Swolf

You may have swolf swimmers talk about their SWOLF score but what is it and is it useful for swimmers?

This is essential reading if you are looking to swim longer distances. I originally created this post in but have been working with panel of swim experts to update this with our latest update in Feb Continually really valuable insights on why you can get value from SWOLF metrics to improve swimming insights. As a competitive swimmer for 3 decades including coaching many Juniors and Adult triathletes I have compiled this article. In addition across Trivelo we have a number of swimming specialists who write for us and have been able to review and improve the information. This magic SWOLF number will help bring more science to your swim training and improve your performance.

Swolf

Here are all the answers. Your SWOLF is pretty simple to calculate — you simply need to add together the number of strokes you take to swim a 25m length of the pool with the time in seconds it takes you. You can do this yourself using a basic stop watch or pool clock and counting your strokes, or for ease, ask a friend to do it for you poolside. Many sports watches will do it for you though — in the example below, a Garmin Fenix was used to calculate SWOLF and averaged the score out across the swim based on stroke rate and m swim times. Like so much data, your SWOLF score is pretty useless unless you understand it and can use it to improve your swimming. Using your base starting score, play around with tweaking your swimming and working on technique improvements. For example, can you slow down your stroke rate and work more on extending your reach, rotating your body and then pulling more strongly? How does that feel? Does it mean you can swim faster but with less strokes and thereby less effort? Does it make it easier to breathe and relax? Conversely, swimmers with a very slow stroke rate may try increasing their stroke rate a little. What happens? Do you swim faster? But is it to the detriment of feeling comfortable and within your level of fitness?

Looking for a swim workout to dust swolf the speed in the early stages of the swim season? And with good reason, swolf.

The Swolf is a composite measurement in sports swimming that reflects how fast and how efficiently somebody is swimming. In contrast, time per distance speed neglects swimming technique, and the number of swimming strokes per lap neglects the purpose of competitive swimming: Covering a given distance in the shortest time. Swolf is a portmanteau of "swim" and "golf". As in golf , a lower number of strokes is better. The Swolf score is the number of seconds for a given lap, 25 or 50 meters , plus the number of swimming strokes made in the same distance.

Check out our tips for reading SWOLF analytics and learn how to improve your stroke efficiency to improve your score! Efficiency fixes this problem, so you can compare apples-to-apples in different pool lengths. For freestyle and backstroke, stroke count is calculated each time an arm pulls underwater. For breaststroke and butterfly, a stroke cycle is completed when both arms complete a pull together. As you can see in the 4 x 50s IM set below, each stroke carries a different pair of metrics. The highlighted repetition is the 50m butterfly. Looking at the graphs you can see this swimmer averaged s per 25yd of butterfly taking 10 strokes on the first length and 8 strokes on the second length. ST represents total Swimming Time.

Swolf

Get after it with local recommendations just for you. Take an average of each trial for a good baseline before making changes. Szajta believes that distance swimmers, particularly triathletes, can benefit from the SWOLF score because there is so much opportunity for triathletes to save energy while still swimming near their peak output. For his athletes, he likes to do two sets of 2 x 50y mixed in with drill work to compute SWOLF scores.

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What's on your mind? Did you feel more relaxed and able to breath out in a more controlled fashion? Swimmers know that swimming fast means swimming efficiently. At the end of your set these scores are summed and then divided by the number of 25m increments. Do Buoyancy Shorts Work? There are two sides of this coin, it is either you try to drop your stroke count, meaning that your SWOLF score will go down, or that you attempt to swim faster at the same stroke rate, meaning your SWOLF score is going down as well. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Read our 7 reasons to exercise at lunchtime and why this is good both for your health and work productivity. Using your base starting score, play around with tweaking your swimming and working on technique improvements. Here are the five best ways to monitor your swim training. Learn why they are a useful addition to your swim training. High elbow.

Here are all the answers.

You could also try swimming a length with a pull buoy and then the next with paddles. He is an author, former national level swimmer, two-time Olympic Trials qualifier, and swim coach. A strong push off the wall and glide half the pool. He writes all things high-performance swimming and is passionate about helping swimmers, swim coaches, and swim parents master the pool. Thanks to the detailed reporting, slim watch casing, and easy-to-see screens, the swim watch has become an essential swim tracking tool which can be used to track and store SWOLF scores. As with golf, a lower SWOLF number is considered good and is reflective of increased speed and efficiency in the water. You set it to the number you want to try and then turn your arms over to the beat. In this article, we will dive into what SWOLF is , why you should use it as part of your training, some tips for improving your score, and devices and apps for tracking this metric. Reply to Knotty Buoy 28 days ago. See also : Alex Popov and the Power of Training the Way You Race It encouraged him to focus on ways to lengthen his stroke—a slightly more vertical forearm, a little more extension with the shoulder, kicking through the hand entry—powering him to otherworldly efficiency in the water. Nick the biased Aussie. This should see you find yourself competing in the thick of the pack.