Although I swim a lot, I almost never swim continuously lap after lap. I always stop after 1 length, then do another one. Not that I can't continue, but I want to improve my form and technique before counting distance and speed (besides, I don't know how to do flip turns :( ). If bad forms are not corrected in early stages, swimming long distance will only make them bad habits, the longer, the worse, and harder to correct. On the other hand, this makes my swim too easy and relaxed, without any pressure. "Improving form and technique" can go on indefinitely! I wonder when I should start counting speed and distance?
So I would be interested to know, when you gradually became a better swimmer from a newbie, when did you start counting how long you have swum (continuously), and to look at the clock to count speed? :confused:
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Although I swim a lot, I almost never swim continuously lap after lap. I always stop after 1 length, then do another one. Not that I can't continue, but I want to improve my form and technique before counting distance and speed (besides, I don't know how to do flip turns :( ). If bad forms are not corrected in early stages, swimming long distance will only make them bad habits, the longer, the worse, and harder to correct. On the other hand, this makes my swim too easy and relaxed, without any pressure. "Improving form and technique" can go on indefinitely! I wonder when I should start counting speed and distance?
So I would be interested to know, when you gradually became a better swimmer from a newbie, when did you start counting how long you have swum (continuously), and to look at the clock to count speed? :confused:
Counting/measuring wise, I start all of my new swimmers as soon as they get the general idea of their technique and form. The reason is because it is much easier for them to see the improvements if they are consistently measured.
With regard to how you are swimming the lengths/laps, are you mixing a swim into your drill set(s)? In other words, are you swimming straight drill with no regular swim sets? If so, I would suggest to alter your workouts to be more along the lines of drilling the technique and form but also to include swim in there as well. For example: instead of doing a 4 x 50 IM order drill set, do a 4 x 75 IM order drill with the first 50 as drill and the last 25 as swim (but concentrating on the technique that you just drilled). As you get more efficient with your technique you can add speed and distance on those figures. Again, just a thought.
Although I swim a lot, I almost never swim continuously lap after lap. I always stop after 1 length, then do another one. Not that I can't continue, but I want to improve my form and technique before counting distance and speed (besides, I don't know how to do flip turns :( ). If bad forms are not corrected in early stages, swimming long distance will only make them bad habits, the longer, the worse, and harder to correct. On the other hand, this makes my swim too easy and relaxed, without any pressure. "Improving form and technique" can go on indefinitely! I wonder when I should start counting speed and distance?
So I would be interested to know, when you gradually became a better swimmer from a newbie, when did you start counting how long you have swum (continuously), and to look at the clock to count speed? :confused:
Counting/measuring wise, I start all of my new swimmers as soon as they get the general idea of their technique and form. The reason is because it is much easier for them to see the improvements if they are consistently measured.
With regard to how you are swimming the lengths/laps, are you mixing a swim into your drill set(s)? In other words, are you swimming straight drill with no regular swim sets? If so, I would suggest to alter your workouts to be more along the lines of drilling the technique and form but also to include swim in there as well. For example: instead of doing a 4 x 50 IM order drill set, do a 4 x 75 IM order drill with the first 50 as drill and the last 25 as swim (but concentrating on the technique that you just drilled). As you get more efficient with your technique you can add speed and distance on those figures. Again, just a thought.
