* Edit. This Coach is a very good coach but unfortunately she only coached our club for a few days which is why l wasn't able to speak directly to her. I am thankful that she was able to bring attention to my daughter's problem so that we can try and do something to fix it.
My daughter started squad training 3 years ago and typically trains 2 to 3 sessions per week. Although she doesn't train a lot, she does manage to get State times for her 50 Freestyle and 50 Backstroke.
So this year she has decided to up her training and commit to giving her swimming 100 percent.
Now her issue is... her stroke rate is 38 strokes per minute. (And her new/temporary coach had an absolute fit when she told her to sprint the length of the pool and saw her "slow arms"
The thing is, she keeps pace with the other kids and makes her targets but looks to be in "cruise mode" (like she isn't trying)
This is the first coach to ever pull her up on it and lm at a loss that nobody has mentioned it before. The "temp" coach wants her to swim at least a 58.Is that realistic? Is it possible to change your swimming style that much?Would a swim temp trainer be a good way to get her to move her arms faster or is there another way 🤔
Feeling concerned
Swimfit,
Thanks for the info. Having a strong kick - which I hope means a continuous 6 beat kick - is important. And, while strength helps, it is not the primary factor when it comes to increasing stroke tempo.
Sometimes coaches, trying to get swimmers to lengthen their freestyle, tell them to reach out in front of them. Doing catch-up stroke drill is common and it results in the swimmer's arm staying at the surface of the water while the other arm is recovering. This leads to dead spots in the stroke when the only propulsion is the legs. It leads to slower stroke tempo.
If this is what your daughter is doing she should work on driving her hand through the surface of the water and immediately start pushing water down. She should not have to shorten her catch very much. This will result is an arm pull with less elbow bend and less early vertical forearm and less catch-up. She may even develop a more straight arm/windmill recovery with is also ok. This will feel really awkward at first and it is very tiring because there is no "rest/dead" point in the stroke. And, she will either have to breathe less or figure out how to fit the breath into the smaller window of time when she can breathe.
She will want to do this without starting the recovery sooner - she should still be finishing her stroke with her hand exiting the water at mid-thigh and as straight an arm as possible.
Caveat to the above. This is a very different stroke than she will be used to. Pure sprint technique, as I described above, is good for 50s - maybe 100s. It is NOT efficiency based and is entirely anaerobic. When you swim longer distances, efficiency becomes more important. So, two different techniques are involved. This is all physics - if you want to know more about the physics, I can do that, but it might bore other readers. :)
Good Luck
Swimfit,
Thanks for the info. Having a strong kick - which I hope means a continuous 6 beat kick - is important. And, while strength helps, it is not the primary factor when it comes to increasing stroke tempo.
Sometimes coaches, trying to get swimmers to lengthen their freestyle, tell them to reach out in front of them. Doing catch-up stroke drill is common and it results in the swimmer's arm staying at the surface of the water while the other arm is recovering. This leads to dead spots in the stroke when the only propulsion is the legs. It leads to slower stroke tempo.
If this is what your daughter is doing she should work on driving her hand through the surface of the water and immediately start pushing water down. She should not have to shorten her catch very much. This will result is an arm pull with less elbow bend and less early vertical forearm and less catch-up. She may even develop a more straight arm/windmill recovery with is also ok. This will feel really awkward at first and it is very tiring because there is no "rest/dead" point in the stroke. And, she will either have to breathe less or figure out how to fit the breath into the smaller window of time when she can breathe.
She will want to do this without starting the recovery sooner - she should still be finishing her stroke with her hand exiting the water at mid-thigh and as straight an arm as possible.
Caveat to the above. This is a very different stroke than she will be used to. Pure sprint technique, as I described above, is good for 50s - maybe 100s. It is NOT efficiency based and is entirely anaerobic. When you swim longer distances, efficiency becomes more important. So, two different techniques are involved. This is all physics - if you want to know more about the physics, I can do that, but it might bore other readers. :)
Good Luck
