HOW TO SWIM FASTER EASIER? (LEARNING TO STREAMLINE YOUR BODY)
The simple answer is "by learn to swim slow with a correct technique".
This, in turn, reduces your body's drag and increases your propulsion force.
Swimming slower rather than faster is a bit against common sense, however, it is the way to go trust me.
It is actually the hardest thing you will have to learn on your journey to effortless swimming.
Convincing swimmers to slow down and forget about how many laps they do and how fast they swim is also the hardest thing for coaches to be able to do. Most swimmers usually say "yeah right, you are crazy. Why would I swim slower?", but when they make the switch and start seeing the progress, they usually buy into this concept and are better for it.
Before you go on, I have a small exercise for you. Next time you are in the pool try the following exercise for yourself and see that I am not just pulling your leg.
While swimming your normal laps, slow down in your normal body position and stroke technique to a slow-motion like movement and see what happens to your body.
More than likely it will be very difficult for you to swim at that speed and stay afloat in the same way you are when you swim faster. This is actually one of the reasons why people do swim faster as they are compensating for the lack of a correct body position with speed.
Do you remember the young thug in the lane next to you that jumps in and suddenly starts to thrash at the water as fast as he can and stops all out of breath when he gets to the other side? Well, this is exactly what I am talking about. Besides being a very annoying nuisance in the swim lanes, he cannot keep afloat unless he thrashes around like that with his muscular body :).
There are a few reasons why we want to initially slow down.
Let's say you are learning how to tie your shoes and someone shows you at their regular speed. You will not grasp the movements.
However, if someone takes the time and shows you the movement one by one in slow-motion and even tell you to loop it and swoop it or the bunny ears poem, you are more likely to have a better start and will remember how to do it.
Then you practice it very slowly until the movements become natural. When the movement is imprinted into your motor skills you can tie your shoe in stealth speed without even thinking about it.
With swimming, it is very similar.
When you do not learn the proper streamlined body position, arm movement, head position, catch and relaxation while swimming slow, your body will produce too much drag and turbulence while you swim, thus making swimming a much harder activity then it actually is. Which in turn will make you slower as you cannot sustain speed over a long period of time.
Remember, water is much denser than air, so moving through it requires a much more streamlined and thought out movement then when you move through the air.
What I want to teach you is to save energy while swimming by streamlining your body, so you swim effortlessly and are the flower among the thorns in the pool.
Now, are you with me here or are you still thinking I am nuts.
I am not going to lie to you, slowing down and learning the proper technique and body position at a lower speed takes a lot of patience as your mind will always tempt you to go faster.
You might feel you are not exercising enough and wasting your valuable time, however, if you are serious about learning how to swim properly, more efficiently and faster, I challenge you to bear with me and slow down.
In the next articles, I will take you through a set of exercises (phases) which will help you build up your stroke and save valuable energy during your swims.
Whether you are doing laps in the pool or stroking away in the open water, the slow down approach is a must.
LNURL1DP68GURN8GHJ7URP0YHRXD3SWDMKJMFWVDHK6TMVDE6HYMRS9A4HSCNCWFXSH3NN0H- or simply send using my Lightning Address⚡swmtr@360swim.com or swmtr@getalby.com
Comments (10)
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Now, on the subject, I due recognized the importance of floating on water before ''swimming''. Practicing the ''dead log''---> adjusting your upper body (arms, chest) and your lower body (legs, etc.) are must as you said. Then, comes the floating and before you know it, you start moving your legs and your arms to ''push'' the water in the opposite direction to where you want to go.
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Nonetheless, as you said it in this article, to compensate our inability to float well, we swim as fast as we can and if you are not correctly breathing air while swimming (inhale the air by turning your head on the side)well, you quickly miss air and stop in your track.
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I)My question is: how do you inhale air properly?
- When I swim, it is as if I had to swim as fast as I can or else, I going to miss air because I do not take air properly while swimming...
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II)How to float in the deep part of the pool? (at least 3,8 meter)
-Today,during my swimming lessons, I wore a ''floating belt'' if I may say so and I dived in the deep side of the pool. I immediately sank and could not swim at the surface. I was exhaling air by making bubbles, I moved my arms, but I presume my legs weren't following. Then, I panicked because I was missing air and I felt desperate and powerless.
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To answer your question:
1) how do I inhale properly? - You need to take a deep breath and see your chest rise when you take it. I find that many people struggle with exactly this. They try to take a breath, but it is a breath via stomach breathing and not chest breathing. So, inhale to see your chest rise. This will make sure you get enough air in your lungs to float.
If you start blowing bubbles, you are releasing the air and thus you will start sinking, so hold your breath during your floating exercises.
2) How to float in deep end of the pool? - there is no difference between floating in shallow end and deep end. The water is the same and if you learn how to float in the shallow end you'll be able to do this in the deep end.
I know this doesn't really explain much in terms of floating or breathing in detail, but it seems to me that you need to learn how to relax in the water by doing a few simple sinking exercises. I will put some videos for you and add a post here soon. stay tuned.
I have followed your first tip which turned out to be great. Nonetheless, I am still learning how to maintain myself on the surface of the water (without necessary floating on the stomach or the back)to then be able to maintain my head out of the water in the deep end. Hum... I don't know if you know what I mean...
p.s.: Sorry for all the mistakes I made in my last post. I wrote so quickly that I did not take the time to correct it...
I am not too clear on your question, however, when you mentioned 'keeping your head out of the water' it sounds a red alarm :). Head out of the water is only in the case of breathing which is only like 10% of your time spent swimming. The rest of the time, your head should be under water, so you can float easier with little or no effort.
Also, when you mention having a problem with balance. Many beginners have issues with the feeling of tipping over. Try to fight this feeling and don't try correct your position on the water. Your body is like a boat, it rocks back and forth, but it will not tip, so not need to tighten all your muscles to try to keep yourself straight.
If I were to identify my problem, I would say that I am expending way too much energy as I swim, but I don't know how I am doing it or how to relax and expend less.
I am teaching myself how to swim and am currently not taking lessons. Thank you for reading my post.
That said, fast kick conditioning is always good :). Especially when done in a vertical position in a deep end of the pool.
I just started taking swimming classes.In my second class deadlog should be performed.
I tried many times I could float my feet but the problem is I am getting carried away to the left side.It happened all the times.
Please suggest me some tips.