To get faster in the pool is not just about building fitness. Although, volume and intensity are key components to a good swim program, trying to swim further and faster at the expense of time spent working on your technique will hurt more than it helps.⠀

Swim technique will set the limit on where your fitness will take you. To get faster you want to reduce drag and increase propulsion. Slow down, find a drill that will help your stroke limiter, learn why you should do the drill and how to do it perfectly then repeat, repeat, repeat. 

What is a Stroke drill?

The freestyle is made up of several components working together. Learning freestyle is typically a step-by-step process, where you learn one thing, and build upon that skill to learn the next thing. After a few weeks of learning and practicing drills, you start to get feel for the water.

The way we do this is to break the stroke down and focus on drills. A drill is designed to help you focus on a specific part of the technique, like your arm position, kicking, or breathing.

Drills give you the opportunity to practice that particular piece or position repeatedly. They allow you to to target a weak part of your stroke and work on it until it becomes a strength.

Using a good drill will give you only one or two things to think about. Instead of trying to concentrate on the whole stroke at one time your attention and focus can be channel.

Understanding what the drill is designed to do will help you execute it far more effectively. Some drills are designed to help you reduce resistance while others increase propulsion. Reducing resistance is always the first goal as we move through the water. If you are struggling when working on a drill designed to increase propulsion; make sure you have first reduced drag, then power forward. Transferring what you feel from drill to full stroke is THE key when using drills to build rock solid technique.

Key Takeaway

Taking the time to “break apart” your stroke, doing the drills that will help YOU, not a generic drill that you might do in a masters swim class, reap benefits in your swim pace. A good swim drill is just a small piece of a deconstructed freestyle stroke. They are crucial to learning how to swim fast, but they can also waste your time and harm your stroke if they are used incorrectly. Used in the wrong way without the intended and required focus, drills will hurt more than they help.

Drills alone are not the only answer to more efficient faster swimming.Increased training volume, Prescription dosage with regards to pacing and distance, and intensity volume and mindful swimming and paying attention to what is going on head to toe and how each aspect of the strokes impacts another. Quality lies in the details. By first mastering movements at a slow speed you set yourself up for success at high sped.

If you’re struggling with your technique or finding it difficult to make improvements, you’ll benefit from a video analysis and a customized set of drills to help fix your specific stroke problems. Get all the details on how to get your stroke analyzed Here.