Distance per stroke

That sounds way high, but it's different for every person. Have you worked with a coach or masters team?

You also might consider posting a video here of yourself swimming to get some feedback on stroke technique. I'm willing to bet you have some low hanging fruit in that area.

How long does it take to swim 50 yards in 46 strokes?

Shane

I am an inch shorter than you and had these same numbers last year.
It turns out I had a lot of drag even though I thought I had good balance. My main culprits were not getting a good "flick" during the kick and bending my neck instead of turning my head to get air. Now I'm under 30 strokes per 50 though I'm focusing more on catch and pull and finding a good balance between stroke rate and glide to increase speed so this might be less or closer to 30.

Edited by runtim23 2016-07-18 1:12 PM

To respond to a couple Q's: it takes me 1 minute to do a 50.
Also, to clarify, I count both arms in 25 yards every time they enter the water. This is correct right? So, each arm enters 11-12 times.

At about 60s per 50y and approx 50 strokes, I would guess that you either need to work on your catch and pull and/or your body position. It also seems your initial observation that you are gliding too much is probably accurate at less than 1 stroke per second however this is probably a secondary concern to the other two items I mentioned.

Try this - get an old inner tube and tie it around your legs. Swim 4x25 on 60-75s with the band. You will most likely find your feet sinking and feel like you are battling to keep moving.

If your feet are sinking, try some of the things mentioned in this video - it's silly but some of the items can help bring the feet up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2n_AceCr-c

For the catch and pull, I would try some pulling, some sculling and also working on the other three strokes. These should help with your ability to feel and catch the water.

Shane

Don't make the mistake of confusing SPL (Strokes per Length) and DPS (Distance Per Stroke). Yes, they're similar, but the former has another variable which is how far you streamline off the wall. Person A may have a better (longer) DPS than person B, but if person B is better off the wall, he/she may actually have a lower SPL.

Also, fatigue plays a factor. Are you doing this while well rested, or at the end of a tiring workout? My SPL on the last length of a race is typically 15-20% higher than on the second length on any race over 100 yards. (You never compare to the first length because the block start puts you much farther down the pool before you start stroking). Most of this is due to muscle fatigue, but some is also due to the fact that my streamlines aren't as tight as I get tired, and I tend to break out earlier because I'm craving air.


All that said, 23 SPL does sound a little high for that speed, regardless of the pushoff distance. I agree with gsmacleod that you're catch is likely undeveloped.



That's over-simplified. Yes, you want to be efficient with each stroke. But there are usually other costs associated with maximizing your DPS. Often, a slightly shorter stroke at a higher stroke rate is more metabolically efficient in the long run. I can swim the length of a 25 yard pool in 12-13 strokes in 20 seconds if I really concentrate, but I can only do that for 3 or 4 laps before I'm closing in on exhaustion. If I increase to 16-17 SPL, but also proportionally increase the stroke rate to keep the speed the same, I can do 2000 yards at that pace. 2 extra breaths every 20 seconds adds up over time. Every swimmer needs to experiment with different spm/spl combinations to find the one that right for them for the particular distance they intend to use it for.

Edited by gary p 2016-07-19 2:31 PM

6' and 26 -28 / 50 metres (SCM), 30 (LCM). Not quite a Sun Yang but ok.

Post video. You are either really weak or inefficient or both.

My son swims about 40 per 25... but he's 9 weighs 60 lbs and is about 4'6". He also swims 200 free in 3.49.

A little confused, you mentioned each arm enteres the water 11-12 times...that would make 22-24 strokes, not 46 strokes? Or is that 11-12 times per 25 yds and you swim 2 x 25 for the 50...in 46 strokes and it takes you a minute?

your question about DPS is a little roundabout, in that DPS alone is not what's important, and lower DPS does not necessarily mean more efficient.

AT 5'8" you're at the high end of your "green zone" for stroke length. Here's a good article that explains what the green zone is about with a chart.
http://www.220triathlon.com/training/swim/pro-swimmer-katie-ledecky...

But basically you should be able to travel a certain ratio of your height forward with each stroke. So if you've got longer arms you "should" be able to move further forward on each stroke than someone (like me) with shorter arms. That ratio will change with your tempo or pace (or at least it should), like changing gears on a bike changes the distance the bike moves wiht each turn of the crank.

if you're focusing on your stroke, entry, push (thumb to thigh), getting long, having a dead spot, etc...like you describe, then it's likely you are creating significant drag while swimming too.

Sometimes while trying to get long in the water, it's easy to twist and instead of lengthening in a streamlined position, people twist and are bent in teh torso or waist and create mroe drag while twisting as well...so net forward movement is minimal.

Try focusing on head position, balance, posture and releasing tension. Also...post a video we'll help.

I put little weight on DPS.. I am all for some guidance from an on-deck coach, swimming more is a key to swimming faster. Swimming harder is a key to swimming faster. Your stroke rate is your stroke rate, some of the best OWS swimmers have a super high stroke rate, some others have a low stroke-rate. Each to one's own.

off topic question for you. agree swimming more and swimming harder are keys to getting faster. I'm curious, as a pro triathlete, how much technique focused swim drills you do during your swim sessions? I'm only just now getting more focused on really improving my swim. Went to a swim smooth swim clinic and had a video stroke analysis done which exposed a bunch of flaws for me to work on correcting. Swim smooth seems to really push doing drills in almost all their sessions. For me, I'm sure at this point it's needed. Just curious how much time better swimmers spend focusing on drills.

Here is one opinion to your question from the guy that trains the top pros in the world
http://joelfilliol.blogspot.ca/2012/01/most-popular-post-on-this-bl...

Read #1 and #2