Are you frustrated with your swimming? Swimming is more than the physical elements such as your fitness, strength and endurance. Effective swimming is about learning how to work with the water and not fight against it. It’s important to reduce your frontal resistance and not just increase your power.

Effective swimming is all about how well you can control your body in the water. The important key is to keep your body ‘long’ and ‘relaxed’ when swimming. This is achieved by implementing a simple but effective concept called ‘Power Words’.

‘Power Words’ are words which you repeat to yourself during an exercise or activity which help you perform that activity faster, more effective or more efficient. The two most powerful words which a swimmer should repeat while they are swimming ‘long’ and ‘relaxed’.

By picturing yourself swimming ‘long’ (long meaning to lengthen your body, arms and legs to make your body as long as possible) you will be focusing on reducing your frontal resistance in the water, which is the quickest way to drop seconds from your times.

By keeping your body ‘relaxed’ (relaxed meaning to swim without strain or any tenseness) you will be allowing your body to work with the water and not against it. Rather than tensing up when you increase your speed, the key to swimming faster is to relax more. This will not usually come naturally, but with practice you can learn to speed up by relaxing more.

In your next workout, imagine yourself swimming long and relaxed and feel the difference of working with the water and not fighting against it.