How to Improve Your Propulsion in the Water
Learning how to swim faster is a goal virtually every swimmer has. Whether you’re a competitive swimmer or just swim to be physically active, it’s something every swimmer strives for. One of the keys to swimming faster is to improve your propulsion in the water. So how do you improve your propulsion?
Swim More on Your Sides
In order to swim efficiently, thereby improving your ability to swim faster, you need to put yourself in a position to use your muscles effectively. Part of that means that you have to roll from side to side as you pull with your arms. This lets you use your chest, back, and shoulder muscles more effectively.
Use Your Core
As you might imagine, swimming involves a fair amount of core work. What you might not realize is that using your core effectively will help you improve your propulsion. Using your core helps connect your chest, back, and shoulder muscles. It allows you to put more energy into your strokes without tiring your shoulders so quickly. If you think about the number and size of the muscles in your chest, core, and back in comparison to those of your shoulder, it makes sense that using them all together would help you take some of the strain off of your shoulder muscles and prevent them from tiring as quickly. They just tend to have more endurance than your shoulder muscles.
Use Your Arms
Speaking of your strokes, the way you use your arms can have a huge impact on how well you’re able to propel yourself through the water. In order to propel yourself your arms better, you need to put them in a position that allows them to push against the water more effectively. That means putting your arm in a position called a high elbow catch. In this position, your forearm and hand are in line with one another and pointing downward, with the inside of your forearm and palm facing backward. Once they’re in that position, you can pull your arm back. It will act like a paddle, allowing you to better propel yourself forward.
Improving your propulsion in the water is an essential component of being able to swim faster. A lot of it boils down to using your body efficiently so you can make the most out of every movement you make. It’s going to take some work and discipline to change how you swim to make the necessary improvements, but once you do you should see an improvement in your swimming speed as a result.
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