9 tips to learn to swim faster

 Swim faster? 9 tips

Tip 1: Focus on your technique

Swimming is a technical sport. It cannot be mentioned often enough. Technique determines everything in swimming. Of course if you can put a lot of power you will in the beginning go faster than someone without this power. But in the end, power is only a small part. With good technique you can achieve much more. Do you really want to swim faster? Then invest in a few good lessons or course. Repeat it after a while. You will see that you lose some technique over time with lifeguard training near me.

 Tip 2: Swim with guidance / schedules

 As with other sports. Build it up. You also don't run 10 km in one go. So try to work with a build-up schedule in swimming as well. There are  various swimming schedules for sale on the internet. Here you will be guided step by step towards achieving a goal (for example, swimming a certain distance). Do you want to get started yourself? So also introduce variety in swimming. For example, do interval training or occasionally sprint training.

So don't stick to the standard amount of swimming lanes. But vary. You can vary both in distance, but also in speed. Challenge yourself.

Tip 3: Count your strokes

 No possibility to do a course or swim with schedules? An easy 'do-it-yourself' improvement is counting strokes. Time yourself on a lap while counting the number of strokes you make. Then try to get to the other side in fewer strokes, but in the same time. Can you manage that? Beautiful! Then you get more efficiency from your stroke and you can try to swim faster from there.

Tip 4: Break up the swimming / train with aids

 Many people dive (or sink ) into the water and immediately start swimming. But also train in parts. Bring a board (or ask for it in the pool) and focus only on your legs. That way you can work on a constant leg stroke and stability, which in turn benefits swimming.

Tip 5: Choose a good pool

 A swimming pool is a swimming pool you would say. And basically that's probably the case. Yet there is a difference. The average regional pool is a 25m pool. Certainly the smaller pools keep the water temperature slightly higher than is desirable for a sports swimmer. This higher water temperature may be nice for the elderly to swim in (or small children), but if you want to swim fanatically, a colder bath is better. 

•  In addition, it is often very busy during the standard job swimming hours.
• Not ideal for a nice training if you are continuously slaloming around other swimmers.
• Also try a 50m pool. Yes, you may have to drive a little further for it. But you will see that you will be challenged in a completely different way. 
• My experience is that it is often quieter in 50m pools and that there are more lanes available for fast swimmers.

Tip 6: Video analysis

 Have you ever seen yourself swimming? Sometimes in our heads we are all the newest (just undiscovered) top swimmer. But the reality is somewhat disappointing. You may think you are doing certain technical things well, but are you really?

Tip 7: Set realistic goals

 Stay realistic. It just takes a lot of time and training for a relative minimal improvement. Set yourself realistic goals. Measure yourself on a 100m and a 500m and write down these times. If necessary, do a CSS test and repeat it after a month with lifeguard course near me.

Tip 8: Do strength training

 Swimming uses all your muscle groups. But especially your core. The stronger you are, the better you can tighten yourself (streamline) and the smoother you go through the water. So planks or to the gym.

Tip 9: Take it easy

 Supplementary to tip 9. Apart from giving yourself time, quiet workouts are also very important. You can't sprint every workout like a madman or swim full throttle in the hope that you will get faster. As in running the term 'bird watching' applies. The same principle applies to swimming. Slow (duration) sets increase your content. And you need that content in order to become faster.

Also read about: Does it just seem that way or do you really swim harder in some pools?