Friday, April 26, 2013
Chris, the Overglider
About two months ago, I wrote saying about how swimsmooth.com really nailed me as an "overglider", but I really spent the last two months building endurance. I haven't focused too much on my stroke rate, because I wanted to first have the endurance to finish the 500m without being exhausted for the bike.
Over the last two months, I've seen improvement over my 500m time or my 1000 yd time, but my 100m time has been the same. Last Friday, I completed my first 1500m swim: all freestyle, without stopping. So now I think it is time for me to start focusing on my stroke again. A more efficient stroke will also help conserve energy for later parts of the race. I decided to purchase the guide to improving the overglider.
While there are several applicable tips on stroke mechanics in the guide, the key takeaway is stroke rate. Increasing arm turnover naturally fixes the some of the issues on stroke mechanics. My stroke rate is now about 50 spm for an endurance pace. I tried increase my arm turnover, but I cannot sustain that for more than 50m-100m without getting tired.
So I think the next task after my tri is to do more speed work. Sets of 50m - 100m where I am pushing the pace and getting uncomfortable.
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Hello Chris,
ReplyDeleteAs a recovering overglider, I have gradually lifted my stroke rate from less that 50spm to 60spm and my average pace has increase by about 10sec per 100m across all distances. The key is not simply high turnover but to work on posture, balance and catch mechanics. You need to seek stroke rate increases through reducing the dead spot at the point of arm extension by getting in the catch and pull without pause, and by improving catch mechanics to rid yourself of a straight arm pull which will increase stroke rate by reducing the distance the hand has to travel. All the best!