Save strokes and effort
 

Hello everybody.
In last months, my TI practice give me little but consistent/continuos improvements.
Now I've reduced the strokes for lenght: I can swim freestyle for 2 or 3 lengths using 16 strokes.
Swimming for 3 lenghts using 48 strokes bring me a considerable effort at the end. On the other hand , when I swim easy I usually spend 17/18 strokes per lenght.
The reason that push me to maximize SPL is simple:
the less stroke I use, the less tired I should be at the end of the stint.
Instaed, striving to minimize stroke cause a considerable effort.

What's wrong in my reasoning?

What you are experiencing is natural.

If you were to throw a cricket or tennis ball as far as you could this would be more tiring than throwing it 90% as far as you could throw it.

You train to minimise your SPL even though it is tiring as over time this will help you reduce your easy SPL and therefore increase speed for the same effort

Focusing on minimum SPL teaches you better balance streamline and stroke mechanics but you wouldn't swim a race or long distance at your very lowest SPL.

Hope that provide some clarification.


ps you would probably want to train to hold SPL for sets up to 200m but that takes time too, and by then you will probably a have a new lower minimum.

happy laps.

Yes, It's true. We can't raise the bar without effort!
The question arose in my mind yesterday after 3 lenghts in 48 strokes:
"Wow how can I sustain this for 1K ?, I had a moment of discouragement..."
I felt not only physical but a considerable mental effort,
I required an high level of concentration on various focal points.

How tall are you? You don't want minimum strokes, you want optimum strokes.

I can pedal a bike up a steep hill in my smallest gear (lowest revolutoin, largest rollout distance) and that's the equivalent of stroking wiht my absolute lowest stroke count (11)...but I wouldn't do either one for a great length of time.

Let yourself add a stroke...see hwo long you can swim 17 SPL. Do a little bit at 16 SPL (maybe 4 x 25, 3 x 50, 2 x 75, 3 x 50, 4 x 25) Then do 100, 150, 200, etc at 17 SPL and see how long you can sustain it. Then repeat the 16 SPL set. Over time you will tune in to count that is best for you. At 16-18 you are already ina very good range unless you are extremely tall.

Hi,

I am new here. And not a very good swimmer, but trying to improve...

To me it is obvious that when trying to swim in your low SPL range (or even below your "natural" range) it will take more effort as you will have a tendency to put more "umpfh" (or force) into each stroke in order to go further.

One of the best things i read here on the forum was a comment from Terry saying do not put more force into your stroke to improve, try gliding better and with this comment i took to the pool last week i took 1 minute of my 20 lap swim.
Hope that helps.

The mental effort to keep yourself streamlined and small as possible can be over come just as physical endurance can be gained by practice. If you are lazy like me :-) I like to put more focus into the mental effort and have the the physical part drag along for the ride. Both important, but an individual choice of which comes first.

I'm 5'10" and the pool is 25meters long.

Definitely don't minimise strokes, I'm quicker and it's easier swimming 22 strokes per length than 19. Less strokes isn't efficient very often, it's something i'm quite frustrated with TI for promoting as a rule.

I've not seen this mentioned lately ---- "the Shinji snap of the wrist" at the end of the stroke.

It does a couple of things. It helps promote a full stroke as this is the last step before the start of the recovery (or even thinking about the recovery), and, it eases the start of the recovery by placing some forward propulsion to the arm (elbow) which is recovering - the snap helps force the arm (elbow) back towards the surface. Most of all for me it gives a focus to the point of "bottom dead centre" of the stroke cycle. And I stand to be corrected on all of this - but it works well for me!