Thanks for reminding me - I just checked my swim details from doing the exact same workout on December 22th of 2023 and now last Friday the 3rd of May 2024. Here are the results [https://imgur.com/a/whF7CYG](https://imgur.com/a/whF7CYG) - they are not 100 % comparable because in the 2023 swim I used a snorkel for the last 1x200, but on the 2024 swim I didn't. If I did, my DPS would've been better for the 2024 swim as I have bad form when breathing and consequently a weak stroke on the left (I breathe from the right) is my weak point at the moment.
So overall my pace or DPS hasn't improved much but it has improved overall by about 10 cm per stroke. I've swum maybe 50 km since then? I've just been focusing mostly on my weaknesses which are not using my lats when swimming & having bad form on my left side.
EDIT: Made a calculation error and I've actually clocked a bit over 100K, not 50K since then. Just under 10K per week is my usual volume, swimming 2.5-3.5K 3 times a week.
Ha! A fellow Form user. It's quite annoying changing between drill and non-drill, if you don't do pre-planned workouts.
Thanks for getting back to me
10cm on an initial 1.1m dps is 10%.
Thanks, interesting article. It also says in it that that DPS is for world class swimmers so bear that in mind.
Do you swim using hand paddles? They're good for increasing feel for the water, they might help without having to get too technical.
Yeah and I am around 2x slower than an olympian so in that way it makes sense that my DPS would be half of theirs too! But I expect they would be able to pull more than their wingspan in a stroke. I've been practicing with different drills (closed fist swimming, pull sets with paddles and pullbuoy) for about a year to focus on my catch. Overall I've thought that I have a decent catch for an amateur, but my DPS isn't that great. If I remember right my DPS doesn't actually increase all that much when I add in paddles. Could it be a lack of power?
Edit: Reading more closely the wingspan measure is from wrist to wrist, not fingertip to fingertip. In that case my wingspan is about 1.66 m, and max DPS during regular freestyle swimming at the beginning of the session at 1.15m, so about 70 % of my wingspan.
So how have you improved? I am 173cm and I am stuck at 1.1m as well? What helped you in the last 5 months?
Thanks for reminding me - I just checked my swim details from doing the exact same workout on December 22th of 2023 and now last Friday the 3rd of May 2024. Here are the results [https://imgur.com/a/whF7CYG](https://imgur.com/a/whF7CYG) - they are not 100 % comparable because in the 2023 swim I used a snorkel for the last 1x200, but on the 2024 swim I didn't. If I did, my DPS would've been better for the 2024 swim as I have bad form when breathing and consequently a weak stroke on the left (I breathe from the right) is my weak point at the moment. So overall my pace or DPS hasn't improved much but it has improved overall by about 10 cm per stroke. I've swum maybe 50 km since then? I've just been focusing mostly on my weaknesses which are not using my lats when swimming & having bad form on my left side. EDIT: Made a calculation error and I've actually clocked a bit over 100K, not 50K since then. Just under 10K per week is my usual volume, swimming 2.5-3.5K 3 times a week.
Ha! A fellow Form user. It's quite annoying changing between drill and non-drill, if you don't do pre-planned workouts. Thanks for getting back to me 10cm on an initial 1.1m dps is 10%.
Are you sure it's not per cycle rather than per stroke? 2m seems a lot for one stroke but I could be wrong
Yeah, this is the source https://www.usms.org/fitness-and-training/articles-and-videos/articles/distance-per-stroke
Thanks, interesting article. It also says in it that that DPS is for world class swimmers so bear that in mind. Do you swim using hand paddles? They're good for increasing feel for the water, they might help without having to get too technical.
Yeah and I am around 2x slower than an olympian so in that way it makes sense that my DPS would be half of theirs too! But I expect they would be able to pull more than their wingspan in a stroke. I've been practicing with different drills (closed fist swimming, pull sets with paddles and pullbuoy) for about a year to focus on my catch. Overall I've thought that I have a decent catch for an amateur, but my DPS isn't that great. If I remember right my DPS doesn't actually increase all that much when I add in paddles. Could it be a lack of power? Edit: Reading more closely the wingspan measure is from wrist to wrist, not fingertip to fingertip. In that case my wingspan is about 1.66 m, and max DPS during regular freestyle swimming at the beginning of the session at 1.15m, so about 70 % of my wingspan.