Several years ago, I learned a drill sequence that really helped my freestyle. Unfortunately, I have forgotten most of it, and my freestyle is very inefficient right now. I think the first drill was 'shark fin' and the second was moving back and forth from 'shark fin' to 'check your watch.' I believe there were about five or six drills total. Has anyone done or heard of this sequence and could remind me of the rest of the drills?
Parents
Former Member
Globuggie,
I reflected a bit on our conversation. I'd like to make one thing clear. My general point is that whatever drill sets or progressions you prefer, the best time to use them is during warm-up. I tailored my article in Total Swim for the TI crowd. They have a common set of drills with which I am familiar and I really like. You may or may not care for TI. Whatever stroke techniques you do like, your warm-up is the time to reinforce good stroke habits before you start the aerobically challenging part of the work-out.
As I described in my article, lots of teams have warm-ups that are "garbage yardage" sets of low intensity, whole stroke swimming. That does two things. It prepares your body to do more challenging work later in the practice. It also reinforces whatever stroke habits, good or bad, you already have. The first part is fine and necessary. The second part may not be what you are trying to achieve with your practice; indeed, it may set you back. Instead, how about low intensity drill work so that you prepare your body to work harder AND reinforce the good habits you are trying to develope. That way, the first whole stroke you take will be a lot closer to the form you are trying to develope. You can achieve both these objectives during warm-up, regardless of whether you follow TI or not.
I'd also point out there is no precise science behind drill progressions. I decided to use TI drills in warm-up, experimented a little, and came up with a sequence that worked for me. You can do the same using whatever school of thought appeals to you. Think about the stroke mechanics you want to develope, pick drills that seem to work towards that objective, and experiment with the sequence. You'll find what works for you. BTW, when I swim with a team, I simply do my drills for as long as they are on the "official" warm-up set. I try to stay out of my lane mates' way, and stop when they stop. I then join in the rest of the "official" work-out. No one has ever indicated to me they have a problem with me warming up that way, and I have done this with 4 different masters teams.
Matt
Globuggie,
I reflected a bit on our conversation. I'd like to make one thing clear. My general point is that whatever drill sets or progressions you prefer, the best time to use them is during warm-up. I tailored my article in Total Swim for the TI crowd. They have a common set of drills with which I am familiar and I really like. You may or may not care for TI. Whatever stroke techniques you do like, your warm-up is the time to reinforce good stroke habits before you start the aerobically challenging part of the work-out.
As I described in my article, lots of teams have warm-ups that are "garbage yardage" sets of low intensity, whole stroke swimming. That does two things. It prepares your body to do more challenging work later in the practice. It also reinforces whatever stroke habits, good or bad, you already have. The first part is fine and necessary. The second part may not be what you are trying to achieve with your practice; indeed, it may set you back. Instead, how about low intensity drill work so that you prepare your body to work harder AND reinforce the good habits you are trying to develope. That way, the first whole stroke you take will be a lot closer to the form you are trying to develope. You can achieve both these objectives during warm-up, regardless of whether you follow TI or not.
I'd also point out there is no precise science behind drill progressions. I decided to use TI drills in warm-up, experimented a little, and came up with a sequence that worked for me. You can do the same using whatever school of thought appeals to you. Think about the stroke mechanics you want to develope, pick drills that seem to work towards that objective, and experiment with the sequence. You'll find what works for you. BTW, when I swim with a team, I simply do my drills for as long as they are on the "official" warm-up set. I try to stay out of my lane mates' way, and stop when they stop. I then join in the rest of the "official" work-out. No one has ever indicated to me they have a problem with me warming up that way, and I have done this with 4 different masters teams.
Matt
