Stroke Splitting: A Fun Way to Increase Pulling Power
Use this strategy when swimming backstroke and freestyle in practice. It helps to increase your feel for the water, improve your technique, and strengthen your pull. Both backstroke and freestyle are bilateral, meaning you pull with one arm and then the other. Most swimmers pull harder with their dominant arm, so the pull cycle is uneven, and potential speed is lost. What if you learned to pull equally as hard (and well) with both arms? Here’s how it works:
- On the first 25, pull harder with your right arm.
- On the second 25, pull harder with your left arm.
- On the third 25, pull equally as hard with both arms.
- On the fourth 25, pull harder with your right arm.
- On the fifth 25, pull harder with your left arm.
- On the sixth 25, pull equally as hard with both arms.
- Continue the “1st 25, 2nd 25, 3rd 25 Sequence” through the entire set, even if you take a rest break at the wall.
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