What is your fav drill at practice?

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

orca1946 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 05:58:00 GMT

I just read one that is zero arms fly to improve whole body kicking. Interesting.

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

orca1946 — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:30:01 GMT

Hey! Thanx to all the new , for me, drills that I can drop on our team!:applaud:

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

orca1946 — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:27:31 GMT

I have seen Paul in Jammers - the song "Blinded by the light " comes to mind HA HA HA NO really!!!!! OPPS!! That was me - I must have been looking in a mirror!!!

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

poolraat — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:50:31 GMT

Fly drill = right arm, both arms, left arm, both arms, right arm, both.....repeat (breathing can be to the side on right or left arm or front on both). Freestyle finger drill = 150's; first 25 fist, second index fingers added, 3rd add one more finger...till full hand on last 25 Backstroke drill...this one is very had to describe. Start on back, right hand in streamline position, left arm at side, initiate right arm pull (from hip) bringing hand all the way to 90 degrees then reverse direction (hand drops to water then moves underwater back to starting position in streamline over head, repeat for 25 the switch arms on return. Breaststroke = 125's, 1st 25 right arm only, second left arm only, 3rd fists, 4th normal swim, 5th is breaststroke kick on back Paul- Not sure I understand how this is done. Can you explain it better of perhaps provide a video of how its done?

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

Paul Smith — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:03:31 GMT

For God's sake, don't make the video of yourself! The visuals would instantly cause half the USMS membership to flee the organization in horror! you "outed" me Chris....I'm secretly trying to reduce the time lines at our national championship meets by reducing our membership!

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

Chris Stevenson — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 05:24:35 GMT

Paul- Not sure I understand how this is done. Can you ... perhaps provide a video of how its done? For God's sake, don't make the video of yourself! The visuals would instantly cause half the USMS membership to flee the organization in horror!

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

Debugger — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:25:05 GMT

For the Fly: 1. My favorite - dolphin kick on the back 2. 1+1+1 drill - 1 right hand, 1 - left , 1 - both hands 3. Fly with 3 kicks - drill for developing body position For the Free I don't do many: 1. Catch-up drill 2. Fingers touching water on recovery 3. The challenging one (Don't know the name) - You start kicking hands are along the trunk. You make recovery, stretch out, make pull, while making pull body rotates and at the end off the pull you make breath and rotate back to the original position. Hand stays along the trunk. Repeat with 2nd hand with breath to the alternate side. Usually when I swim this drill I do about 400m one length the drill / one length full stroke. The feeling of the water after this drill is tremendous! For the backstroke: I'm not a backstroker but I swim one drill when I swim exorcises for medley. You swim normal backstroke but on half way of the recovery your hand freezes for couple seconds in the vertical position (you need to keep kicking hard to avoid sinking) the alternate hand also freezes in streamline. Then at the same time start the pull and complete the recovery. Important issue is that at this moment you have to feel how the roll of the shoulders helps with the propulsion. Another thing I like to do as part of the aerobic period is ladder, alternating Freestyle with my main stroke - *** (you may use any stroke you like). Swim easy at HR 65-70% of the MHR. 1x3000m (or yards) non stop: 500m Free / 100m *** 400m Free / 200m *** 300m Free / 300m *** 200m Free / 400m *** 100m Free / 500m ***

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

Former Member — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:21:28 GMT

Breaststroke using dolphin kick + fins, paddles optional. I kick slightly pigeon-toed and put the kick exactly where the normal BR kick would be in the stroke cycle. Very friendly for bad knees and good for working on body position/streamlining.

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

Paul Smith — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:15:33 GMT

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

ourswimmer — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 11:47:55 GMT

Backstroke drill...this one is very had to describe. Start on back, right hand in streamline position, left arm at side, initiate right arm pull (from hip) bringing hand all the way to 90 degrees then reverse direction (hand drops to water then moves underwater back to starting position in streamline over head, repeat for 25 the switch arms on return. Is the point of the drill to work the catch over and over? (Or do I not understand your description of the drill?)

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

philoswimmer — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 12:04:20 GMT

Doing breaststroke with a little ball underneath my neck really helped me to figure out how to look down instead of up.

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

Karl_S — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 07:49:51 GMT

Reading this thread made me recongnize that I actually much prefer to swim over doing drills... but to answer the OP: I have kinda enjoyed working on my catch with paddles this year. Also "swim golf" can be pretty fun; i.e. try to minimize the sum of your stroke count plus your time over a fixed distance.

