Significantly improve your swimming speed
Posted by - 16/03/09 at 06:03 pmSome people have a wrong understanding of swimming and thus employ wrong techniques while swimming. There is a common misconception that creating splashes by kicking the water at a faster rate can make a person go faster. In fact the reality is completely opposite from this. This strategy only creates more drag and thus does not propel an individual to move forward at a faster speed.
It is very important to understand the proper technique so as to maximize the distance covered per stroke. The proper technique is to use the hands and legs as fins so that the drag and friction can be reduced. The following are the proper techniques for each style of swimming:
Freestyle
In freestyle swimming, the swimmer should first enter the thumbs in the water. The fingers should be tight enough to catch and push the water backwards. When the hand reaches the thigh, other hand should be ready to repeat the same motion.
The motion of the feet is also of significant importance. The power should come from thighs and not from the lower legs as thigh muscles are much bigger and stronger from the lower leg muscles. The usage of the thigh muscles would thus result in better propulsion.
A lot of energy is required in this process. It is thus very important to breathe properly while swimming. The swimmer should only turn the head to the side and raise it just enough to let the air enter the mouth. Some people are able to do this at each stroke or more. It completely depends on the swimmer’s endurance.
It is very important to first of all streamline the body. This requires keeping the body tight and squeezing the hands between the ears. A swimmer should make use of the legs to kick so as to increase momentum by pushing away from the wall before making the first stroke.
Help should be taken from the wall by kicking and gaining momentum before diving from the block and also at each turn. This can make the job of energy conservation much easier especially when there are a number of non-stop laps.
Backstroke
Backstroke swimming involves performing more or less oppositely from freestyle swimming. The proper technique involves moving the arms out of the water with the thumbs coming out first. The arms should re-enter with pinky finger. The swimmer can catch more water by employing this swimming technique.
The legs should be slightly bent so as to add propulsion in addition to the work which is performed by the hands. The head should stay up looking at the sky. The breathing pattern in backstroke is more or less similar to freestyle and can be performed at each stroke or more.
Breaststroke
Breaststroke swimming is similar to how frogs swim. The techniques used for breaststroke swimming have evolved during the past many years. Previously, a wide area was created by the hands to catch the water, but it is now proven that making a smaller circle is far more efficient. The arms should reenter on the surface. This increases the interval between pulling and kicking which makes the swimmer move faster.
Butterfly
Butterfly swimming has not changed much in the past many years. The only challenge involved in butterfly swimming is to maintain the one pull and two kicks. The swimmer should make sure that the hands properly catch the water and kick at right moments in order to make a stroke correctly.
Amateur swimmers can improve their efficiency and speed by employing proper swimming techniques instead of simply making splashes which only causes drag.
