Swimming laps: I have a difficult time counting?

Question

Meaning 30+ laps

Answer 1

ok I lifeguard and at this pool I saw these guys do this and I thought it was genius. Go to the land line and pull it back so you  can see the wire. Every time you swim down and come back (50 yards) take one plastic piece and push it toward the wall. I do that now and its easy, not hard to think about

Answer 2

Divide up your swim into sets.  I personally to 6 sets of 12 laps each minimum.  Like you, my mind tends to wander as I swim (at age 43).  When I forget which lap I have completed, I usually defer to the lower number in my head thinking that doing extra laps is not bad for me.  I find swimming very relaxing mentally as I am focused on the technique and the lap count yet at the same time, I find that as I am going back and forth that ideas pop into my head regarding various situations I face and I exit the pool energized to face those challenges with a fresh perspective or possible resolution.  

The other option you can try, is to time yourself.  Find out how long it takes you in general to do how ever many laps you are desiring to complete.  If you loose count, defer to the clock and swim for time, not for laps that day.

Answer 3

It's good that u worry about ur technique, but counting is really important when it comes to racing. Just trust yourself when it comes to your stroke and let ur body do the work. And when it comes to counting, I have the same problem!! Try saying the number over and over in your head of count down instead of up. It helps me!!

Answer 4

Don't worry about the counting, your technique is much more important. I don't count anymore when I exercise, I just exercise and think about whatever is going on in my head. It is rather like meditation and I fine that I actually "get in the zone" and workout longer and harder then when I count.

Answer 5

I am a long distance swimmer and I have a few different tecniques  use to keep count (although i still seem to loose count sometimes!)

Count in groups of 10 and do somthing that you will remember after each group. I scrunch up one of my fingers, it sounds weird but it really works.

Swim 10 or so laps and time how long it takes you. The next time you swim you will be able to tell how far you have swum, according to how long it takes you. This will tell you the distance you have swum, and you can work out the number of laps from there.

Repeat the lap number over and over in you head, on each stroke. This is a bit repetitave at the start but after a while you can count and still let your mind wander.

If its really bad, stop after every 10 or so laps and use somthing (like a stone or a drink bottle) to mark the number of laps you have done. Then you will only have to count to ten at a time.

Hope this helps

Answer 6

put kickboards or something on the deck next to you and count by 100 yards (4 laps). thats what works for me!  :]

Answer 7

Is it really important?

As long as you feel like you worked hard afterwards, I think you've done good.

Maybe...you can get someone else to count for you?

hahaha

If someone was willing.

Or, if it's possible (might get messy or something. Plus I'm not a real swimming so I don't know if you can hold anything) but if you have 30 something pebbles on one side of the pool, and you take one pebble with you every time you cross, then you'll know how many laps you've gone.