Hi All. This is my first post and this question may have been asked before, if it has, sorry.
Does anyone have suggestions on how to stay smooth when sprinting freestyle? I have noticed that when I do 25's or 50's fast, that my stroke gets sloppy. When I do middle to distances swims, even at fast paces, my stroke stays smooth, balanced and symmetrical on both sides. This feeling seems to go away when sprinting, esp. staying symmetrical.
Any suggestions are most welcome! Thanks!
John
Former Member
No secret go like hades in the sprint the object is to get there first.
In my experience, smoothness in freestyle sprinting is about body position. Keep your hips and lower torso as flat as possible relative to the surface of the water. You may also have to look forward to make sure that you don't bury your head. When your body is stable in the water, it's much easier to increase your turnover to a true sprint. But staying stable does require a lot of effort, especially from your legs.
Practice doing 6-8 stroke breakouts with that in mind. Rest as much as you need to. Longer distances with less rest will make it impossible to practice true sprinting unless you are a very strong swimmer and you are in shape. Keep it simple by not rotating to breathe. Do a lot of them and you will improve your sprinting speed.
I saw two things on ande rasmussen's page that I've been paying attention to with good results:
1- If you want to swim fast, practice swimming fast. So I practice all out swims to improve my sprints.
2- The faster you swim, the more you want to relax. This is a real insight. When I'm swimming a sprint, I tell myself to relax and accelerate. It works! I'm able to turn over faster when my shoulders are more relaxed.
I hope this is helpful.
LOL... Thanks for the tip. Razor and shaving companies took a big profit loss, once I stopped swimming for a few years after college.
I don't plan on swimming the 50 itself in meets, a little too short for my taste. I am more interested in developing easier speed for the 200 free.
Right now though, my ability to swim fast, controlled, and smooth doesn't seem to be hitting at all.
Thanks for all the advice!
John
200??? That is a marathon swim for me these days. 1 knee op and the other one coming soon. If I ever compete again it is only going to be a 50 or 100 free and fly. My competition is so slow I think I will be OK.
Wops I may change my mind as someone has sent me an invitation to swim an open water of 4000m in Belgium, 12th of August so I may change my mind and take aim at workouts longer than 1000m a day. May be 4000m a day.
My coach suggested trying to take 3 perfect setup strokes at the initial breakout. I also find it helpful to think about building tempo off those 3 instead of trying to go all out (read: flailing) from the outset.
