Coach Patrick ” I like the idea of slightly faster, curious to know how you plan to go about it?” (Swimming)
I guess that’s your job, getting me to think a bit about what I’m doing…So what do I suspect my body is doing when my mind instructs, “Go faster”? Turnover? mine’s always 50 spm +/- 2 no matter the speed I’m swimming, It’s possible I’m spending marginally less time bringing my arms forward when they are out of the water, but I believe they are spending the same time in the water. Two things I try to focus on, when I focus on mechanics at all, are (1) accelerating the speed at which my hand/forearm is moving through the water as the stroke moves from out front back to my hip, going fastest just as it exits, pushing all the way until my arm is extended before it leaves the water and (2) trying to engage my core more via accentuated rotation so I’m not just swimming with my lats and biceps. And if I really want a turbo boost, I breathe every second instead of every third stroke. I don’t do that anymore, but years ago, it was my go-to plan when racing.
Elite swimmers and coaches talk about their “feel” of the water. My word for it is “grip”. I think I am getting a more secure grip on the water when I’m trying to go faster, my hand/forearm moving more directly backwards rather than sliding around a little. To get that grip/feel, I focus on what is happening in my palm – I can tell when my whole hand is engaged in working against the water. This is a particular issue with my right hand, which has a bit of residual weakness from my neck injury 11 years ago. It took me years to get it strong enough so my little finger didn’t flop around when I started working hard.
Finally, especially in OWS and races, I resonate with the dictum of your erstwhile partner: “Swim as hard as you can until just before your form starts to break down.” A racing mentality, rather than simply getting through the time/distance. Up to now, I’ve been swimming well within myself. To “go faster”, I will feel like I am working harder, and I think the above cues are making that happen. Not to say I know what’s physically going on when I try to swim faster. This is just what’s going on in my head, to the extent that I think about it at all.