Stretch Cord Exercises for Swimmers

Stretch cords enable swimmers to perform resistance exercises that simulate the entire range of movement of a stroke. Because of the elasticity of the cords, you can accelerate the completion of your stroke on land in the same way that you do in water. You can also practice a faster stroke tempo to improve speed. Because you have to stabilize your body while moving your arms, stretch cord exercises work your core musculature.

  1. Warming Up and Injury Prevention

    • According to “The Swim-Coaching Bible 2” by former coach of the U.S. National Swim Team Dick Hannula and head coach of the University of California, Berkeley’s Men’s Swimming Nort Thornton, swimmers should perform stretch cord exercises as part of a warmup. To prevent injury, these exercises should work the pulling forward and drawing together motions of your shoulder blades as well as joint rotation. Exercises can include punching, Nordic row and external and internal reverse flyes. For example, to perform an external flye, loop the middle of the cord around stationary object, such as a pole or wall mount, at shoulder level. Holding the ends in each hand, stand facing the anchor point at a distance that takes out slack in the cord. Extend both arms in front of you. Move your arms to your sides in a sweeping circular motion, rotating your shoulders. Slowly return to starting position. Perform 15 to 20 reps for three sets.

    Resistance Exercises

    • Hannula and Thornton would put two dozen stretch cords of different lengths and strengths around the pool’s perimeter to conduct dry-land resistance training. One end of the cord was attached to a wall mount and the other end attached to a paddle or handle. Two cords were also mounted at 15 feet above deck level so swimmers could perform movements that simulate the top half of their strokes. Hannula and Thornton’s swimmers would position themselves under the cords and pull down repetitively at full intensity. You can perform stretch cord resistance exercises, using the form of your strokes, according to “Strength Training for Faster Swimming” by Blythe Lucero. For example, do a double arm pull, following the underwater motion of the butterfly stroke. You can also try an alternating arm pull with the underwater path of the freestyle stroke.

    Sprint Training

    • You can use stretch cords for sprint-resisted and sprint-assisted training. For example, Olympic swimmer Summer Sanders would use stretch cords to swim 20 X 50, or 50 yards 20 times, according to “Swimming Fastest” by Ernest W. Maglischo. As part of her sprint training, she’d swim the first 25 yards, or one length of the pool, against the tubing. On the next 25 yards, Sanders would swim sprint-assisted, which meant the cord helped to pull her through the water. According to “Dph Sports Series – Swimming” by H.C. Dubey, research has suggested that tethered swimming to increase power for sprints actually retards your muscle speed. Some coaches still use sprint-resisted techniques with cords to train distance swimmers, but they’ve limited the cord length to one-third the height of the swimmer and reduced the cord’s resistance level.

    Precautions

    • Check stretch cords for nicks, cuts and weak spots on a regular basis. The cord can snap and break, causing injury. For example, one competitive swimmer couldn’t walk for three days because a cord broke and struck him in the middle of an exercise, according to Hannula and Thornton.