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

gdanner — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 07:10:53 GMT

pull on the laneline drill. definitely my favorite, but not much use to anyone.

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

smontanaro — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 02:33:57 GMT

One, the catch up drill I learned years ago had you in streamline position actually touching hands. I like the position 11 better as it doesn't promote crossing in front. I've done two things to combat the tendency to streamline while doing a catch-up drill. One, extend my thumbs and don't let then do more than graze their tips in the catch-up position. Second, I have a short piece of broomstick in my swim bag. If I grab both ends of the stick that puts me in the position 11 you referred to. Every stroke I grab the free end of the stick and initiate the next pull on the other side. Skip

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

Former Member — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:56:09 GMT

My fav breaststroke drill is two "underwater" kicks w/one pull - and you have to wait for three seconds after the second kick before you pull, so your body becomes horizontal again. My fav freestyle drill involves (surprise!!) short fins - you kick on your side (no board) for about 6 yards, then pull the lower arm through & rotate to the other side, repeat kicking & rolling. It's very fun, but also good to help people learn to rotate their shoulders. I agree on both on these; except, my coach had me doing three *** kicks for each pull. I have a very flast *** stroke and this make me go deeper with more of a wave.

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

smontanaro — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:56:22 GMT

I like this one a lot right now: www.goswim.tv/.../freestyle---practice-the-catch.html Aside from placing particular emphasis on the actual catch, how is this any different than a normal catch-up drill? BTW, I find many people try rushing all these drills. Catch-up is so close to normal freestyle, especially for front-quadrant swimmers, that it's pretty easy to get caught up in going fast, not focusing on the specifics of the drill. Skip

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

bcoomes — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:30:54 GMT

My favorite drill: as suggested by Ed Moses, breaststroke kick on my back. On the other hand, there are many other drills which a) I am terrible at and b) I really need to work on.

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

bcoomes — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:15:28 GMT

I think this would be a great drill to use a snorkel with. +1 I tried this drill today and after 50 yds, grabbed my snorkel. Without having to think about breathing, it was much easier to concentrate on the catch. This is definitely an area where I need work.

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

gobears — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:24:41 GMT

I like this one a lot right now: www.goswim.tv/.../freestyle---practice-the-catch.html

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

Debugger — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 05:30:45 GMT

I don't have favorite one because drill it's a spot where you need to work to get better. Nevertheless I do some for breaststroke (need to think about other styles): Breaststroke with freestyle kick Breaststroke with dolphin kick Breaststroke pull with buoy (perhaps the most exhausting :) ) 1 pull + 2 kicks 2 pulls + 1 kick

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

knelson — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 05:07:32 GMT

I like this one a lot right now: www.goswim.tv/.../freestyle---practice-the-catch.html I think this would be a great drill to use a snorkel with.

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

jswim — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:52:05 GMT

I also like the double kick for every pull breaststroke drill. For freestyle I like the finger drill: fist with forefinger pointing out for 25, pinky out/25, fist/25, and the last 25 normal freestyle, repeat 4x. I also like butterfly each arm three strokes/regular fly for 3, etc.. just cause it's fun to do! ;)

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

gobears — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:32:08 GMT

Aside from placing particular emphasis on the actual catch, how is this any different than a normal catch-up drill? BTW, I find many people try rushing all these drills. Catch-up is so close to normal freestyle, especially for front-quadrant swimmers, that it's pretty easy to get caught up in going fast, not focusing on the specifics of the drill. Skip It was helpful to me in two ways. One, the catch up drill I learned years ago had you in streamline position actually touching hands. I like the position 11 better as it doesn't promote crossing in front. I also like the emphasis on keeping the shoulder and elbow stable while bringing the forearm down slowly into a focused catch. I think it heightens awareness of elbow position. YMMV :)

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

Allen Stark — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:05:15 GMT

1) Breaststroke 1,2,3 sec drill.Swim 100 BR,1st 25 glide 1 sec/stroke,2nd 25 glide 2sec/stroke,3rd 25 3 sec and last 25 regular BR. 2) 4(or 8 or whatever) 50s on the min(or what ever) descending by time and decrease 1 SPL every 2-3 50s.(I make the numbers vague because you'll want to fit this to their ability.)

RE: What is your fav drill at practice?

Former Member — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:57:03 GMT

I like the vertical kicking drill. Arms crossed over chest (for wimps) or hands out of the water, abs engaged, hips aligned with shoulders, legs straight. 15-60 seconds, then rest 30. This one is great for leg and core strength. Plus, if you want to hear your team curse you, there's nothing better.