This week we will be doing the ratchet set again where we do repeated swims on progressively shorter turnaround times. This set is good for improving your speed endurance as you will be trying to hold a good pace with some increasingly short rest intervals. When you look at some of the turnaround times for the set I know it can appear rather daunting as the later turnaround times are shorter than we usually swim. However, the ratchet set is possible to complete for most of us as demonstrated by many of you before. My top-3 tips for how to approach this set are:
- Relax for at least the first half of the set and longer if possible. Making the turnarounds for the final few swims will require a lot of effort so you need to conserve as much energy early on in the set to be ready.
- Stay calm. It is easy to get tense with the pressure of the clock and tight turnarounds but being tense will waste energy and usually result in poorer technique, too. So just accept that many of us will end up swimming continuously for the final few swims and try and enjoy the challenge of trying to make the continuous swimming happen as late in the set as you can.
- Hold your technique. When the going gets tough focus on the basics – minimising drag, maximizing propulsion & breathing well. Only focus on one thing at a time when working on your technique but you can vary it each length. Length 1 – drag (still head & narrow continuous kick), length 2 – propulsion (high-elbow catch and full length underwater pull past your hips) and length 3 – breathing (emptying lungs completely from your belly, one goggle in water for minimal head movement to breathe).
See you Saturday!
Rob
Rob's Swimming Blog 