Improving with Your HeadCoach™ Recommended Focus
Improving in the water is about more than just training faster and harder. All swimmers can improve their technique, but it can be hard to identify what to work on and when especially if you are training alone.
FORM gathers and analyzes all of your swimming data to identify and recommend which specific aspect of your training you should focus on. Here, we will explain what goes into this analysis and how your Recommended Focus can help you become a better swimmer.
Framework
There are three swim metrics that are vital to understanding where you should apply your focus in your training.
The first two are Distance Per Stroke (DPS) and Stroke Rate (SR). DPS is how far you go on each stroke. Stroke rate is how fast each stroke takes, similar to cadence in cycling. These two metrics directly calculate your swimming speed at any time with this formula:
DPS x SR = Velocity
The third metric is your FORM Score, which is a measurement of your swimming efficiency. This measures your DPS and your speed together to see how well you are maintaining your efficiency and technique at any given speed.
To understand how FORM uses your data to recommend your training focus, let’s take a look at what an ‘ideal’ swimmer might look like through the lens of these 3 metrics:
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Constant DPS: If a swimmer’s technique is strong and reliable, then they would be able to hold close to the same DPS regardless of speed and fatigue in their swimming.
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Increase in Stroke Rate = Increase in Speed: If the DPS is constant, then every increase in stroke rate would lead directly to an increase in speed, just like spinning your pedals faster on your bike in the same gear.
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Steady FORM Score: If a swimmer can keep their FORM Score constant within each interval they understand how to distribute their effort throughout their swimming and are fit enough to maintain their swimming efficiency.
How swimmers deviate from this ‘ideal’ state tells us a lot about what aspect of their swimming they need to work on and where they can improve the most.
Selecting a Recommended Focus for You
Understanding what to strive for, FORM analyzes your data and shows you where your swimming deviated from this ‘ideal’ state. As complex as the analysis may be, it boils down to asking two questions:
- Does your FORM Score deteriorate the longer you swim?
- When your FORM Score changes what else (DPS, SR, Both, Neither) changes?
By answering these questions, FORM can identify 1 of 8 Recommended Focuses that will prioritize your training to improve your swimming. You can visualize this in the following flow chart:
By answering the above, FORM can identify 1 of 8 Recommended Focuses to help you improve on the areas where you need the most help. Here is a little info on each one:
Adjusting Effort
If your FORM Score, DPS and stroke rate are all decreasing, it is very likely that you are trying to do a bit too much and over-reaching in your training. Modifying your workout and your effort will help you adjust your training so that you can swim with better technique for longer.
Technique Endurance
If you DPS is constant but your FORM Score and stroke rate are dropping as you swim, this can be a sign that your technique is reliable but you can improve your fitness or that you are starting your intervals too hard and cannot sustain your effort. Learning to apply a more consistent effort throughout your intervals will help you hold your FORM Score from start to finish.
Technique Reliability
When your FORM Score and your DPS drop during your intervals it's a sign that you need to be more consistent with your swimming technique. This is common for fit athletes, who are still building muscular endurance for swimming specifically. Maintaining your stroke rate is a good start, so steadily building up your swimming-specific muscles will help you hold your technique more reliably.
Foundational Technique
EVERY swimmer can benefit from improving the most fundamental parts of their swimming technique. For newer swimmers, this means practicing good, consistent technique before applying more effort. For more experienced swimmers, simplifying your training and working on a single aspect of your swimming technique can help you lay a better foundation for greater improvements in the future.
Advanced Technique
This reflects the ideal state used in our example above, so the next step is to improve your technique to make your DPS even longer. When making further improvements on your technique, the best approach is to focus on your technique during low-intensity workouts first so that you can apply the technique gains to your higher-intensity training later.
Challenging Yourself
Since your FORM Score, DPS and stroke rate are all consistent, you are ready to increase the challenge of your workouts! If you have a goal in mind, begin modifying your sets to more closely resemble the event you are preparing for. If you are in the off-season for your training, you can still challenge yourself by adding volume or intensity to your workouts to make holding your technique more challenging.
The last two focuses apply when you can hold your FORM Score but your DPS and Stroke Rate. Here we ask another question to help determine what you need to work on: Is your stroke rate always consistent during your training?
Varying Speed
If you are holding your stroke rate and it stays consistent, it means you are stuck in ‘one gear' and need to practice changing your speed during workouts. This is common for endurance swimmers and triathletes who can hold an even cadence, but it can be a challenge if you are not able to hold your technique while maintaining your rhythm. By practicing at different speeds (and stroke rates), you can practice improving your technique at a higher effort level which will allow you to maintain your technique for longer during lower-intensity training.
High Effort Technique
If your stroke rate is changing a lot, and you cannot maintain your DPS, this suggests that you are holding less water when you are trying harder. You can have great fitness and be able to increase your stroke rate, but if it results in a drop in FORM Score then you are increasing your effort in a way that is making your stroke less efficient and has a higher energy cost. This requires focusing on your technique specifically during your highest intensity training to make the most gains.
There is always something you can work on in the water. Fortunately, at FORM, we will analyze all of this data for you, and not only to give you a Recommended Focus. FORM’s HeadCoach™ Workouts are personalized for you - not just based on how fast you are and how far you swim - but based on your Recommended Focus, which is integrated into workouts. This way, you can just follow the HeadCoach workouts and be assured that the workout will guide you through improving on the areas where you need the most help.
