Hey there-
Was just wondering if any of you felt like this...
At practice: I feel strong, my strokes feel perfect - everything is great.
When at meets: The second I dive in (this is primarily on backstroke, my best stroke) - and I feel like I'm out of control, I feel like I slip on every pull - not going anywhere but my arms are going fast.
What is going on? Do I need to lift weights or what?
Thanks - Sarah
Former Member
As per the above advice - I felt pumped to get in the pool and concentrate on going faster at practice. I started doing more descending and build sets in practice tonight (and sprints at the end).
I've found myself really concentrating on proper technique over the past few years - and that I've neglected the need for speed... I did feel great tonight - but I've got a long way to getting my sprint back to where it used to be.
I've got three meets in the next month and a half! Yea! :banana:
Sarah-
I am mainly a backstroker too! I started back a few years ago and I was having the exact same problem. I felt like I didn't know how to swim when I got to a meet and it wasn't from lack of practice. In order to fix this, I did a few things. I started swimming fast off the blocks (from a start for back) more frequently and I entered a lot more meets. It has become so much easier to race whenever I want now. I also swim USS meets and train with a USS team which has made me challenge myself much more than when I trained alone. My best suggestion is just to race, race, race! Just my thoughts.
Suzanne
When practicing sprinting I try to keep one thing in mind to work on each sprint. Like in breaststroke doing a set of 25s I'll spend one 25 focusing on keeping my head down,one focusing on getting my feet high on the catch of the kick,one on shrugging my shoulders,etc.Then at a meet I'll mentally go through the stroke focusing on getting it perfect in my mind before I swim.
