Stroke count

Why wouldn't you want to do that? Each stroke you should reach as far as you can, and stream line with one hand as it enters the water. Because if you extend your arm out as far as possible you are effectively disconnecting it from your core. I don't think you should ever lock your elbow while swimming, instead your hand should enter and immediately drive down to the catch position. I realize not everyone is going to agree with this, but I believe it to be true.

Because if you extend your arm out as far as possible you are effectively disconnecting it from your core. I don't think you should ever lock your elbow while swimming, instead your hand should enter and immediately drive down to the catch position. I realize not everyone is going to agree with this, but I believe it to be true. not sure www.youtube.com/watch

When your maximum velocity, sprint or personal best time, for a given distance, goes down and your stroke rate for that distance goes down, it is the objective measure of improved efficiency. Good point, Tom. If you can cut your stroke rate, but this causes you to swim slower it's not an improvement.

When your maximum velocity, sprint or personal best time, for a given distance, goes down and your stroke rate for that distance goes down, it is the objective measure of improved efficiency. Knowing your stroke rate and what it means in term of efficiency can be a very useful measurement and if you really want to improve it can be critical. Isolate your kick (kickboard) and pull (pull buoy), count how many kicks and pulls you take, time them and you’ll be able to develop a baseline from which to compare future observations or results in practices and competitions and then evaluate your improvement and efficiency. It can become much more complicated than this but I know you get the idea. Good luck, Coach T.

Breathing or not breathing every stroke, every other stroke isn't my issue. All I know is I take 11 strokes from start to the 25 yard mark; can't help it, that's what it always is on the first start-block to 25 end pool. After that, it is 12 and doesn't change. I'm a 12-stroke 25-gal! Donna

A nice article by Mat Luebbers, I hope everyone enjoys it. His website at About.com has a lot of great swimming information. Swimming Distance per Stroke and Swim StrokeRate Swimmers and swimming stroke count By Mat Luebbers, About.com Many coaches talk about distance per stroke (DPS) and strokes/minute or strokes/second (stroke rate - SR) or even seconds/stroke - but what does it all mean? Should I worry about how many strokes I take when I swim? Yes and no! You shouldn't worry about it, but you need to practice efficiency to get better at it - and that means maximizing your DPS and finding the correct rhythm for you - you strokes/second or strokes/minute. If you know how many strokes you take in 100 meters, and you know your time for 100 meters, then you can figure all of it out. This is ignoring turns and starts - but if you always do it the same way, you will have the same results. And this will work for freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, even sidestroke. Stan Swimmer completes the 100 meter freestyle in 1:00, using 54 stroke cycles. What is this "cycles" thing? Instead of counting each arm, just count one arm. A cycle begins when the first arm enters the water, and ends when that arm recovers and enters the water again. That is 1 cycle or two strokes. It is easier to count for most people. Many coaches talk about distance per stroke (DPS) and strokes/minute or strokes/second (stroke rate - SR) or even seconds/stroke - but what does it all mean? Distance = 100 meters Time = 1-minute (60 seconds) Stroke (cycles) = 54 Now the math: DPS = distance/# cycles used for that distance = 100/54 = 1.85 meters/cycle SR = #cycles/time = 54/1:00 = .9 cycles/second Seconds/Stroke = time/#cycles = 1:00/54 = 1.11 seconds/cycle So what!?! You want to increase your efficiency - get the most with the least, up to a point. You might be able to cover 10 meters with one stroke, but move so slowly that a snail passes you - not a good balance between SR and DPS. You can count your cycles during different sets in practice and compare that with your time for those repeats - if you are putting out the same effort, you can tell when you have found a good balance - you will be taking the lowest number of strokes without losing speed. It takes practice, but with time you will find your optimum mix. As you improve your conditioning and your technique, you may find DPS changing; if it is a positive change, then it is usually a good one, indicating that you are getting more out of each stroke. A big increase in rate might mean you are tired or need to do some more technique work. For example, if Stan's rate remains the same, and he swims a 100 in 1:10, then he would have taken 63 stroke cycles, with a DPS of 1.59 meters - he took more strokes and went slower, an indicator that something might need fixing! A negative change, such as an increased SR but a decrease in overall time could indicate that you are "slipping" or not getting the most out of every stroke. Slow down, work on your drills, and have a coach or workout partner look at your technique - or use a video camera. Try to get back to your good technique; style will always get you further than speed in the long run! A fun drill that can help both SR and DPS is "Golf" (no caddy needed). Swim a 50 (or any distance that you can do 18 more times). Count your cycles and get your time for the swim. Add these numbers together for your "par" score. Now swim 9 x 50 with :15 to :30 rest. Add your count and time for each 50 to get your score for that "hole". Compare each hole to your "par" and add or subtract as you go - 1 over, even, 1 under, etc. Take a break after the first 9, then do it again, using the counting method. How did you do? even? under? over? Try this once a week - you will get a feel for ways to maximize your DPS while holding the same time. There are lots of other ways to use DPS and SR to check how you are doing, including comparing the counts day to day or race to race. It can indicate fatigue, stroke flaws, or improvement.

Here's a better example: www.youtube.com/watch From in front it looks like he's extending out as far as possible, but I think you'll see what I mean on the side view starting around 1:10. Yes, he reaches out in front, but he also drives his hand right down to the catch position, maybe 12" or so under water, immediately. What I envisioned when I heard "arms attached to the core" was a person swinging their arms wildly, constantly bent, finishing while hitting their body underwater, or not turning their shoulders at all No, not what I had in mind at all. Here's an example of what I'm thinking. Try to reach your arm out over your head as far as possible. If you think about starting a pull from this position, you can feel you don't have much leverage. However, if you relax your arm slightly you can feel the core muscles along your sides engage and you have much more leverage.

when I pay attention to my stroke count in freestyle I count everytime my hand hits the water. and I also take notice to my underwater distance. I think doing stroke count drills really helped my distance swimming this year. when working breaststroke I only count my strokes after my underwater pullout. if my stroke count is high, then I first take into account the distance of my underwater pull out. I do alot of stroke counting when I swim anything over 100 at practice. since my biggest problem when racing the 200br is speeding up my arms, but catching less.

double post

Why wouldn't you want to do that? Each stroke you should reach as far as you can, and stream line with one hand as it enters the water. Well, if I want to, I can swim a 50 freestyle with a stroke count of zero. It's also known as "50 yards kicking". So there is a point at which you get diminishing returns. -Rick