Burning through the water

With only two ways to increase your speed in the water, we often complicate things when trying to go faster. We can increase our stroke rate (move our arms and legs faster) or we can increase our efficiency (reduce the resistance our body creates in the water). This isn’t as easy as it sounds though.

Faster strokes (important to do, but there’s a catch)

Most swimmers (including myself) find the easiest way to increase swim speed is to increase our stroke rate. There’s nothing wrong with that, in fact it’s vital if you’re swimming with speed. The only problem is it’s energy consuming, particularly if your kick increases with your arm speed. It’s possible to swim freestyle and backstroke with a high stroke rate and not use too much energy if your kicking remains relaxed and small, but in general stroking faster isn’t the way to break through a plateau in swimming.

What does efficiency do?

Efficiency in swimming means to get further from each stroke taken by increasing your propulsion and reducing your resistance. Put simply, if you get a better ‘catch’ of the water with your stroke and you reduce the amount of drag your body creates in the water, you’ll get faster. This can be difficult to do on your own. If you’re not aware of the common technique errors and how to fix them, your swimming will likely be the same in two years as it is now, even if your train your heart out.

Swimming technique the right way

There are 3 ways to improve your technique. In no particular order:

1. Visualize yourself swimming with the right technique – Some people might pass this off as airy fairy, pie in the sky way of improving. Don’t. You’ll be rewarded for using this.The premise of it is to watch a swimmer with good technique, commit their technique to memory and when you are in the water swimming, visualise your self swimming as they do. Watch videos of Michael Phelps, Sam Ashby, Ian Thorpe or whoever you feel best suits your own technique.I used this technique in my most recent 200 Individual Medley race. The result? I swam a PB, my technique was controlled throughout the race and I wasn’t spent at the end.
2. Drills – This is one of the best known tactics for fixing technique. It not only works tremendously well but it improves your technique automatically if you do the drills correctly. A good example of this my Mastering Freestyle Program which runs through the exact step-by-step formula I use to improve the freestyle technique of all the swimmers I coach.
3. Learning what not to do – Coaches find the same errors repeated again and again. If you were to attend a swimming class and you watched the freestyle of 10 different swimmers, you’d find that the same errors would pop up in each swimmer.I realised that if swimmers knew what they were doing wrong, they could identify what was slowing them down and begin to work on it.This lead to It’s Not About Swimming Harder, a new product where I teach you what NOT to do, so you can see the most common errors which plague swimmers, so you can avoid these mistakes and create a breakthrough in your swimming.

If you’re ready to hear the ‘down and dirty’ of why most swimmers never have a breakthrough in their speed and endurance, check out It’s Not About Swimming Harder. This program will show you the exact strategies I’ve used to help swimmers take their speed and technique to a new level. I think it’s the best product on the market that cuts straight to the point, giving you what you need to hear about how to become a better swimmer (even if you do the sport solely because it’s fun!).

Check it out here

Limited time only: Get 2 months FREE swim workouts

The most popular course is the Mastering Freestyle program. If you are sick of hearing the same old tricks and you’re ready to completely revamp your freestyle so it’s easy to swim and you glide through the water like a hot knife through butter, this is for you.

New Drills
In the program I introduce a series of drills which will radically transform your technique, even if you really struggle in the water. The program runs through 4 separate modules; balance and body position, rotation, arms and pull, the whole stroke. These step-by-step lessons are the ultimate technique development program.

Complex concepts made simple
Freestyle technique is a combination of many different elements. The catch, body rotation, kick, breathing and recovery (just to name a few). Often this is overwhelming when learning to swim freestyle. Many coaches and instructors will teach you the separate elements, but fail to put them all together. The Mastering Freestyle program teaches ‘feeling’ the water and automatically linking each part of the stroke together (you won’t even know it’s happening).

Proven system
Learning to swim smooth freestyle shouldn’t be an ongoing struggle. Most swimmers and triathletes will persist with the same technique for years. Training harder isn’t the most effective way. Improve technique. Improve speed. Improve times. Mastering Freestyle is an easy to follow system which rapidly changed even the ugliest of freestyle into a long and relaxed stroke.

This stuff works
After putting hundreds of people through the program, I know the program works. The three recurring themes I commonly hear about the program are; swimming becomes easier which has increased my endurance, my speed has increased in both short and longer swims, I’m get much further each stroke which has reduced my stroke count. From novices to experienced swimmers, huge improvements in freestyle have been made.

Limited time only: Get 2 months FREE workouts

Here are 7 quick and effective tips for NEVER swimming faster to avoid success, train without a purpose and stay stuck in your bad habits. Enjoy!

