5 more tips on how to swim faster

Swimming speed is for many the ultimate goal. But to achieve it and to improve it, it is very important that we study all the techniques and drills that will get us there. Going max speed for as long as you can, will get you nowhere as the bad technique will literally work against you in the pool. Our readers seem to understand that very well as our previous blog post on speed was and is popular. That’s why we are publishing another 5 tips on how to swim faster. Enjoy!

Get your head position right!

Let’s start with a simple test – in the pool start with you looking straight at the bottom of the pool and your arms in front of you and slowly lift your head to see what happens with your legs position.

You will create a huge amount of drag as your hips are pulled down with every inch of your head raising. This will cancel out great amounts of your propulsion. You will basically fight against yourself in the quest for maximum speed!

Testing your swimming ideas

During your training sessions, you might have an idea for improvement and want to incorporate it into your swimming technique?

Before you do any change like that you should test it out by doing 6 x 100 with and without a change to get the results and the feel for the change’s efficiency. Swimmo watch can certainly help you get objective numbers during tests like that. To test it you simply need to see if your swim faster while keeping the same or lower heart rate. If so – the change is right for you and will help you with swimming speed.

Flex those muscles!

You will never achieve full fluidity while in the pool without working on your body’s flexibility. When working on it you should focus on ankles, hips, pecs, hamstrings, and shoulders.

The most effective way is to do it a few times a day for 5 minutes so that the progress sticks and you get a sustained result. You can simply start and end the day with a few simple exercises. The change will blow your mind – this really separates good from great swimmers!

Ask for feedback about your weak spots

This one is hard and can be difficult at first as we all take our swimming so personally. The good news is that after a while you get used to it and you start to only focus on the merit of feedback you can use in the pool.

I’m talking of course about the constant feedback on the swimming techniques you struggle with. A friendly eye watching you swim can quickly identify the reason and help you correct it making it the fastest possible way to eliminate your swimming blocks. Don’t let your fear of being judged stand in the way of success in the pool!

Recovery is your friend

As swimming is one of the rare sports you can do every day it is hard for some swimmers to grasp the real significance of the recovery. We are often told to give 100% every day at all times. We believe that this is how you succeed in sports. The truth is that time is an important part of you becoming an amazing swimmer.

Think of the recovery as a process of copying files from the RAM memory to your hard drive. A time when your body can receive all the new built strength and endurance and make it more permanent (as long as you keep your training rhythm). Without it, you push to your limit but don’t actually extend what your limits are.

So remember to put recovery periods into your workout schedule – it is not a waste of time!

We hope you enjoyed another 5 tips on how to swim faster and that you’ll use them to make progress in the pool! And if you want to see exactly how your results change in the process you can use a swimming training watch that will save all your swim metrics and even help to guide you in the pool!

Kamil Market Development Expert at Swimmo

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