A Tempo Set to Help Swimmers Build a Stronger Stroke ...Middle East

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy on SwimSwam

There are a lot of ways to build a stronger stroke in the water.

Hitting the gym and using resisted swimming tools—drag chutes, cords, power racks—are two of the usual go-to choices.

Another option, often overlooked, is playing with tempo. And when it’s used the right way, it’s a gangbusters method for developing real stroke strength.

When swimmers/coaches use tempo, it’s typically to increase arm turnover. Want to go faster? Move your arms faster. Simple enough.

But when we overclock tempo too aggressively, we often end up spinning out, losing grip on the water, and swimming sloppy fast instead of powerful fast.

A better way to use tempo for more strength is to swim fast at a slightly lower tempo.

Contrast Set for Building a Stronger Stroke

Lowering tempo while maintaining speed (or at least, trying your hardest to maintain speed) forces swimmers to apply more, well, force in every part of the stroke.

You can’t hide behind a faster arm turnover, but have to earn that speed through stronger hand pressure, tighter timing, and body control.

Try this contrast set to target stroke strength directly:

3-5 rounds:

Sprinters can reduce distance by half with this sprinty version:

Why Lower Tempo Builds a Stronger Stroke

These types of sets are awesome as they ask swimmers to solve the same speed problem in a variety of different ways. Swimmers can see for themselves how their stroke feels and performs as stroke rate is allowed to increase.

The low tempo reps force you to go max effort with every part of your stroke:

All of the things that go into what makes a stroke strong.

Strong Strokes + Fast Strokes

Fast swimmers are comfortable at higher stroke tempos. Elite swimmers pair higher tempos with a strong stroke.

Increasing tempo is a tool every swimmer has to boost propulsion when necessary, but when you have a strong stroke as a foundation, increasing tempo will have an even more powerful effect on velocity.

Swim strong, swim long, and swim fast!

ABOUT OLIVIER POIRIER-LEROY

Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer, 2x Olympic Trials qualifier, and author of several books for swimmers, including YourSwimBook, Conquer the Pool, The Dolphin Kick Manual, and most recently, The 50 Freestyle Blueprint.

The book is a beastly 220+ pages of evidence-based insights and practical tips for improving freestyle sprint speed.

It details everything from how to master stroke rate, technique, build a thundering freestyle kick, improve your start and underwaters, and much more.

The 50 Freestyle Blueprint also includes 20 sprint sets to get you started and a bonus guide on how to master the 100 freestyle to complete your sprint preparation.

Learn more about The 50 Freestyle Blueprint today.

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