Developing Mobility In Swimmers

According to Harvard Health Mobility is defined as your ability to move purposefully as you go through your day. It comprises of all the skills required for everyday living: physical stamina, strength, balance, coordination, and range of motion. FLexibility, which is the ability to move muscles and joints through a full normal range of motion, though often used interchangeably, it is not the same thing.

Mobility improves Strength, core development, rotation, body position, and reduces drag. It’s a key component to the amount of force per stroke a swimmer can produce. It affects everything.

range of motion- Which improves your In water balance and core stability , Developing better range of motion will make you a more efficient swimmer.

posture- In water Body position is key to better swimming. Streamline, starts, turns, rotation and breakouts all rely on have long straight posture.

Injury prevention - Using stretching, warm-up and cool down to improve mobility allows muscles the ability to optimally contract and perform.

3 Types of Stretching

Ballistic Stretches involve bouncing or jerking. Similar to dynamic stretching in that it involves movement. Instead of moving a body part to the end of its range of motion, however, you attempt to go beyond this range. Useful for experienced athletes not recommended for beginners.

Static Stretches is most often what comes to mind when people think of stretching. The emphasis is to focus on single muscle group. It involve flexing the muscles. This involves stretching a muscle near its furthest point and then holding that position for at least 15 or 20 seconds.

Dynamic Stretches are active movements where joints and muscles go through a full range of motion.