Swimming is one of the best all-round forms of exercise you can do, and it’s hugely popular all over Australia. But many swimmers, while enjoying the water, aren’t particularly confident or secure in their swimming technique. This insecurity can dissuade them from getting in the pool often enough to improve their swimming, and it can sometimes take the enjoyment out of the experience altogether.

If this applies to you, don’t worry! We have put together this article to help you learn how to swim better and feel more confident in the pool.

Reasons to practise swimming

There are loads of good reasons to improve your swimming and do more swimming practice. Swimming has a huge range of benefits for your physical and mental health. People who swim regularly notice a huge boost to their energy levels, a better quality of sleep and an improved level of overall fitness. They also feel healthier, more positive and less stressed, demonstrating what an important activity swimming can be for increasing your sense of wellbeing.

Some of the specific health benefits of swimming include:

• Exercise: Swimming is one of the best all-round forms of exercise you can take as it uses almost every muscle in the body. It’s a great way to get a swimmer´s body. Good for increasing strength, toning up and maintaining a healthy weight. It’s also extremely beneficial for your cardiovascular health, protecting you against problems such as heart attacks, strokes and diabetes.
• Relaxation: Swimming is highly beneficial for improving both mental and physical wellbeing as it promotes relaxation and reduces stress. This helps to reduce your blood pressure and alleviates the symptoms of anxiety and depression, enabling you to manage the stresses of everyday life more effectively.
• Recovery from injuries: Swimming is good for muscular injuries as it is a low-impact sport that you can enjoy at your own pace. You don’t have to put too much strain on yourself while strengthening your muscles and increasing your flexibility.

However, if you want to get maximum benefits and enjoyment from swimming, it is important to get your technique right. Here are our top tips for how to swim better. Improve your swimming with these six simple tips!

How to improve your swimming

Always warm-up

Getting in the pool with cold muscles is a recipe for disaster. You will not have the flexibility you need, and there is a risk of you getting cramps. A correct warmup involves a number of simple exercises that you can easily do at the poolside. Stretches, push-ups and sit-ups are ideal for warming up your muscles and increasing your overall strength and flexibility.

To give yourself an extra advantage, you might also want to do some planks and core exercises, just to keep all the muscles you need for swimming in great condition.

Structure your swimming practice sessions

Jumping into the water and splashing about can be loads of fun! But if you’re serious about improving your swimming technique, you need to structure your swimming practice sessions so you can get some real meaning out of them.

Start off by swimming 200 metres freestyle at a constant pace and pressure. Then help yourself to focus by concentrating on just your arms or legs. This helps you to understand your swimming technique better and create a strong rhythm.

The main part of your session should be dedicated to swimming laps. If you have a lap pool or other rectangular pool in your backyard, this is the ideal environment for learning how to swim better. You can concentrate on improving your lap times and strengthening your technique without any of the distractions and obstacles that you always find at a public pool. And, as you’re in the privacy of your own backyard, you won’t need to feel self-conscious or embarrassed about it!

While you’re swimming laps, try to use as few strokes per lap as possible. Remember, a champion swimmer can do an entire lap in around seven strokes! Nobody expects you to be that good, but aim for less than 20, only starting the next stroke when you start to slow down from the previous one. It’s all about using your body in the most efficient way and creating more length in the water – you might have noticed that the top swimmers all tend to be tall! Creating a longer shape will help you to push the water out of the way more efficiently so you can use less energy and swim for longer.

Finally, make sure you remember to warm down with some gentle swimming before getting out of the pool.

3. Work on your breathing to improve your swimming

Good breathing is key to improving your swimming. A lot of swimmers tend to waste breath by gasping for air every time their face reaches the surface between every stroke. Part of becoming a better swimmer is learning to breathe more efficiently, using the air properly and reducing your breaths to one every three strokes instead of every stroke. This will help to reduce strain on your neck and shoulders as it means you are breathing on alternate sides rather than relying too heavily on one side or the other side of your body.

Learning to breathe more efficiently will also help you to keep your head in the right position when swimming freestyle. Many swimmers tilt their heads too far upwards or hold them too high, causing the rest of their bodies to drop too low in the water. This throws your technique off-course and slows you down. When you’re not breathing, your head shouldn’t move at all – you only need to tilt it slightly to the side to breathe.

4. Get your whole body working together

If you watch a top swimmer, their arms, legs and torsos seem to work together in synchronicity, propelling them forward through the water with what looks like very little effort. This is because they are using their bodies in the most efficient way possible. As you practise swimming, this will become natural to you if you get used to using the right techniques.

Your body position should be as straight as possible from your head to your hips so it can turn into each stroke to add more power. Keep your head low as this will keep your torso in a more streamlined position and reduce strain on your neck and shoulders. Doing this reduces drag and makes swimming easier. You should only tilt your head when you need to breathe.

