The Golden Age of Swimming Content…and Its Hidden Cost

Why Instagram, YouTube and “Instant Fixes” Often Do More Harm Than Good

Jan 15, 2026

∙ Paid

Upgrade to paid to play voiceover

Hey Swimmers,

Never before have we had such instant access to swimming advice. Instagram reels, YouTube tutorials, slow-motion clips with arrows and captions promising effortless speed. In many ways, that is a good thing. There is far more curiosity about technique now than there was even ten years ago. But there is also a growing downside that I am seeing daily on pool decks, in video analysis sessions, and in my inbox.

A 12-Week Waiting List and a Familiar Conversation

At the time of writing, I have an unprecedented 12-week waiting list for my most popular and favourite coaching session: the 1-to-1 video analysis and stroke correction session. I love these sessions because they allow dedicated 1-to-1 time with a swimmer, allowing me to explain the nuances of their stroke and also help them understand what is truly holding them back.

Increasingly, many of the swimmers coming to see me arrive having spent hours diligently watching Instagram and YouTube content, trying to “fix” their stroke. They are motivated, committed, but often frustrated. The advice they followed has not worked for them. Sometimes it has actively made things worse.

I’m often met with the answer in response to my question, “so, tell me about your swimming - how’s it going?”, with:

“I’m watching all of these videos but they all seem to contradict each other and I’m not sure what applies to me...all I know is I’m getting slower and more frustrated, not quicker and more efficient like the videos promise me? Can you help?”

Since launching our 6-day Swim Smooth Experiences in 2022, we set out to distinguish them from typical swim holidays by ensuring every swimmer receives dedicated 1-to-1 video analysis. This was a deliberate response to the growing confusion caused by generic, one-size-fits-all advice. I’m genuinely looking forward to working closely with the swimmers joining us on our 2026 Swim Smooth Experiences in Lanzarote, Mallorca (twice) and Crete, where this personalised coaching remains a central part of the package.

You Can’t Coach the Stroke. You Have to Coach the Swimmer

The core reason is simple. You cannot coach a one-size fits all stroke. You have to meet the swimmer where they’re at.

What is helpful for one swimmer can be neutral or even damaging for another. I recently shared a clip of three swimmers who were all overgliding, pausing excessively at the front of the stroke because this is what they’d seen on Instagram as “dream-like” swimming with a backdrop of mountains, waterfalls and classical music. Check it out below:

I used this same video to initiate the first conversation with a group of over 30 British Triathlon Coaches at our recent workshop at Mount Kelly College in Devon, UK.

On the surface, the fault looks identical. But the outcomes were very different. The first swimmer had developed an enormous leg kick to blast herself through the dead spot. The other two had begun to suffer shoulder pain from holding the lead arm extended for too long while waiting for the recovering arm to catch up. Same visible habit. Very different consequences. Try to see if you can spot which shoulder caused the second swimmer to cease his Rottnest Channel Swim aspirations, and for the third swimmer to have ongoing shoulder niggles.

When Good Intentions Create Bad Mechanics

Then there was my 1-to-1 swimmer, just yesterday.

She had watched a lot of content about “sinky legs” and became convinced that her body position was her biggest weakness. In response, she buried her head deeply underwater, eyes straight down, fully submerged.

In reality, her body position was her biggest strength. It really was excellent:

But, looking down so much lifted her legs too high in her wetsuit, unbalancing her completely.

She had also successfully learned a two-beat kick, no small achievement, but because she was pressing down with her left hand and starting from such a low head position, she had to lift and turn excessively to breathe. The knock-on effect was a wildly bent-knee kick as her body tried to compensate with what we call a “kickstart” (usually attributed to overgliders trying to do a two-beat kick with an excessively slow stroke rate).

A classic chain of cause and effect, all triggered by well-intentioned but misapplied advice.

The Problem With Short-Form “Guru” Content

This is where short-form content can become a problem. When everyone is a “guru” and every clip is presented as a universal truth, swimmers are left to diagnose themselves. Some content is genuinely helpful. Some of it is incomplete. But without context, feedback, and an understanding of individual constraints, it can send you down a rabbit hole of stroke correction that simply is not right for you.

The Swim Smooth GURU aims to bridge the gap between content/advice, feedback, and dedicated 1-to-1 coaching

Coaching the Swimmer, Not the Stroke

That is why we have always prided ourselves on coaching the swimmer, not the stroke. When time is limited, as it is for all of us, the real cost is not just the subscription or the view count. It is the months, sometimes years, spent reinforcing habits that take you further away from your best swimming.

How to Be Smarter About the Content You Consume

If you are using online content to guide your training, here are a few ways to be more judicious:

Ask whether the swimmer in the video actually swims like you. Body type, flexibility, breathing pattern, kick and history of injury all matter;
Be wary of advice that focuses on a single body part in isolation. Strokes are systems. Changes always have downstream effects;
Notice whether the advice is framed as “this can help some swimmers” or “everyone should do this.”
Track outcomes, not intent. If something feels harder, more stressful, or starts to cause niggles, pause and reassess;
When in doubt, get feedback early rather than doubling down.

Why Certainty Beats Endless Experimentation

Access to information is a gift. But guidance, applied correctly, is what saves time. A session with a Swim Smooth Coach can ensure you are working on the right thing for you, right now, rather than hoping that the next reel holds the missing piece.

Book a Session with Your Local Coach

Coming Next: Finding the Low-Hanging Fruit in Your Stroke

From next week, I’ll be kicking off a six-part Swim Types series for 2026. This framework underpins how we help swimmers and coaches quickly identify the low-hanging fruit in each individual stroke. Not generic fixes. Not copy-and-paste drills. Just clear, swimmer-specific priorities that actually make sense.

A question we’re often asked is whether Swim Types contradict our belief in individualised coaching.

Why six types, and not ten, twenty, or an infinite number?

The answer is a practical one. Every swimmer is unique, but infinite variation is impossible to coach against. Swim Types are intentionally broad, designed to highlight the dominant pattern most likely holding a swimmer back right now. They don’t define the swimmer, and they’re not mutually exclusive. Most swimmers will recognise elements of more than one.

Sometimes, the fastest way forward isn’t more effort, more drills, or more content. It’s better context. A clearer understanding of where to start and what to prioritise. That’s exactly what this series aims to provide.

Thanks for reading - I look forward to sharing that series with you from next week, as we boldly close in on our 1,000th blog post. Oh, and we’ve got a few spots left in those Swim Smooth Experiences, so please make sure you check out the links within the blog itself - thanks!

Your Coach, Paul.

Want to Join Us in 2026 to Improve Your Swim?

We’re now down to only a few places remaining on our various Swim Smooth Experiences in 2026 (only one spot left for Lanzarote on 12-18 March - get in quick!) and I would love for you to join us. For the full run-down of events where I’ll be coaching, head to:

Boost my Swim in 2026!