I was noticing that it took me about 22 pulls to get accross our 25 yard pool. I am a big guy with long arms, so I realized that this is rather high. (was I right?) So I decided to work on getting it lower.
I took some tips from my coach regarding my stroke (my arms were crossing over a bit and I needed to roll more). I also did some 25 yard drills where I simply concentrated on nothing more than getting across the pool in as few strokes as possible.
I'm to the point where if I do a good push off glide after a short rest and really concentrate I can make it in 17 or 18 strokes (is that still really bad?).
But out of a flip turn my SPL is still over 20. Sometimes as high as 23. (Are my flip turns the real problem?)
Now I'm going to pose something that flies in the face of conventional wisdom to the point of swimming blaspemy. In cycling one tries to maintain an optimum cadence for maximum effiency. In general, you shoot for the highest cadence where you are not bouncing in your seat. Mashing in really high gears is discouraged. Sure, you get really good speed initially, but riding the big gears will wear a rider out more quickly than spinning the smaller gears.
Why doesn't this apply to swimming? Especially long distance or open water swimmers? When I get across the pool in 19 strokes or less, my arms feel like my legs do when I've been riding big gears at a lower speed. In other words, I seem to get tapped out faster when I'm working to get my stroke count down.
The bottom line is that I train soley for open water and triathlon events. Should I worry as much about my SPL as a someone who trains for pool events?
you wrote "The bottom line is that I train soley for open water and triathlon events. Should I worry as much about my SPL as a someone who trains for pool events?"
Yes
you should increase your distance per stroke or decrease your strokes per length, you'll take fewer strokes per mile and use less energy.
A high stroke count means you have stroke inefficiencies
It's not the same as cycling
A high stroke count means you are slipping when you should be gripping.
But you can improve your distance per stroke with drills and concentration.
If you're a big guy with long arms you should be taking
10 - 12 strokes when you're concentrating on a long stroke and
13 - 15 strokes when you're just swimming
Try:
1) pausing each hand on the front end of each stroke.
2) sculling to improve your feel for the water
3) doing 25's where you attempt to take a few strokes as possible with a 2 beat kick, exagerate your push off, glide off each arm stroke,
4) accelerating your hand underwater,
5) push your hand past your swim suit, touch your thumb on your thigh on the back end of each stroke,
6) glide after you complete each arm pull with your other arm in front. Ride the Glide.
7) make a slow recovery above the water
hope this helps
Wish I could be poolside with you
We'd get you down to 13 in less than 10 minutes
Ande
Originally posted by cjolsen
I was noticing that it took me about 22 pulls to get accross our 25 yard pool. I am a big guy with long arms, so I realized that this is rather high. (was I right?) So I decided to work on getting it lower.
I took some tips from my coach regarding my stroke (my arms were crossing over a bit and I needed to roll more). I also did some 25 yard drills where I simply concentrated on nothing more than getting across the pool in as few strokes as possible.
I'm to the point where if I do a good push off glide after a short rest and really concentrate I can make it in 17 or 18 strokes (is that still really bad?).
But out of a flip turn my SPL is still over 20. Sometimes as high as 23. (Are my flip turns the real problem?)
Now I'm going to pose something that flies in the face of conventional wisdom to the point of swimming blaspemy. In cycling one tries to maintain an optimum cadence for maximum effiency. In general, you shoot for the highest cadence where you are not bouncing in your seat. Mashing in really high gears is discouraged. Sure, you get really good speed initially, but riding the big gears will wear a rider out more quickly than spinning the smaller gears.
Why doesn't this apply to swimming? Especially long distance or open water swimmers? When I get across the pool in 19 strokes or less, my arms feel like my legs do when I've been riding big gears at a lower speed. In other words, I seem to get tapped out faster when I'm working to get my stroke count down.
The bottom line is that I train soley for open water and triathlon events. Should I worry as much about my SPL as a someone who trains for pool events?
you wrote "The bottom line is that I train soley for open water and triathlon events. Should I worry as much about my SPL as a someone who trains for pool events?"
Yes
you should increase your distance per stroke or decrease your strokes per length, you'll take fewer strokes per mile and use less energy.
A high stroke count means you have stroke inefficiencies
It's not the same as cycling
A high stroke count means you are slipping when you should be gripping.
But you can improve your distance per stroke with drills and concentration.
If you're a big guy with long arms you should be taking
10 - 12 strokes when you're concentrating on a long stroke and
13 - 15 strokes when you're just swimming
Try:
1) pausing each hand on the front end of each stroke.
2) sculling to improve your feel for the water
3) doing 25's where you attempt to take a few strokes as possible with a 2 beat kick, exagerate your push off, glide off each arm stroke,
4) accelerating your hand underwater,
5) push your hand past your swim suit, touch your thumb on your thigh on the back end of each stroke,
6) glide after you complete each arm pull with your other arm in front. Ride the Glide.
7) make a slow recovery above the water
hope this helps
Wish I could be poolside with you
We'd get you down to 13 in less than 10 minutes
Ande
Originally posted by cjolsen
I was noticing that it took me about 22 pulls to get accross our 25 yard pool. I am a big guy with long arms, so I realized that this is rather high. (was I right?) So I decided to work on getting it lower.
I took some tips from my coach regarding my stroke (my arms were crossing over a bit and I needed to roll more). I also did some 25 yard drills where I simply concentrated on nothing more than getting across the pool in as few strokes as possible.
I'm to the point where if I do a good push off glide after a short rest and really concentrate I can make it in 17 or 18 strokes (is that still really bad?).
But out of a flip turn my SPL is still over 20. Sometimes as high as 23. (Are my flip turns the real problem?)
Now I'm going to pose something that flies in the face of conventional wisdom to the point of swimming blaspemy. In cycling one tries to maintain an optimum cadence for maximum effiency. In general, you shoot for the highest cadence where you are not bouncing in your seat. Mashing in really high gears is discouraged. Sure, you get really good speed initially, but riding the big gears will wear a rider out more quickly than spinning the smaller gears.
Why doesn't this apply to swimming? Especially long distance or open water swimmers? When I get across the pool in 19 strokes or less, my arms feel like my legs do when I've been riding big gears at a lower speed. In other words, I seem to get tapped out faster when I'm working to get my stroke count down.
The bottom line is that I train soley for open water and triathlon events. Should I worry as much about my SPL as a someone who trains for pool events?
