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.
"However, what I do know (or believe, if you prefer) that a shorter stroke (i.e. higher SR) allows me to adjust my stroke to take advantage of the conditions - or at least not be dominated by them. If I have a low SPL and low SR then as I swim in rough water the wave, or waves if the the wind and deep swells are not identical in direction and period, will interfere with the rhythm of my stroke and cause me to lose momentum. If I switch to a higher SPL and higher SR this will minimize the negative effect of the waves. This is critical because it always requires less power to achieve a certain average speed if your speed is constant, than if you are constantly speeding up and slowing down. each stroke cycle."
I started this thread after attempting some research to find out why my pacing for distance swimming wasn't improving signficantly despite my training efforts over the last couple of years. I thought there might be a key in stroke rate. When I saw the video I posted at the beginning of the thread, I marvelled how someone could sustain that stroke for 10K when I can't sustain that stroke rate for 200 yards even though I can swim my stroke for 10K.
I also noted the contrasting styles of the open water swimmers and the pool swimmers in the video. Admittedly, they were hand selected by the video maker to make his point, but his observations also bear out in many events that I've witnessed. I further noted that my worst performances in open water swims have come in rough conditions or against the current -- not just poor times, but poor performance relative to other swimmers who compete in many of the same races.
I have come to the following conclusions:
1. My breathing needs fixed more than anything -- I have become conscious that on over half my breaths, I am taking air in little further than my mouth. Think of the first time smoker who doesn't really inhale, but just sucks smoke into his mouth. This type of very shallow breathing, I think, means I am fatiguing more quickly. I never developed good breathing patterns growing up because my successes were all at the 100 yard level. What teenager really needs to breathe on a 100? I'm using some drills Chaos shared earlier in the thread to work on my breathing using a vareity rhythms.
2. I need to reconsider my training schedule -- With work and kids, I am able to get in the water 5-6 times per week for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes which means I'm only getting in a little over 20K yards per week. I need to mix in some longer workouts as I can.
3. I want to develop a shorter, choppier stroke as a secondary stroke to use in adverse conditions -- E=H2O makes a great point about the video demonstrating the maintenance of forward momentum being key to good performance in rough conditions. My stroke has been effective in smooth water and allows me to last longer than many people in better physical condition than I, but the glide is long enough that adverse conditions mean that every stroke is re-starting forward motion rather than maintaining it.
"However, what I do know (or believe, if you prefer) that a shorter stroke (i.e. higher SR) allows me to adjust my stroke to take advantage of the conditions - or at least not be dominated by them. If I have a low SPL and low SR then as I swim in rough water the wave, or waves if the the wind and deep swells are not identical in direction and period, will interfere with the rhythm of my stroke and cause me to lose momentum. If I switch to a higher SPL and higher SR this will minimize the negative effect of the waves. This is critical because it always requires less power to achieve a certain average speed if your speed is constant, than if you are constantly speeding up and slowing down. each stroke cycle."
I started this thread after attempting some research to find out why my pacing for distance swimming wasn't improving signficantly despite my training efforts over the last couple of years. I thought there might be a key in stroke rate. When I saw the video I posted at the beginning of the thread, I marvelled how someone could sustain that stroke for 10K when I can't sustain that stroke rate for 200 yards even though I can swim my stroke for 10K.
I also noted the contrasting styles of the open water swimmers and the pool swimmers in the video. Admittedly, they were hand selected by the video maker to make his point, but his observations also bear out in many events that I've witnessed. I further noted that my worst performances in open water swims have come in rough conditions or against the current -- not just poor times, but poor performance relative to other swimmers who compete in many of the same races.
I have come to the following conclusions:
1. My breathing needs fixed more than anything -- I have become conscious that on over half my breaths, I am taking air in little further than my mouth. Think of the first time smoker who doesn't really inhale, but just sucks smoke into his mouth. This type of very shallow breathing, I think, means I am fatiguing more quickly. I never developed good breathing patterns growing up because my successes were all at the 100 yard level. What teenager really needs to breathe on a 100? I'm using some drills Chaos shared earlier in the thread to work on my breathing using a vareity rhythms.
2. I need to reconsider my training schedule -- With work and kids, I am able to get in the water 5-6 times per week for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes which means I'm only getting in a little over 20K yards per week. I need to mix in some longer workouts as I can.
3. I want to develop a shorter, choppier stroke as a secondary stroke to use in adverse conditions -- E=H2O makes a great point about the video demonstrating the maintenance of forward momentum being key to good performance in rough conditions. My stroke has been effective in smooth water and allows me to last longer than many people in better physical condition than I, but the glide is long enough that adverse conditions mean that every stroke is re-starting forward motion rather than maintaining it.