1. Never set goals. Goals are overrated. Sure, all successful people in every field (business, sports, science, etc) set goals and map out a plan to achieve them. What a waste of time! While they’re thinking about winning races, improving their swimming and becoming fit and healthy, we get to enjoy all the great shows on television, going to the pub and lazing about at home. Why would you ever set goals?
2. Avoid hard work and NEVER work up a sweat. Whats the one thing which makes us so awesome? It’s that we look good when we work out. All those swimmers out there who work up a sweat and get their heart rate anywhere above 100 look like weirdos! I mean, how embarrassing to be huffing and puffing at the end of the pool, red face and hunched over the lane rope from working hard. We take it nice and easy and look cool as we come into the the wall. After all, why swim if you don’t look awesome?
3. Throw technique out the window (it’s for wimps, right?). People are always talking about the importance of technique. Us? We don’t see the value in it. It’s a big waste of time. Splashing about makes you look like a good swimmer, it shows power and strength. Why waste time on this whole technique business? It’s for wimps who don’t mind looking like softies with their smooth and clean stroke.
4. Never take advice from anyone. What could we possibly learn from someone else? No one knows me better than me. If I want to get tips on improving my swimming I’ll figure it out myself! Why would I pay someone to teach me how swim better? We know everything there is to know about, well, everything…
5. Always look for quick-fix solutions. Patience isn’t a virtue. Patience is for losers who don’t get results right away. If something needs fixing, there is always a way to fix it instantly. Saying things take time is a joke. We know quick fix solutions are the best answer to any problem. Sure, they may not last forever but at least you can forget about it for the time being.
6. Eat as much as you can, the fattier the better! People complicate this whole diet issue. They say you should eat lighlty before a race and eat fresh fruits and vegetables regularly to stay healthy. Ha, morons! Eating is simple. The more you eat the more energy you have, period. The fattier the food, the more energy you get. Portion control is a made up word nutritionists like to use because it makes them sound smart. Why complicate something so simple?
7. Never follow a swim workout. I once had a coach who asked me to follow a swim workout he’d written for me. He said it would improve my fitness and my ability to last longer in a race. I quit that day. This another example of complicating something simple. Training is merely swimming a few laps, stopping when I want to and not following any kind of structured plan. That’s the quickest way to becoming a champion swimming.

Follow these simple steps if you NEVER want to improve your swimming. I guarantee you’ll succeed, every time! On the other hand, why not try the swim workouts program to improve your speed, fitness and increase the fun of your swimming workouts?

Effortless Swimming Workouts are the exact training strategies I teach my squad which has lead to two National Masters championships and hundreds of open water swimming wins.

Can you think of anything else to add to the list of ways to guarantee failure as a swimmer? Make a comment below

Hi there!

I would like to congratulate you for taking the time out of your day to look for new ways to improve your swimming. When I was 16 years old I had a hunger for swimming knowledge. I wanted to know what it took to swim fast and beat the others, and I had a ferocious curiosity for any tips which would help me get ahead.

Smooth freestyle

Have you ever scoured the internet for hours on end looking for the once peice of advice that would make the difference in your swimming?

I’ve spent countless hours reading books, watching DVD’s and searching the internet and talking to top level coaches and swimmers in search for new ways to help others improve their swimming. Right now you’re probably wondering who I am, right?

My name is Brenton and I’ve had swimming in my genes for longer than I can remember. My grandfather was a swimming coach for most of his life and ran an outdoor 50 meter pool in the Gippsland area. You couldn’t walk past a person in the town who didn’t know who he was. His dark sun-worn skin and thick Austrian accent couldn’t be mistaken.

I grew up around pools, with my dad being a dedicated swimming coach and my mum teaching children to learn to swim. Now my parents own a learn to swim business and continue to coach at the local swimming club which has had huge success for a country club.

In my own swimming, I’ve made national finals and competed at a national level for 8 years. Two years ago I found my passion for coaching. I love helping other people completely change their swimming, and the look on their face once they finally ‘get it’ is invaluable. Sounds corny? Maybe, but I can tell you that the dozens of swimmers I’ve helped over the past 2 years has been incredibly satisfying and the results they’ve got have been outstanding. So, what does all this have to do with your thinking?

Effortless Swimming was created so that you could receive all the latest updates about swimming technique, skills, practice programs and everything else swimming related. If your only starting out or if you have 20 years experience makes no difference. With the right knowledge and the right skills, anyone can achieve the level of success they desire in the pool. I’ve seen it happen no matter what age, body shape , body type, height or sex you might be. If you really want to swim like the top 5% who do it well and leave the 95% behind, it can be done.

Once again, congratulations on taking the first step on your journey of learning to swim like a champion! I look forward to working with you for years and years to come.

To your swimming,

Brenton Ford

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