Your Individual Stroke Rate

When you swim your stroke rate is how many strokes you take per minute. Think of this like your cadence in cycling, are you turning your arms over quickly (like spinning an easy gear on the bike) or slowly (pushing a big gear)?

We measure stroke rate in strokes taken per minute (counting both your arms individually) and you can control your accurately with a gadget like the Finis Tempo Trainer Pro. Adjust it to any stroke rate you like and simply time your stroke so that your hand enters the water at the front of the stroke as the beep goes.

Here's Swim Smooth Coach Anna-Karin swimming at around 65 strokes per minute (SPM) in open water:

If this animation isn't playing at full speed, see the full clip here
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LDbps7O5Ps)

Swimmer's stroke rates vary considerably from individual to individual as we will discuss below. This also holds true in the elite swimming world with the total range being from as low as 65 SPM right up to 110 SPM. It all depends on the swimmer's natural stroke style, the event they are racing and the environment in which they are swimming.

With all this variation how do you decide what stroke rate you should be targeting? A good angle to examine this problem from is by using our Swim Type system. If you can identify your swim type (do so here: www.swimtypes.com) then we can give you some very specific advice on where you should be heading with your stroke rate.

Let's get started:

The Arnie

Arnies are the classic swimmers who fight the water and this is reflected in their stroke rate which is too high for their swimming ability, typically in the range 70-85 SPM. Unfortunately they can't sustain this cadence for long and it will drop off after 200m or so. This leaves the naturally athletic Arnie feeling out of breath and unfit.

If this sounds like you, work on lengthening out your stroke and removing a likely crossover of the centre line in front of your head. Consciously lowering your stroke rate will help with this, but don't go too low or you will start to Overglide! Use your Tempo Trainer to target something closer to 60SPM and you'll soon be swimming much more effectively.

Typical stroke rate: 70-85 SPM (but drops quickly after a few lengths)

Good target range: 55-65 SPM

The Bambino

Bambinos tend to be new to swimming and as any beginner knows when starting something new -  there is a lot to think about! They are quite tentative when they swim and this results in a slow stroke rate in the range 45-55 SPM. If you are a Bambino then experiment lifting your stroke rate to around 55-65 SPM. It helps to provide rhythm and purpose to you stroke and despite turning your arms over faster it should actually feel easier as you develop a sense of rhythm!

Typical stroke rate: 45-55 SPM

Good target range: 55-65 SPM

The Kicktastic

Do you swim slower with a pull buoy? Hate swimming in a wetsuit? You are likely to fall into our Kicktastic swim type. Kicktastics often feel weak in their arms and feel they need to build muscle to help with their swimming. This is in fact a common misconception - what you should be focusing on is improving your catch technique rather than strengthening your arm muscles.

Improving your catch technique not only helps you to move more efficiently in the water but it will also naturally increase your stroke rate without any extra effort. You are likely to be in the 53-65 SPM range right now but by developing your catch you should shift up to something in the 65-75 SPM range, reducing your reliance on your leg kick as you do so.

Remember to develop your catch technique first as trying to lift your stroke rate without improving your catch will be extremely challenging! To do that check out the Catch Masterclass on our Swim Smooth Guru which takes you through our step-by-step guide.

Typical stroke rate: 53-65 SPM

Good target range: 65-75 SPM

The Overglider

A major focus on lengthening out and reducing strokes taken per length is the hallmark of the Overglider Swim Type, resulting in the elbow dropping and palm facing forwards at the front of the stroke. This creates a dead spot at the front of the stroke, negatively impacting your speed and efficiency.

When this is taken to the extreme, stroke rates can be as slow as 45 SPM but more typically Overgliders sit in the low 50s SPM. As with the Kicktastic, work on removing the deadspot and improving your catch technique to lift your stroke rate naturally. If you keep the deadspot in place it will prove very hard lift stroke rate by trying to speed up every other part of your stroke!

Again, the Catch Masterclass on our Swim Smooth Guru is the perfect program for you.

Typical stroke rate: 45-53 SPM

Good target range: 60-65 SPM

The Swinger 

Swingers are incredible to watch, they are fast swimmers who have natural punch and rhythm to their strokes. This is effective in the pool but in undulating open water conditions it's a superior stroke style which allows them to dominate.

Their stroke rates are the highest of all swimmers, normally in the 80-100 SPM range. This is great and is something to be maintained but with a big focus on rhythm they can sometimes hurry their catch a little at the front of the stroke. With that in mind they may need to slightly lower their stroke rate to develop their catch before lifting things up again. A drop of 5 SPM or so should be enough to achieve this.