Use your arms and hands like oars to pull your body through the water. If you hold your hands in a broad, flat position, this will help you to use your entire forearm to dig into the water, keeping your forearm at a right angle to your upper arm. At the same time, your abs and your lower back muscles should be taut as this will help you to propel yourself through the water using your arms and legs.

When it comes to your legs, it’s all down to the way you kick. Keep your leg muscles taut and your feet flexible so they can act like fins. If your feet aren’t particularly flexible, investing in a pair of swimming fins can really help your swimming performance. Small, fast kicks tend to work best as this technique gives your body stability in the water and prevents your legs from causing drag.

5. Work on your different strokes

Most swimmers tend to swim freestyle, so the majority of swimming practice advice is based around this stroke. But there are plenty of other swimming styles to choose from. It is important to be aware of all of them and work on your technique if you really want to be a better swimmer.

Here are some simple tips to consider when swimming in different styles:

Breaststroke

Your arms and legs have to work together here, but it is important to work on them separately if you really want to get your technique right. This is a stroke that requires a lot of coordination, so make sure you have the correct technique for your arms and legs so they can work in synchronicity.

One common mistake that swimmers make when swimming breaststroke is that they pull their arms back too far on each stroke, sometimes reaching almost to the hips. You will be more successful swimming in this style if you use shorter, more powerful arm movements that don’t even reach as far as your torso.

Backstroke

Many people think of backstroke as quite relaxing as it allows you to watch the world go by as you swim. But if you’re serious about becoming a better swimmer, you need to think about the different elements of the stroke so you can achieve more power. Backstroke can actually be one of the hardest strokes to get right.

The arm movement is particularly important here as it needs to come from your shoulders in a fluid, rolling movement. When your hand comes out of the water, your thumb should emerge first. Your arm then needs to twist mid-stroke so your pinky finger goes back into the water first.

Another helpful hint when swimming backstroke is to keep your head low and in a relaxed position. Many swimmers hold their heads too high when swimming this stroke, causing the body to be in an uncomfortable position – the upper body will be too high and the lower body too low. This creates a lot of drag, so it is important to keep your head low, making yourself more streamlined and also more comfortable.

Butterfly

The butterfly is all about the arms pulling you through the water. You should pull with your arms once for every two kicks. This synchronisation can be difficult to get right. It can be a good idea to practise with one arm at a time – do one lap just using your left arm and your legs, then another lap with just your right arm and your legs, before putting the whole thing together.

Doing one-arm drills will help you to keep your body in a more stable position and ensure that your arms are pulling with equal strength. This will result in a more balanced stroke, which is easier for you and looks better, too!

Flip turns

One simple way to improve your swimming is to master the flip turn. This is the way of turning in the water that top swimmers use at the end of each lap so they don’t have to stop swimming between laps. Mastering this technique will vastly improve your swimming and quicken your lap times as there is no pause between laps.

If you can do a somersault in the water, you can do a flip turn. It is important not to look at the wall as you approach it. If you look at the wall, you will slow yourself down by keeping your head up and also worry yourself about making the turn in time. Instead, look down at the bottom of the pool. Start to turn a half somersault when you see the “T” shape on the floor of the pool that marks the end of the lane.

Tuck your chin in, kick hard once and pull your arms down until they are at your sides. Then tuck your knees up to your chest and push with your arms to roll you over onto your back. At this point, when your half somersault is complete, stretch your arms over your head with your hands together pointing into the pool, away from the wall. Uncurl your upper body so it is in a streamlined “torpedo” shape. Extend your legs so your feet are planted on the wall, with your knees and hips at 90-degree angles.

Push off from the wall using your legs and feet so your whole body is now in a straight streamlined shape. You should still be on your back at this point. Use dolphin kicks or flutter kicks to propel you, and twist your whole body to one side so you roll over onto your front. Keep your body in a straight line the whole time to maintain as much momentum as possible.

6. Improve your swimming practice with the right pool

If you really want to improve your swimming and you don’t currently have your own pool, having your own pool can be a great investment. It is so much easier to practise swimming when you have a pool in your backyard – you can just step out of the door and into the water, any time you choose. There’s no more need to wait for public pool opening times; you can get some practice in before work or enjoy a dip to relax you at the end of a busy day. Or spend the holidays at home and swim as much as you like!

With so many pool shapes and sizes to choose from, it is easy to find a pool that can fit into your backyard and fit in with your lifestyle. The expert team here at Compass Pools Australia are always happy to help you find the perfect pool for you. Please contact your nearest dealership, and our friendly team will be glad to discuss your requirements.

For more swimming news and tips, check out our blog, which is regularly updated with articles about swimming and pools. We want to help you become the best swimmer you can be, and encourage a lifelong love of swimming for all!

