What is more important for a swimmer: stroke length or rate? I’m thinking about whether to put an emphasis on former or the latter. I can’t achieve both so I want to try one at a time. My friend is claiming that stroke length is more important but I don’t know. What is your opinion? It can be subjective, of course, not based on scientific researches.
Well, I think that both are very important and you shouldn’t neglect either. But your plan is good. Maybe you should start working on stroke length. You can do that by applying more force to your stroke. When you’ve achieved that, you can start exercising stroke rate which is regarded to be the speed. As you may know, you shouldn’t insist on the speed at the beginning. The important point is to learn how to swim properly and how to move your body and speed is on the schedule later. I think that only pro swimmers should insist on speed to such an extent. Recreational swimmers should have other objectives. So, make a plan and stick to the saying first things first.