Typical stroke rate: 80-100 SPM

Development range: experiment with dropping around 5 SPM

The Smooth

Smooths have long elegant strokes and make their swimming look easy and effortless! Fundamentally they are swimming in the right way for them but sometimes focus slightly too much on lengthening the stroke at the expense of their stroke rhythm.

If you are Smooth, perform a little catch development work which should help lift your stroke rate by perhaps 5 SPM and help you "click" back into good stroke timing. If you are a smooth swimmer and are going to venture into the open water, lifting your stroke rate will help you to better drive through disturbed waves and chop.

 

Typical stroke rate: 60-70 SPM

Development range: experiment with lifting around 5 SPM

Buy your TT here: https://shop.swimsmooth.com/products/finis-tempo-trainer-pro

Swim Smooth!

Swim Smooth Podcast with Craig "Crowie" Alexander

We've just released the latest episode of the Swim Smooth Podcast featuring a special interview with 5-time Ironman World Champion Craig "Crowie" Alexander:

Youtube (including video): www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsjxcswT0vE

Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/swim-smooth/id1441577778

Other platforms: anchor.fm/swimsmooth/episodes/Episode-24---Craig-Crowie-Alexander--5-time-Ironman-World-Champion-eebstn/a-a28n5hf

Crowie was the 2008, 2009, 2011 Ironman Triathlon World Champion and previous course record holder (8:03:56 in 2011), and the 2006 (inaugural) and 2011 70.3 World Champion. In 2011 he won both the 70.3 and the full Ironman World Championships. Needless to say - he's a beast, but best of all, he's an absolute gentleman too!

Craig was humbled when Ironman legend and six-time World Champion Dave Scott lauded him as “the first true men’s champion the sport has seen in years.”

The most important thing to Craig is family. He is beyond proud of his wife (and the love of his life) Nerida, and his three amazing kids, Lucy, Austin and Lani. Everything Craig does starts and ends at home with his family. Crowie’s won a lot of titles over the years but the one he likes best is ‘Daddy’. As an aside from us, we've only met Crowie once face-to-face but recall how genuine and approachable he was and when the opportunity to record this podcast with the great man came up, he didn't hesitate, such is his show of great character - he's very much "the people's champion" as you'll hear in the first 60 second intro.

Post-retirement, Craig now runs his highly successful coaching program SansEGO (which basically means "without ego") which we believe, at it's heart, is a philosophy we can all learn from (details at: www.sansego.co). A lot of people talk about “life balance” but Craig really does walk the walk and his information from his website is well worth a deeper dive, especially at this period in time of extreme uncertainty and worry:

His load was extraordinarily heavy but he carried it with methodical focus and balance… and Craig seemed to find more and more comfort with his confidence in simply letting be, be. Alexander’s most impressive talents are not found in his swim, bike, or run competence. Instead, his unique ability to clear the mind’s clutter and make good decisions has been the key ingredient to his success on and off the racecourse. And this key to finding clarity for the 5 x Ironman/70.3 World Champion was getting the life balance right. He put the right people around him and understood that the whole was only stronger than the sum of its parts when the clutter (ego) was removed from the equation.

We really hope you enjoy this conversation with Crowie and a big shout out to Coach Chris Southwell for arranging.

Swim Smooth!

Getting Back In The Open Water - Our Guide

At Swim Smooth we're very lucky that the local government in Perth, Western Australia has started to allow small groups of people to train together in open water. This opens up the opportunity for our home base coaching crew to restart some group swim coaching in the beautiful Swan River. We haven't had a single case of community transmission in the last two weeks in Western Australia, making it one of the safest places in the world right now.

Rules vary significantly from country to country but as restrictions are lifted you too might soon have this same opportunity to swim in open water where you live. With that in mind Swim Smooth Head Coach Paul Newsome has filmed a new video we've just released to Youtube showing you exactly how he's going about conducting safe and fun open water sessions with his swimmers:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXTLW-EjJ7o

Most importantly make sure you stay safe, only swim where there is good open water safety cover and strictly follow your local restrictions.

Swim Smooth!

Here's some more shots from the fun in Perth:

The Key To Improving Your Swimming In A Single Picture

With many parts of the world starting to open up after the Covid-19 crisis, you might be able to return to swimming quite soon, probably first in open water. With that in mind, this week on the blog we thought we'd gently re-introduce the idea of how to go about improving your swimming when you do get those arms turning over again.

Firstly, do you know your Swim Type?

After observing tens of thousands of swimmers in action over 20 years of coaching, our Head Coach Paul Newsome identified 6 classic types of swimmer, from beginner right through to Olympian. We call this system Swim Types and it cleverly brings together your background, your natural build, your personality and your stroke technique into one cohesive picture. From that starting point we can address your weaknesses so you start improving.

