Take Off the Training Wheels: Whole-Stroke Sets to Develop Stroke Length

These sets teach you how distance affects your stroke efficiency and put you in the habit of critically examining how your training decisions—how far, how hard, how much rest—affect your goals of making efficiency permanent (spl = strokes per length).

STROKE LENGTH EXERCISE 1

Swim 25 + 50 + 75 + 100. Rest for three to five yoga breaths after each swim.

Take note of your stroke count on the 25, then without trying to strictly limit your count, just swim at a consistent pace or effort and see what happens to your spl average on the other swims. If you took 15 strokes for the 25, how far above 30-45-60 strokes are you on the 50-75-100? Don’t judge yourself; just take note and file the information for future reference.

STROKE LENGTH EXERCISE 2

Swim 100 + 75 + 50 + 25. Rest for three to five yoga breaths after each swim.

Start with an easy 100. Count your strokes and divide by 4. This number becomes your “N” (benchmark spl) for the rest of the set. Example: If you took 72 strokes, your N is 18 spl (72 divided by 4 lengths). Again, simply note how far below 54-36-18 strokes you are for 75-50-25.

STROKE LENGTH EXERCISE 3

Swim 25 + 50 + 75 + 100.

Repeat Exercise 1, but this time with a specific focal point— e.g., hiding your head, or slipping through a smaller hole, or swimming more quietly. Just take note of your stroke count; don’t attempt to hit any particular count. This is purely an experiment to see if technique “tweaks” affect your SL, teaching you that you can affect—and ultimately choose your SL.

STROKE LENGTH EXERCISE 4

Swim two rounds of 25 + 50 + 75 + 100.

First Round: Swim with fistgloves^®. Just swim at your previous effort, not trying to hit any particular count. How many strokes above your ungloved spl are you?

Second Round: Remove fistgloves.^® Without trying for a particular count, compare your stroke counts to your previous spl to discover how fistgloves^® affect your efficiency.