+1 Stroke rate shouldnt vary much more then 1-2. 18 is a very good stroke count and being 5'3" I would assume you probobly have a pretty efficient stroke already.

+1 on too much range. 6'4", 16-18

crap i'd better get back to swimming

last i swam, august i think, i was around 20strokes/25yds

okay I am five foot frig all and I am around 21-22 for a normal stroke. If I kick my ass off I can do 20 but I am soooooo stretching that one. the day I break 20, I am sooo buying new goggles that aren't pink and in the discount tub...

6'4", about 16 strokes per 25.

It's fun doing drills where you start out at 18, then the next lap, 17, then 16, then 15, as far down as you can go. I can't remember what that drill is called, but it's helped me drop down from around 20 to regularly doing 16. I'm assuming strength and efficiency.

12-14. 6'4".
16-17 with closed fist.

I was in the pool this morning (counting strokes) and was wondering about the discrepencies in count among everyone. Could it be that we are counting differently? Do you count 1 stroke as each arm hits the water or is 1 stroke every time your left (or right) arm hits the water. depending on how you do it you could easily double your count. That might explain some people having a count of 12-14 and others as much as 25. What is the correct way?

Evil or not, I would tend to agree that most of the counts are in a 25 yard pool. I think the biggest thing a lot of people tend to believe is that a faster stoke will bring about a faster time, when in fact it takes more effort as you tend to be very choppy with that approach exherting more energy to the same distance. I know, I was there 2 years ago with an 19-21 stroke count. I still tend to get sloppy when I get tired but a quick mental check pulls you back in line.

I found you have to slow down to go faster. Many hours of drills later I found that the initial catch of the water is the most important phase of swimming, followed by pulling ALL the way though your stroke. Imagine swimming in mud, where you anchor you hand and pull youself forward. The longer you pull the further you go, hence a lower stroke count. Couple that with good positioning to reduce frontal resitance, you will find your count go lower.

Once you have your catch and stoke length worked out, then you can work on speeding up your stroke, and voila, your times will lower, all with a lower stroke count and less effort.

Try putting a kick board between you legs like a pull buoy, then every stroke tap the board. It forces you to complete your stoke, and get the maximum distance for your stroke.

NotAsFast: thanks for the advice. I was joking about the evil. :)

I'm in a 25m pool, whenever I've counted I'm over 20. Haven't counted in a few weeks though, and I've had a few breakthrough/"aha" moments, so could be lower now. Just keep drilling, just keep drilling....

jono

To follow up on my earlier post, I did swim in college for 2 years (15 years ago ...), so 12-14 strokes per 25m is efficient compared to the recreational swimmer, but not compared to a current competitive swimmer.

The key is the arm entry and catch. If you are not reaching forward and pulling yourself forward at the beginning of the arm entry/extension then you need a good coach to help you learn this motion. A good catch will allow you to glide further between strokes. The second key is body rotation. If you are not fluid in these two areas then you will take a lot of strokes to get across the pool. In this case, again, you need a coach. Swimming is about practicing good form and repeating it over and over and over and over until you can do it fast. I grew up swimming 2 hrs a day. Now I only swim 2 hrs a week and can hold 30 minutes for 2000m at aerobic threshold.

Yep and double-yep. My mantra, which I repeat on an endless loop in my head when I'm swimming hard:

Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. Therefore slow is fast.

I got that from my old skydiving coach, but it is very applicable to swimming. You can swim faster by swimming smoothly and with efficiency and power. No one swims faster by chopping more strokes at the water.

Sometimes my swimmers will do descending sets and the inexperienced ones will actually swim *slower* on the fast ones than they do on the slow ones, because they're increasing churn and energy output but not actual speed.