My pull count is around 22 if I don't pay attention to it. If I really concentrate, I can get it down to about 18. Once I made it across our 25 yard pool with 16.
I consider my pull count to be very high for someone with freakishly long arms like I have. I want it lower.
When I do get my count down below 19, I feel like I did a 25 yard sprint. And my times in that distance seem to reflect that.
So I have two questions. First, should I spend part of my workout just doing intervals of 25s with break of about 15 seconds between them, and concentrate soley on my pull count.
Second, it seems like I'm sprinting when I count my pulls. I'm not a sprinter. In fact, the only competition I have in my plans are triatlons and open water swims. In biking, for distance rides you are supposed to keep your cadence high. Is that true for swimming. In other words, is pull-count more important for sprinters than distance swimmers?
One drill we do which seems to help with pull counts is this:
12x 25 yds, broken into groups of 3:
1st 25: concentrate on stroke, low stroke count
2nd 25: just let your arms move as fast as they can
3rrd 25: put the 1st and 2nd together
I think we do them on 0:35, but do it on an interval where you'll get 10-15 seconds rest on the slowest.
If you have a coach, ask him/her to look at your stroke and give you pointers. If not, maybe ask someone at the pool to do so...and you may want to think of swimming with a coach at least once a week.
Make sure you are swimming front quadrant in some way, shape, or form. Also make sure you are pulling with your forearm as well as your hand. A high elbow catch will allow you to gain the maximum propulsion from each stroke. I am typically in the 15-16 range but I can get it down to 12-14 if I really concentrate on being sleek and efficient.
the number of strokes you make have a very direct connection to your technique.Sometimes you do not even have to be very strong, although that definitely helps, too.Sounds like you have quite some work to do on your technique.I just broke through my stroke count too, which was not bad (15-17 per 25 m. pool), I just all of a sudden felt my hips rotate a lot better , I think I found a better streamline position, too, anyways my count dropped by 1 stroke of the count that I was stuck with for a few months.
So do not battle the water, find yourself a coach and have him look at your technique, 'cause as much as we would explain to you what to do, you will think that you do it right but you might not.And keep on swimming, 'cause from my experience I know that once you start thinking that you found that good technique, your body surprises you again by discovering another little thing that improves it even more.
So for now all you need is basically TECHNIQUE, TECHNIQUE AND TECHNIQUE!
