Question about stroke rate and kicking

Former Member
Former Member
I've just watched the video by Swim Smooth on instagram: www.instagram.com/.../ The description mentions; Now take a closer look at the amount of kick required to sustain such a long, gliding stroke in the first clip - it’s huge! I can barely hold this pace for more than the 70m of this clip! I’m totally exhausted and starting to drop off @karyn_aus and @rrobbo83 pace. But my question is: How the heck is he possible to sustain 74 spm for 3 km? Won't such a high stroke rate tire the arms and the whole upper body a lot?! And for the 46 spm swim, why he is kicking so frequently? If he can do 46 spm with 2-beat kick it would be PERFECT for extra-long distance swim, which I am aiming for.
Parents
  • I've just watched the video by Swim Smooth on instagram: www.instagram.com/.../ The description mentions; But my question is: How the heck is he possible to sustain 74 spm for 3 km? Won't such a high stroke rate tire the arms and the whole upper body a lot?! And for the 46 spm swim, why he is kicking so frequently? If he can do 46 spm with 2-beat kick it would be PERFECT for extra-long distance swim, which I am aiming for. Anecdotally, I disagree with his whole premise that a long stroke rate requires additional kicking. The whole point of a lower stroke rate is to make the stroke more efficient. That means you get more out of each pull. My pull sets will typically require only 2 additional strokes per (25 yard) length. Now I will say that I do get tired, and over the course of, say, a mile (1650yards/1500meters), my stroke count will go up, usually by 2 by the end of the swim. Actually, here. swimswam.com/.../ The world's best distance swimmers have a stroke rate of 32-35spm. You don't see good distance swimmers with a high stroke rate......not that I am saying the average Masters swimmer should try to emulate Sun Yang. Just saying that their method refutes the premise posted by the Instagram guy.
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  • I've just watched the video by Swim Smooth on instagram: www.instagram.com/.../ The description mentions; But my question is: How the heck is he possible to sustain 74 spm for 3 km? Won't such a high stroke rate tire the arms and the whole upper body a lot?! And for the 46 spm swim, why he is kicking so frequently? If he can do 46 spm with 2-beat kick it would be PERFECT for extra-long distance swim, which I am aiming for. Anecdotally, I disagree with his whole premise that a long stroke rate requires additional kicking. The whole point of a lower stroke rate is to make the stroke more efficient. That means you get more out of each pull. My pull sets will typically require only 2 additional strokes per (25 yard) length. Now I will say that I do get tired, and over the course of, say, a mile (1650yards/1500meters), my stroke count will go up, usually by 2 by the end of the swim. Actually, here. swimswam.com/.../ The world's best distance swimmers have a stroke rate of 32-35spm. You don't see good distance swimmers with a high stroke rate......not that I am saying the average Masters swimmer should try to emulate Sun Yang. Just saying that their method refutes the premise posted by the Instagram guy.
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