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Swim Faster - How to Swim Faster By Propelling Yourself Through The Water

By Brenton Ford

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 31Aug2009 Word count: 402 Viewed: 448 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

In swimming, effective propulsive movements are SLOW to FAST. This means your arms will not be moving at a constant speed thoughout the stroke.

In every stroke you reach long, feel the water, catch and then accelerate through the pull to the recovery. The hand and the arm move slower during the 'reach and catch' phase of the stroke, and is faster during the pull through.

A powerful stroke starts with an effective feel on the entry and then a strong catch. The catch is defined as the phase just prior to beginning the pull through. It is named the 'catch' because the goal is to 'catch' as much water as possible with your hand and forearm to achieve maximum hold of the water. Once you have got that strong catch, it's the acceleration through the stroke which makes all the difference.

A big mistake which amateur swimmers too often make is they pull through the water before they have reached long and 'caught' the water. Missing this step causes bubbles on the hand as the swimmer pulls through. This makes the stroke ineffective as the swimmer is pulling through air and not able to accelerate by holding the water with their hand and forearm. It is important the swimmer does not tense up during the pull through, but keeps their muscles relaxed and loose to gain maximum hold of the water.

During the 'catch' phase of the stroke (between the hand entering and the pull through) the main objective is to reach long to reduce drag, and to allow the air bubbles to leave the hand and forearm. Once they have left, the swimmer can begin the pull through with maximum effectiveness. The difference between pulling through without bubbles on the hand compared to pulling through with bubbles can be many seconds difference. A swimmer will be more efficient in the water by pulling through after the bubbles have left their hand. This not only saves energy but it allows the swimmer to move a greater distance through the water with less strokes.

If you can master the slow to fast movement with the arms and combine this with a 'no bubbles' approach to pulling through, you can drastically improve your swimming. It's worth practicing the two disciplines until you get them right. It sure beats training harder and may allow you to improve your times with much less less effort.

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