficient because they take frequent strokes. They are fast and efficient because they travel further in the water with each stroke. The following tips should help you maximize SL, improve efficiency, and minimize risk of injury.

• Buoyancy varies from person to person (some are natural sinkers), so make the best of what you have. You will find that your swim speed improves as you take advantage of your buoyancy (no matter how small). You will find your center of buoyancy in the region of your sternum. By balancing yourself on your center of buoyancy (especially in the crawl, breast, and back strokes) you will move more easily in the water. Here’s a secret of world class swimmers: Balance yourself by consciously pushing or pressing your upper chest into the water. This maneuver brings your hips closer to the surface and reduces your frontal resistance.
• Rowing sculls are long and narrow. This shape reduces water resistance to forward progress. What can you do? Maintain a long, streamlined body. Between strokes pause slightly (with one hand extended in front of you) - this introduces a longer glide and streamlines your body (making it long and narrow) as it is propelled.
• When swimming backstroke and freestyle, rotate the body side-to-side from the hips. It might seem like you are swimming on your side, but this is exactly what you want. This rotation begins at the hips and is transferred up the torso to the shoulder and arm. Just before you begin the arm pull, you should begin to rotate in the opposite direction. Use this rotational force (biomechanists call this torque) to help pull you through the water. A similar series of movements is used by major league baseball pitchers to throw 90+ MPH fastballs!
• Do not force your hands through the water! As your technique improves you should feel like you are climbing a "water ladder" with your hands and forearms resting against solid rungs of water. This is what collegiate coaches call a "feel for the water."
• The use of equipment such as kickboards, certain hand paddles, and leg floats should be reserved for those swimmers with firmly established technique! Use of these pool "toys" generally alters the body’s center of buoyancy and may harm your technique. Swim fins are acceptable swim aids.
• It helps to realize that good swim technique takes time to develop and regular practice to maintain. Don’t risk injury by swimming at high intensities with poor technique!