Every swimmer, no matter novice or expert, young or old, needs to work on technique. The best way to work on technique is to break the stroke down into parts. To incorporate drills into a workout, it is best to do them as apart of your warm-up as well as your cool down. Speed is not important when working on drills; focus instead on technique, rotation and body position.
Freestyle
For competitive swimmers, as well as fitness swimmers, freestyle is the most used stroke. In order to improve speed in freestyle, efficient stroke mechanics are required. The most important part of freestyle is balance and rotation. To work on balance, swimmers can practice swimming with only one arm. To do this drill, swim one length of the pool with your left arm at your side and only use your right arm. Keep your stroke long and rotate as if you were swimming with both arms. Once your reach the wall, turn back and swim with your left arm while keeping your right arm at your side.
Backstroke
Many swim coaches have begun to teach the backstroke as more of a sidestroke; meaning that more time is spent on your side then your back. In order to be a strong backstroker, the swimmer must have a powerful core that allows them to quickly rotate from one side to the other. A drill to work on rotation is called the 7-7 drill. To begin, push off the wall like you are swimming regular backstroke. As you break the surface and pull down with your right arm, pause on your left side and kick seven times. Then, stroke with your left arm rotating to your right side and kick seven more times. Continue the cycle until you reach the end of the pool.
Breaststroke
Breaststroke is one of the more difficult strokes for competitive swimmers to master because it requires perfect timing as well as ankle and knee flexibility. Because the kick is where the power comes from, it is important for swimmers to master their breaststroke kick. One kicking drill has swimmers put their hands on their rear end and kick breaststroke from one end of the pool to the other. When doing this drill, take a breath with each kick and focus on keeping your knees 6 to 8 inches apart during the around portion of the kick. Think up-out-around.
Butterfly
The butterfly is the most difficult stroke to master for most swimmers. It requires the swimmer to have strength, flexibility and endurance. In order to master butterfly, it is best to break down the stroke, also known as a progression. First, swim with your arms at your side using a chest press-hip press to propel your body through the water. This will give you the dolphin effect that many recognize. The next step is to swim butterfly with each arm individually, continuing the dolphin motion with one arm in front of the body and one arm doing butterfly strokes. Repeat with the other arm. Continuing the progression, swim three strokes with your right arm only, three with your left arm only and three with both arms. Repeat for desired distance. Finally, put it all together focusing on pushing the hips up when the arms enter the water and pushing the hips down when the arms exit the water.
Member Comments