First Post here but love the forum and some of the experts are amazing.
I'm looking for tips on how to hold maximum water to increase stroke rate/ Propulsion. My son went 1:03 on a 100M butterfly last year with 48 strokes and now he goes the same time but with 45 strokes. He has worked hard on his technique and it shows that his distance per stroke has improved but his stroke rate is slower. Which is understandable but if he were to improve his stroke rate, he would get improvement in his time. One of the coaches told him to hold as much water as possible and increase his stroke rate without sacrificing his technique.
The question is how to do it. I found few articles, ie focus on the underwater pull/catch but more specific advise on how to hold water will be greatly appreciated.
You know, I was googling some stuff last night after I'd read some stuff about cutting down on bubbles on your stroke. It's sort of along the same line as what you're looking for probably. Google "bubbles swimming stroke" and you'll get a lot of solid information on just that.
It is great to hear that your son's distance per stroke is improving and that he is able to maintain the same time with less strokes.
In order to continue to improve the power and efficiency of his underwater catch and pull, he will need to incorporate specific drills into his workouts.
A few months back, we worked with Andres Olvik, an Estonian Olympic backstroker, to publish a few videos with drills that he would frequently use. One such drill was the early vertical forearm - which he demonstrated in both freestyle and backstroke. This drill only covers the first part of the pull phase. There are many other drills specific to developing other elements of the pull. Hope it might be of help to you. Best of luck to your son in his swimming career!
www.youtube.com/watch
Thanks. You are absolutely correct in that he needs to improve power and efficiency of his underwater catch and pull. How do I get additional videos for the other drills?
I just sent you a PM with additional details. In the meantime, here is another video we produced with Andres Olvik and his coach which might be interesting for you.
www.youtube.com/watch
First, why isn't your son looking for this information for himself?
a key factor to making change happen is:
The person MUST want to change.
Consider acting as a consultant to your child instead of just looking it up and handing it to him.
Say something to your child like:
"Your coach said "you need to hold as much water as possible and increase your stroke rate without sacrificing your technique."
Then ask him "what does that mean? How do you do that?"
(the point being it is his problem, not yours. If he wants to swim faster let hm solve it on his own.)
then wait for your child to answer and listen to his response.
Then ask him, "What do you need to do to find out?"
another good question is "What do the worlds best butterflyers do?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
that being said:
How old is your son?
How tall is he?
How much does he weigh?
What are his other times in other events?
How does he train?
Is he an early maturer, in the middle or a late bloomer?
Make a vid of him swimming fly at race pace from several angles
above the water: straight on & from the side,
below the water: straight ahead & from the side
put it or them on youtube then
post the link here and invite us to check it out & offer comments
Probably the very best thing he can do is
get one on one stroke technique help with a great coach or swimmer.
it should be short and focused.
you might look at his stroke count in terms of strokes per length.
So did he do 45 strokes for the whole 100 or per length. What were his per length stroke counts?
Also how's his dolphin kick?
How many dolphin kicks did he do off the start and turn?
How far did he go before he broke out, took his first fly stroke off the start and off the turn?
hope this helps,
Ande
