How to Improve Swimming Technique Faster: Fix One Thing at a Time

The fastest way to improve swimming technique is to work on one thing at a time, not ten. It sounds too simple, so most swimmers do the opposite: they collect every flaw on the video, try to fix them all at once, and end up changing nothing. Here is how we do it at Swimpros, why technique is as much a mental skill as a physical one, and what I learned about it from the sports psychologist of Michael Phelps.

What is the fastest way to improve swimming technique?

Find the number one thing in the stroke that will drop the most time. Once you know it, improving it becomes a function of how focused the swimmer is on that one thing. The hard part is not the drill. It is finding the right thing, then leaving everything else alone until it is done.

Why does a full video analysis leave swimmers worse off?

Film a fast swimmer with high-speed cameras, play it back frame by frame, and you see everything. Every wrong angle, every air bubble they pull through the water.

You could probably sit there for three hours and point out all the things that are wrong. But that just leaves the swimmer super confused, overwhelmed and actually very down.

I know because it happened to me. I once got the full analysis: my arms, my legs, my timing was off, my head was moving a bit. I walked away feeling like my swimming just sucked, with no clear game plan for what to fix first. Tell a swimmer about their elbow, then on the next slide that they only do four kicks instead of six, and they go back in the water confused. In the end nothing gets done.

How do we find the one thing in the flume channel?

At camp we usually do the flume channel on day 3. The swimmer swims against the current while high-speed cameras capture the stroke frame by frame. It is one of the best flumes in Europe and the swimmers love it, but the most valuable part comes the same day: a 1:1 video analysis with each swimmer, so we know what they will work on for the rest of camp.

The cameras matter because at race speed the eye cannot see the details from the outside. Say a freestyler who swims around 24 seconds for a 50 sprints for ten seconds in the flume. In super slow motion, the footage shows what actually happens at that speed.

From there we pick the one change that will drop the most time. It is different for every swimmer. The swimmer knows it, the coaches know it, and it goes into a PDF report. For the bigger picture of the technique work on camp, read how a swim training camp fixes stroke technique.

How does a swimmer make a technique change automatic?

Once we know the one thing, it becomes purely mental. The swimmer sets an intention before they jump in. They think about it in the warm-up, in the preset, in the main set and in the easy swims. All the time. I guarantee you that is the fastest way to improve technique.

Repetition overrides the old pattern. The new one gets saved in the subconscious and the swimmer can do it without conscious effort. That is what we call mastery: being unconsciously competent. Only then do we move on to the next most important thing.

Sometimes that takes a couple of days, sometimes a couple of weeks. When we find the one thing on day 3, the swimmers are in the water twice a day and we hammer on it, so the remaining seven or eight days of camp are enough time to make it automatic.

Why does fixing one thing beat fixing everything at once?

Think of multitasking. A lot of people believe they are good at it. I used to think that way too, so I started reading the research. A great book that summarises a lot of research on habits is Atomic Habits by James Clear, and I recommend it to swimmers and parents alike.

When people multitask, the quality of the work drops, and finishing everything takes longer than doing the most important task first, with full focus, then the next. Stop an essay to answer one text and you have to reread and find the groove again. Technique works the same way. Ten corrections at once means ten half-changes. One correction at a time, done until it is automatic, gets a swimmer further, faster.

Why can’t a swimmer teach themselves technique?

Because swimming is not a natural movement. Any baby without a physical limitation learns to walk by watching and trying. It does not matter how many times you put a baby in the pool, it will not learn to swim on its own. It has to be taught.

You can see it in the records. Over the last 50 to 70 years, the world record in the 100 metre sprint in running has barely moved, while the 100 metre freestyle record has improved dramatically. Not that long ago swimmers came off the blocks with an old-style start and did no underwaters. Even the supersuit records were supposed to last forever, and one of the last still standing is the men’s long course 200 backstroke by Aaron Peirsol.

That is why nobody becomes a great swimmer without a great coach. No number of YouTube videos replaces external feedback: someone who sees your catch, your breaststroke kick with the toes turned out, your turns and starts, from the outside.

What did Michael Phelps’ sports psychologist teach me about technique?

When I swam at the University of Virginia, I hit a plateau and had very bad race anxiety. I told that story in from choking at NCAAs to a Swiss record at the Olympics. Here is the first lesson Phelps’ sports psychologist taught me, because it changed how I think about technique.

There are only three things a competitive swimmer can train. The body: endurance, strength, what you eat, how you sleep. The technique. And the mind. In competition, your performance depends on the lowest of the three, so you need all three at a high level at the same time.

Now look at technique through that lens. A swimmer can be mentally strong and in great shape, but if I changed their entire technique in the flume the night before a meet, they race confused, because the new stroke is not integrated yet. One more reason to change one thing at a time and make it automatic before it has to hold up under pressure.

If your swimmer already swims great times in training and falls apart at meets, the limit is probably the mind, not the stroke. I covered that in fast in practice, slow at meets. For me, working on that missing piece was the turning point: I swam faster than ever at my next competition, made the Olympic team that year, and set the Swiss record of 2:01.35 in the 200m IM at the London 2012 Olympics.

What should a swimmer do when they hit exhaustion in training?

A lot of swimmers are very good at getting to the point of exhaustion and staying there. Far fewer can find a switch in that moment and think: great, this is exactly where I want to be, because this is where I get faster. The switch is small. Hold the technique for just three more strokes. Keep the heart rate ten beats higher for the next five 100s, best average. It is the same skill as the technique work: focus, chosen on purpose, when it is hardest.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest way to improve swimming technique?
Fix one thing at a time. Identify the single change that will drop the most time, focus on it in every part of practice until it is automatic, then move on to the next one. Trying to fix everything at once leaves swimmers confused and nothing changes.

How long does it take to make a technique change automatic?
From a couple of days to a couple of weeks. At Swimpros camps we find the most important change on day 3 and the swimmers train twice a day, so the remaining seven or eight days are enough time to make it automatic.

Can a swimmer improve technique by watching YouTube videos?
Not on their own. Swimming is not a natural movement, so it has to be taught, and a swimmer needs external feedback from a coach who sees the stroke from the outside, ideally with high-speed video at race speed.

What are the three things a competitive swimmer can train?
The body, the technique and the mind. It was the first lesson I learned from Michael Phelps’ sports psychologist: in competition, performance depends on the lowest of the three, so all three need to be at a high level at the same time.