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Just like any kind of sport, you need to warm up your body and always make sure it’s ready for any tedious activity. For golf, you would need to perform golf exercises, for basketball, you need to exert effort in circuit training, but since swimming is a watersport, exercises tend to be more difficult, but we’ll help you through it in this article.

There are several exercises to improve swimming available, and we’ll outline how you can use them to get better at swimming. Also, the type of pool you use can impact whether or not you swim better – we’ll go over several that are excellent choices below. Read on to get to our tips for getting better at swimming now!

Three Easy Exercises to Improve Swimming

You can focus on one area at a time to help you learn how to swim better. Dedicate time to each area of your body, and go as quickly or as slowly as you like.

1 – Planks

You don’t have to do all of your exercises in the pool to strengthen your body. One effective way to strengthen your glutes, arms, shoulders, upper and lower body is with planks. Position yourself like you’re going to attempt a pushup with your arms grounded slightly wider than your shoulders. Squeeze your glutes to stabilise yourself and use your toes to hold your feet. Your head should be in line with your back, and you hold this position for 20 seconds. Your legs shouldn’t hold any of the pressure. Planks, loved and recommended by (almost) all PTs, can significantly help you with getting better at swimming.

2 – Warmups

Before you get into the pool, you should be performing warmups to loosen your muscles up. This session should stay under 30 minutes. Do prone holds, stretch your hamstrings, do push-ups, burpees, and sit-ups. You can do this right alongside the pool, or you can do it in your home before getting into your pool. This reduces the risk of developing cramps.

3 – Core Exercises

Your core is the one place that will go through the biggest workout when you swim, so it makes sense to strengthen it any way you can. Start with the bird dog position. Get on your hands and knees and make your spine flat. Extend your right leg and left arm out, keeping them below your spine. Hold this position for five seconds before switching limbs. For V-sits, start in a seated position before raising your legs to a 45° angle. Extend your arms out to your knees and hold for 30 seconds. Strengthening can contribute to you getting better at swimming.

Six Big Benefits of Exercising in the Pool

There are several benefits that come with exercising in the pool or any body of water. These benefits are why many forms of therapy take place in the water, especially if people have injuries and they need to restrengthen their muscles. We’ve picked out the biggest ones and outlined them below.

• Low Impact – Unlike traditional exercise that can put more stress on your joints, swimming is very low impact. Water gives you buoyancy. This means you float once you enter the water. When you do your exercises, the water will save your joints from excess stress and reduce your risk of injury.
• Built-In Resistance – When you push against the water, you meet resistance. This resistance makes your body work harder to complete whatever exercise routine you have set up. You can adjust your resistance level depending on what you’re doing and the water depth. Deeper water has more resistance than more shallow water.
• Slowly Increase the Intensity – Water exercising is beginner-friendly. It allows you to start out slow and gradually work your way up to more complicated routines. To do this, you increase your time in the pool and take shorter rest breaks between exercise sets. You can also go to a greater resistance level.
• Tones Muscles – Working out in the water allows you to tone a huge range of muscles that you may not work out if you exercise on land. You can focus on more than one muscle group at once as well, and it helps keep your joints nimble because it’s so low-impact.
• Whole Body Support – No one wants to hurt their back because this can set you up for a lifetime of problems. Water exercises help to protect your body, particularly your back and spine. The water will support your weight and keep it off of your spine.
• Heart Healthy – Swimming laps, water jogging, or other water exercises are all aerobic. They get your heart pumping faster and encourage your vascular system to work. In turn, this can improve your heart health. Water also has a naturally cooling effect that lets you exercise for longer periods without feeling uncomfortably hot or sweaty.

Consider Investing in a Lap Pool

Lap pools are designed for swimming and swimming laps in your own lap pool can become an excellent way of getting better at swimming. We have several great lap pool models available at Compass Pools. They feature a narrow design that fits into more versatile areas, and they’re big enough to help you practice your swimming strokes. You can have this pool right outside your door, and this gives you the freedom to practice your swimming in the comfort of your own home. Spend the holidays at home and swim every day!

First up is the Fastlane lap pool design. This pool is excellent for serious swimmers because it offers lengths up to 30m. There are also two standard lengths coming in at 12 and 10m. This is more than enough space to help you clean up your strokes and improve your swimming speed. The flat bottom allows you to swim unhindered, and you can add optional external steps in several places along the pool wall.

Locate Your Nearest Compass Pools Dealer to Design Your Lap Pool

If you’re ready to try getting better at swimming in your own home, locate a Compass Pools dealer near you. They’ll be happy to answer all of your questions and help you decide which lap pool would work best for your needs. With dozens of colours and sizes available, you’ll get a pool you can’t wait to use for years to come!

The post 3 Exercises for Getting Better at Swimming appeared first on Compass Pools Australia.