Improve Your Swimming Technique with FORM Score

September 30, 2024 | 3 min read

Technique is a vital part of improving your performance as a swimmer. However, it is notoriously difficult to measure how good your technique is, and when it is falling apart.

One way to evaluate your swimming technique is by measuring your swimming efficiency. Your swimming efficiency can be measured by combining how far you go on each stroke with the speed you are swimming. Tracking your swimming efficiency will help you identify when your technique is improving or slipping during your swimming.

FORM Score allows you to accurately measure your swimming efficiency and track it over time to see how changes in your technique affect your efficiency in the water.

FORM Score: A Better Way to Measure Swimming Efficiency

A common way to measure your swimming efficiency is by using SWOLF, which is calculated as follows:

SWOLF = Number of seconds to finish a length + Number of strokes to swim a length

Despite its popularity, SWOLF does not take into account several unique factors that make each swimmer and their swimming different, making it an unreliable measure of swimming efficiency.

FORM Score considers more factors than just your stroke count and time to give you a more accurate and reliable measure of your swimming efficiency. Here are the factors used to determine your FORM Score:

Speed: Any measure of swimming efficiency needs a measure of how fast you’re swimming to see how your efficiency might change when you swim faster or slower.
Distance Per Stroke (DPS): Measuring your distance per stroke in meters, rather than your stroke count, gives a more accurate measurement of how your technique affects your stroke length.
Height: Taking your height into account allows a fair comparison between swimmers of different heights. FORM Score assesses that the shorter swimmer may swim more efficiently compared to taller swimmers in certain scenarios.
Push-Offs/Underwater: FORM Score recognizes when you are underwater and measures your efficiency only when you are swimming on the surface. This gives a more accurate representation of your actual swimming efficiency.

After considering these factors, your FORM Score is assessed on a scale of 1-100, making it easy to track improvements or declines in your swimming efficiency.

Using FORM Score

Improving your swimming efficiency can take several weeks of consistent effort, but tracking your FORM Score in your FORM goggles helps you monitor your progress and recognize incremental gains. Here are three ways to track your swimming efficiency using FORM Score:

In your goggles during your workout: You can see your FORM Score at the end of every length or interval. This gives immediate feedback on your swimming efficiency. Did your coach give you a stroke correction? You can instantly see the impact on your swimming efficiency.

Workout FORM Score: After your swim, you can view your FORM Score for the entire workout in the FORM app. This is an average of all lengths swum during that session, allowing you to track trends and identify areas for improvement.

Overall FORM Score: Your overall FORM Score is the average of your last five swims, making it a long-term measure of swimming efficiency. This helps you understand trends in your performance over time.