After recognizing that my stroke is much longer than most OWS, I decided to poke around and see if stroke was different for OW as opposed to swimming in a pool. I found this (There is a part 2 if you click on the channel and scroll down the right side):
YouTube - Swim Smooth: What Is An Efficient Freestyle Stroke? Part 1
I would love to get reactions. I know that when I quicken my stroke rate and shorten my stroke I seem to fatigue much more quickly. However, this could be due to not pursuing this long enough to re-establish breathing patterns. (When I concentrate on my stroke, I tend to hold my breath without realizing it).
I do know that while my per 100 pace is slowly improving with more speed work in my work outs, it has dropped now where near what it used to be 20 years ago.
the lesson is 2 parts. part 1 increase distance per stroke (one must usually slow down to do this) part 2 maintain distance per stroke while increasing SR
I'm familiar with the lesson - and I think it's the right approach for novice swimmers. Is it the right approach for an expert swimmer? Maybe - but maybe not. A smart coach looks at both factors - SL and SR - and decides where the "low-hanging fruit" are. In some cases, SR might be the lower-hanging fruit. A coach shouldn't automatically assume that a catch-up stroke (higher SL) will be more efficient. I'm sure there were coaches who thought Janet Evans should be more "patient" with her catch. And those coaches would be idiots.
Chaos, you're a TI coach, so I'll ask your opinion:
I'm currently an 18:08 miler (unrested). In college I was about 16:30. My stroke count per 25 yards - then and now - is 14. The difference between my 19-year old self and my 31-year old self is the stroke rate I was capable of sustaining.
At 14 SPL, I'm well below the suggested stroke-count range (16-19) for my height (5 ft 7 in), as suggested by Terry Laughlin. For an open-water 10K, my SR is typically 65-67 SPM. World-class OW swimmers - most of whom are 6-9 inches taller than me - are more like 80-90 SPM.
Here's a video of me swimming 100 yards in a pool at my 10K effort (65-67 SPM):
YouTube - 110310d 100FR d2-3
Given this information, would your advice to me be: "Evan, the best way for you to take your swimming to the next level is to do more of a catch-up stroke" ? Is my stroke length really the low-hanging fruit here?
Sounds crazy, right? Well, that was the advice given to me by a TI coach.
the lesson is 2 parts. part 1 increase distance per stroke (one must usually slow down to do this) part 2 maintain distance per stroke while increasing SR
I'm familiar with the lesson - and I think it's the right approach for novice swimmers. Is it the right approach for an expert swimmer? Maybe - but maybe not. A smart coach looks at both factors - SL and SR - and decides where the "low-hanging fruit" are. In some cases, SR might be the lower-hanging fruit. A coach shouldn't automatically assume that a catch-up stroke (higher SL) will be more efficient. I'm sure there were coaches who thought Janet Evans should be more "patient" with her catch. And those coaches would be idiots.
Chaos, you're a TI coach, so I'll ask your opinion:
I'm currently an 18:08 miler (unrested). In college I was about 16:30. My stroke count per 25 yards - then and now - is 14. The difference between my 19-year old self and my 31-year old self is the stroke rate I was capable of sustaining.
At 14 SPL, I'm well below the suggested stroke-count range (16-19) for my height (5 ft 7 in), as suggested by Terry Laughlin. For an open-water 10K, my SR is typically 65-67 SPM. World-class OW swimmers - most of whom are 6-9 inches taller than me - are more like 80-90 SPM.
Here's a video of me swimming 100 yards in a pool at my 10K effort (65-67 SPM):
YouTube - 110310d 100FR d2-3
Given this information, would your advice to me be: "Evan, the best way for you to take your swimming to the next level is to do more of a catch-up stroke" ? Is my stroke length really the low-hanging fruit here?
Sounds crazy, right? Well, that was the advice given to me by a TI coach.
