Active Streamlining in Swimming

Are you aware of the body shape that you make in the water?

Do you even make a ‘shape’ in the water? Or is your swimming based on constant movement of pulling and kicking in order to maintain forward propulsion?

Remember we humans are massive energy wasting machines in the water. Most of us, a mere 3 % efficient, (yes, that is a whopping 97% wastage),  just one of the reasons swimming poses challenges to us.  Even elite level record breaking world champions are only 8%-10%!

We create drag due to 95% of our body being below water, add to that a poor body position and gravity pulling you down, and swimming often feels like an uphill struggle.

 

Coaching swimmers to ‘reduce drag’ by creating a sleek, long, yet relaxed body shape allows the swimmer to address both balance and energy wastage. It will move swimmers towards an optimal stroke length, and increased efficiency during the early stages of stroke correction.

Swimmers will often call this ‘gliding’, yet the whole stroke will never lock out in a stationary ‘glide’. That is, a complete pause both at the back of the stroke and the front, this must be avoided at all costs. We use the term active streamlining, that is linked to the perpetual motion of the stroke. Through a simple drill with key focal points, shaping the body begins to integrate into the whole stroke