Quality Over Quantity: The Importance of Practicing Swimming Skills with Good Technique

In the world of swimming, the old saying “practice makes perfect” is only partially true. More accurately, perfect practice makes perfect. Repeatedly performing swim-specific drills, strokes, and technical actions with poor form won’t help a swimmer improve - in fact, it can reinforce bad habits and lead to injury. On the other hand, focusing on executing complex technical skills with proper technique will enhance performance, build efficient muscle memory, and lead to long-term success in the water.

Let’s explore why practicing with good technique matters more than just cranking out endless repetitions, and how quality over quantity is the key to unlocking your full potential as a swimmer.

Why Good Technique Is Essential in Swimming

Swimming is a highly technical sport that requires precise coordination of muscles, body alignment, and timing. Even slight deviations in form can lead to inefficiencies, wasted energy, technical faults, and slower times. Unlike land-based sports, swimming involves moving through a dense medium - water - which magnifies the impact of poor technique.

Practicing with good form ensures that every stroke, kick, and drill is performed in a way that maximises power and minimises drag. When you swim with correct technique, you become more streamlined, conserving energy and reducing the likelihood of overuse injuries.

Here are key reasons why good technique matters:

1. Efficiency: Proper technique allows for more efficient movement through the water. With less resistance, swimmers can glide farther with each stroke, leading to faster times without expending extra energy.

2. Muscle Memory: The goal of swim-specific drills is to develop muscle memory - the automatic, correct execution of skills. Repeating movements with bad form teaches your body the wrong patterns, making it harder to correct later. Good technique ingrains the right movements into your muscle memory.

3. Injury Prevention: Poor technique can place undue stress on certain muscles, joints, and tendons. Over time, this can lead to overuse injuries, especially in the shoulders, neck, and lower back. Practicing with good form ensures that you’re using your body correctly, minimising the risk of strain or injury.

4. Building Speed and Power: Technical swimming isn’t just about finesse - it’s about applying power effectively. When you practice with good technique, you’re training your body to coordinate power from your core and limbs in a way that optimises force production. Poor form, on the other hand, can lead to “muscling through” the water without much speed gain.

The Pitfalls of Repetition with Poor Technique

Many swimmers fall into the trap of thinking that more is better - that doing more laps or more drills will automatically lead to improvement. Unfortunately, this mindset can lead to reinforcing bad habits. Repeated practice with poor form can be detrimental for several reasons:

1. Reinforcing Bad Habits: The more you practice incorrect movements, the harder they are to unlearn. Once bad habits are ingrained in your muscle memory, it becomes increasingly difficult to correct them without starting from scratch. Repetition without attention to form only deepens these bad habits.

2. Wasted Energy: Swimming with poor technique is like driving a car with the parking brake on - you’re using more energy than necessary and not getting anywhere fast. Poor technique leads to energy leaks, where the power you generate from your muscles isn’t fully transferred into forward propulsion.

3. Increased Risk of Injury: As mentioned earlier, improper form puts stress on the body in all the wrong places. Shoulder impingements, lower back strains, and neck pain are common among swimmers who practice with poor technique. The more you swim with bad form, the greater your chance of developing chronic injuries.

4. Plateaued Performance: Without focusing on technique, it’s easy to hit a performance plateau. You may increase your training volume, but without improving your form, you won’t see corresponding gains in speed, endurance, or efficiency.

The Role of Swim-Specific Drills in Building Technique

Swim-specific drills are designed to break down complex movements into smaller, manageable parts that allow swimmers to focus on specific technical aspects. Drills help isolate different components of each stroke - such as hand entry, catch, pull phase, or body rotation - and allow swimmers to hone those skills before integrating them back into full-stroke swimming.

Drills should be done with attention to technique for a number of reasons, including:

1. Refinement: Drills give you the opportunity to refine specific aspects of your stroke. For example, a sculling drill focuses on feel for the water, while a single-arm drill can emphasise body alignment, length and timing of the breath. Practicing drills with good form ensures that you’re isolating and improving the right movement patterns.

2. Body Awareness: When you break down the stroke into components, you become more aware of your body’s position in the water - this is known as proprioception. Practicing drills with proper form helps you develop better body awareness, which translates to improved technique during full strokes.

3. Transfer to Full-Stroke Swimming: When done correctly, drills enhance your stroke by integrating the individual skills into the full stroke. For example, focusing on hip rotation during an ONCORE feet balance drill will improve your overall freestyle performance. However, practicing drills with poor form only transfers bad habits back into your stroke.

Striking a Balance: Quality Repetition with Good Technique

While it’s true that repetition is necessary for learning and muscle memory, quality must come first. It’s better to perform fewer repetitions with precise technique than to mindlessly go through the motions. Each stroke and drill should be approached with full attention to form, ensuring that every movement is correct and efficient. Here are a few tips to strike the right balance:

Focus on Technique First: Before increasing volume, make sure you have mastered the technique. Use video analysis, feedback from coaches, or tools like ONCORE to ensure you’re practicing with correct form.

Take It Slow: When learning new skills or refining old ones, it’s important to slow down. Swimming at a controlled pace allows you to focus on technique without feeling rushed.

Break It Down: Isolate parts of your stroke with drills. For example, practice the catch separately to refine the hold and feel of the water before integrating it back into your full stroke.

Use Tools Wisely: Tools like ONCORE can be used to emphasise core engagement, body alignment, and feel for the water, helping swimmers develop technical proficiency while strengthening key muscle groups.

Quality Over Quantity: Instead of mindlessly repeating laps, focus on the quality of each stroke. Perform a set number of laps or drills with perfect form, and then gradually build up the volume.

In swimming, technique is everything. Practicing with poor form, no matter how many repetitions, will only lead to inefficiency, injury, and limited progress. By focusing on quality practice with good technique, swimmers can develop efficient movement patterns, prevent injury, and build the muscle memory needed for long-term success in the water. Whether you’re performing swim-specific drills, learning new strokes, or honing your technique, the mantra is clear: quality over quantity, always.