How many of you feel that because you are in a training session you do not need to worry about how you finish at the end of lane? As coaches, we observe many swimmers taking a relaxed approach and finishing a breast stroke lap with one hand, not kicking to the wall for the freestyle. Or even (gasp) stopping before the end of the lap!
It is important to do in a training session as you would in a race situation. It would be a shame for the perfect race to be let down by a poor finish. You may even become a member of the DQ club!
Ensuring you practice the same as you if are doing the real thing is important. It becomes second nature and one less aspect of the race to worry about.
Learn and practice the finish that goes with the stroke, do you need to touch the wall with one or two hands? Take note of those flags, they tell you how far away you are from the wall and hopefully muscle memory kicks in and you remember what you have practiced such as how many strokes it might take you to reach that wall. One other top tip is to practice your finishes when you are training, it can be easy to get lazy and get out of practice, but training is the perfect place to help those muscles and brain remember what to do.
If you’re looking for tips and tricks to improve your finish, or if you’re not actually sure what a good finish looks like for your favourite stroke, come to an Aqualicious Session and our coaches can help you out!