Get started by discovering your type here: www.swimtypes.com

To get your brain cogs whirring, we thought we'd choose a simple visualisation for each Swim Type which sums up what you need to do to improve your swimming in a "big picture" holistic kind of way. Print it out, stick on your fridge, and every time you go to get the milk out you'll be reminded of what you need to work on.

How accurately does your image apply to your swimming?!

The Arnie

Arnies are the classic swimmers who fight the water when they swim. A large feature of the Arnie strokes is a crossover with the lead head crossing the centre line in front of the head. This causes you to snake down the pool, wasting a lot of energy in the process.

Here's the image we chose for you - it's of the very awesome Jono Van Hazel, extending straight forward in front of his shoulder:

Take this simple visualisation with you when you get back in the water, focus on extending straight and not crossing over and you'll immediately be setting off on the right pathway to improvement.

The Bambino

Bambis, this is yours:

For most Bambinos a lack of confidence is holding them back in the water. This directly impacts on your stroke technique which is normally overly gentle and lacking "oomph".

The next time you get back in the water visualise that you are in fact a swimming super-hero and swim with purpose and intent. You'll immediately feel good and your stroke technique will improve from great positivity. Go on, dive right in, you can do this!

The Kicktastic

As is pretty obvious from their name, Kicktastics have a strong tendency to over-kick when they swim. This reflects a lack of propulsion from their arm stroke - which happens because they pull through under the body with a very straight arm.

Kicktastics, your single visualisation is to bend the elbow and pull through with it bent to 100-120 degrees. The hand should track underneath the shoulder as it does so:

Not only does this create more propulsion but it engages the larger muscle groups of the back and chest, so feels easier too. The result is faster, easier swimming with less reliance on your kick.

The Overglider

OK guys, here's your visualisation:

What can you see? Nothing? Great! Give your google search engine a rest and stop thinking and over-analysing your swim stroke so much. Over-thinking when you swim is seriously holding you back, instead try using intuitive feel and your body's innate abilities to swim more naturally.

The Swinger

Swingers naturally swim with a high stroke rate - giving them great punch and rhythm to the stroke. This is a good thing but oftentimes they end up hurrying the catch at the front of the stroke, "tearing" at the water. Try this visualisation to smoothly engage with the water at this point and not overly hurry your movements:

OK we cheated a little and gave you a moving image but you get the idea - caress the water before driving with your usual sense of purpose once you stroke moves under your chest.

The Smooth

Smooths have all the natural ability in the world... but ironically them often lack motivation to make the most of this natural ability.

With that in mind, here's your visualisation:

Yes, we just want to see you back in the water! Overcome that lack of motivation by setting a solid goal that fires you up, get those competitive juices flowing again and actually get back in the blue stuff again!

Stay safe and well,

Swim Smooth!

How To Improve Your Swimming In One Picture

What does your swimming say about you? Quite a lot actually - you'll be surprised how much! After years of observing swimmers, their personalities and swim styles we put together our 'Swim Types' system which helps us to better coach the individual and not the stroke.

Overcoming the anxiety of the bambino is very different to controlling the thoughts of an overglider which is very different to just getting the smooth into the pool! That's why we all need a different goal and focus. As we are unable to be in the water at the moment we want to make sure you still have a goal and focus for your swimming. We have selected an image for each of our Swim Types to help have something to think about whilst you are away from the pool. How accurately does yours apply to you?

The Bambino

You are stronger than you think you are! You may feel a little anxious to get in and start swimming but once you get past that you have the 'superpowers' to succeed in the water. Go on, dive right in, you can do this.

The Arnie

Be at one with the water! Don't fight against it. Focus on keeping your lead arm in line with your shoulder at the front of the stroke. The Swim Smooth mantra, 1-2-Stretch, will help you with this when you get back into the water. A little work on your shoulder flexibility too will also help. 

The Kicktastic

Bend it like Becky (Adlington)! During the pull through your arm should be bent at the elbow at an angle of between 100-120 degrees. This helps you to engage larger muscle groups allowing you to pull through with more force, helping you to move more efficiently through the water. 

The Overglider

What can you see? .... Nothing? .... Great! Give your google search engine a rest and stop thinking and analysing your swim stroke, it could just be the thing holding you back. Hold off the research and when you get back in the water it may just all fall into place!

The Swinger

Woah... Easy tiger! Take this time to tune into your stroke rate and dial it down a few notches. You are working way harder than you should be so ease off the gas and your will be improve your efficiency in the water. 

The Smooth

Like what you see? Keep dreaming about the cool, calm and clear water of your swimming pool and harness this passion, motivation and desire for when you can finally return to the water. This will keep you motivated to wake up for those early morning, long distance swims that are so important to  help you improve!

How accurate was your picture? Even though we can't be in the water, there is no harm in still thinking about it! 

Stay safe and well!

Swim Smooth