Learning Proper Strokes Helps with Recreational Swimming

Did you know that over 90 million Americans go swimming every single year? With that many swimmers, it's easy to understand why swimming is the fourth most popular recreational sport in the country, according to the CDC. Now that summer is in full swing, we wanted to go over a couple of reasons why learning proper swim strokes can help anyone when they're swimming for fun! 

So, whether you're heading to your neighborhood pool or taking a trip to the coast, it's important to know proper swim strokes to keep you safe, energized, and having the most fun out there! 

Retain More Energy

Swimming is notorious for being an activity that can tire your body very fast, but if you utilize the proper stroke, you may find yourself not so tired at the end of a day in the water. Each of the different swim strokes, like backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and even butterfly, are crafted to use your body's muscles in the right way to avoid unnecessary movement. 

When you swim with these strokes recreationally, you will find your body will retain more energy, not only allowing you to have more fun, but this will also keep you safe. Rapid energy exertion in the water can result in your body running out of energy too quickly.

Preventing Injuries

One of the most unique aspects of swimming is that it uses so many muscle groups, making it great for fitness. Since so many parts of the body go into swimming, it's important to know what swimmers should do to avoid injury when swimming recreationally. 

Proper swim strokes, like the backstroke and breaststroke, have their own mechanics that swimmers must use to properly perform them. These strokes are carefully crafted and practiced to ensure our bodies can do them without injury, which means that swimmers who may not know these strokes could be more prone to injury. Proper swim stokes allow swimmers to avoid joint strain and potential muscle cramps. 

Building Confidence

Recreational swimmers can often find themselves in two different types of environments. Whether you're in a crowded pool or open water, every swimmer should have the confidence to move about in a safe manner.

One of the easiest ways to ensure you maintain confidence around lots of other swimmers or in a larger body of water is by using the strokes you feel most confident in. If you've got a great breaststroke, then you'll want to use that to navigate the water over other strokes that you still might want to practice. Practicing other swim strokes in a recreational environment isn't recommended, since you may be surrounded by other swimmers and obstacles you wouldn't usually see in a swim lesson.

Need Swim Lessons? 

If your swimmer is looking to retain more energy in the water and build confidence in other swim strokes, check out our year-round swim lessons! Our once a week, 30-minute group swim lessons can help swimmers of any level build the foundational skills they need to have fun and stay safe when swimming recreationally.