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.
My question would be, are you really holding your physical effort constant between 15 & 17 SPL? If you're getting tired sooner, it would seem to indicate that you're expending more energy.
When I try to increase SR (keeping effort constant), I'm consciously trying to pull less water - letting my catch slide a bit, and perhaps not following through as far. Chaos has described this in a different thread as a "lighter touch."
To take that even further, the ideal place to experiment is in actual open water - preferably rough water. To me, having to deal with chop and navigation is where the higher SR really shines. I can't practice a "rough water stroke" in a 25-yard pool, either - it just doesn't feel right.
I think this is where I'm headed. My lack of efficiency at 17 SPL in a 25 yard pool is due to lack of breath exchange efficiency rather than my arms and body expending more energy. When I hit my forever pace at any stroke rate, I do so because I've found a natural breathing rhythm. When I drilled at higher stroke rate in pool, I couldn't find that rhythm. It will take time.
My question would be, are you really holding your physical effort constant between 15 & 17 SPL? If you're getting tired sooner, it would seem to indicate that you're expending more energy.
When I try to increase SR (keeping effort constant), I'm consciously trying to pull less water - letting my catch slide a bit, and perhaps not following through as far. Chaos has described this in a different thread as a "lighter touch."
To take that even further, the ideal place to experiment is in actual open water - preferably rough water. To me, having to deal with chop and navigation is where the higher SR really shines. I can't practice a "rough water stroke" in a 25-yard pool, either - it just doesn't feel right.
I think this is where I'm headed. My lack of efficiency at 17 SPL in a 25 yard pool is due to lack of breath exchange efficiency rather than my arms and body expending more energy. When I hit my forever pace at any stroke rate, I do so because I've found a natural breathing rhythm. When I drilled at higher stroke rate in pool, I couldn't find that rhythm. It will take time.
