So after all the endless discussions on this topic....and the challenge in trying to "coach" in writing I actually found myself helping out a local pro triathlete last week with just this thing.
As is the case on this forum and other times I've attempted to explain; catch, rotation, lengthening of stroke, maintaining stroke while accelerating, etc. I found again that some folks have a "natural" sense of feel for this stuff....its VERY hard to coach feel.
So.....I spent yesterday breaking down my stroke wit assistance from Jane Scott (Boulder Coach) and trying to better explain what it is I do unconsciously that others have to think about...some observations:
- In a series of 25's (all from a push) I tasked myself with keeping 11 strokes per lap and to descend each 25 till I added a stroke.....my goal to see what changed.
- First observation....I can literally slip my hand/forearm/arm thru the water without feeling any sense of "pressure" and take 11 strokes as slow as 25 seconds.....I can accelerate and descend down to 12+ keeping the same 11 strokes....faster than that my kick "kicks in" and I add another stroke and get to the low 11 range.
- What was different? First thing I noticed is that although it seems my hand track stayed the same on each 25 there was an ever increasing sense of "pressure" I could feel as I got faster. I would equate the sensation change as dramatic as moving my hand thru air on the easiest 25 to literally feeling the sensation I would feel pushing on the wall to climb out of the pool.
- So what happened? First I was able to discern a "tensioning" of my arm...but further examining this with Janes help it became apparent that this "coiling like a spring" as she described it was coming from my core....very interesting to really focus on this and realize how much that changed everything.....from there it extended to my catch....and ultimately the entire stroke movement thru the water.
- What next? We asked a few other swimmers to work on this as well and t change their focus to their core and it was amazing that all of them said the same thing....they could not feel anything in that area...when we asked to try and tense it resulted in other parts of the stroke falling apart...
- Thoughts for now; I really do think that to change these things takes an incredible amount of breaking down the stroke via drill work as has been discussed over and over here...the difference is really taking the time to think specifically how these drills translate to actually swimming...so many people I see do drills without a real sense of their purpose.
I think the key drills for me at this stage continue to be variations of sculling, the "arrow" drill shown on a link in an earlier thread that U of A uses and head of swimming (tarzan).
So....my coffee has run out and I have bloviated enough for now....very interesting for me however!
Love the fartlek drill. Paul, I have to do that with you sometime. Your draft would be awesome! When you coming back to Phoenix?
Sam....hoping to spend April down that way....sick of all the snow already back here in CO!
And no drafting unless I get to tie a short lead to you on backstroke sets!
Just swam this morning with the Las Vegas Masters....another one of my favorite teams.
Coach Vic must have been followng this conversation as most of the warm up was built around streamline, dps, spl work.....the main set for this was:
6 x 100's @ 2:00
25 = 2-switch (kick on one side, rotate to the other once)
25 = 4-switch
25 = 4 strokes w/right arm....4 strokes w/left (I did 3 and 3)
25 = 9 strokes or less
I held 1:20's on all 6
Then the main set came: 3 x 5 150's descend first round @ 2:15, 2nd on
2:05, 3rd......I have no idea as I pulled the first round and bailed!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Paul - I had the best workout last night in years. I was really able to tell the difference when I focused on "winding up" my core and really pulling the water. My "cruise" time for a 200 yd free dropped almost 20 seconds!!!!!
I was a bit more winded, but clearly I had not used all of my muscles and was swimming like a tanker. ha ha.
My mental image was one of pointing my belly button to the side of the pool....holding it and then "snapping" my hips and core to point my belly button to the other side of the pool.
Totally awesome.
Any breakdown of back stroke and *** would be GREATLY appeciated.
:groovy:
Thanks for sharing this Paul...along with that clip of Ian.
I have the same stroke count as you but not the speed.
The greatest swimmers have a high degree of flexibility which allow them to maintain a very high elbow throughout the stroke. I imagine this is exactly how you swim.
Poolraat,
I'm pretty sure you can find it advertised in "Swimming World" and it's probably available through some swimming retail websites like Keifer. I got mine as a present.
I received my snorkel yesterday but won't be able to use till the weekend due to work. Actually, it'll give me some time to review the video and take notes as there are at least a dozen freestyle drills I was not familiar with before. I want to make sure I'm doing them correctly. They all emphasize body line, either coordinating the catch with the kick or the catch with hip rotation. Rich
Hey Rich.....just got back from Vegas and dug out of another 16" of snow....ahhhh!
Great analogy on your post with the "faucet".....that is far more accurate than the "shifting gears" I used.....
Some advise from a long time snorkeler for you guys:
- Its very claustrophobic initially
- consider nose plugs at first....its a real problem on turns for many people
- you'll find you don't need to exhale as hard as you think you do to clear water coming off the walls
- Try it not just with drills.....but also on long pull sets with fins.....I first started doing this after seeing both the ASU & U of A teams doing it.....you can really get into a rhythm.....
Rich.....see you in the morning!
Some advise from a long time snorkeler for you guys:
- Its very claustrophobic initially
- consider nose plugs at first....its a real problem on turns for many people
- you'll find you don't need to exhale as hard as you think you do to clear water coming off the walls
- Try it not just with drills.....but also on long pull sets with fins.....I first started doing this after seeing both the ASU & U of A teams doing it.....you can really get into a rhythm.....
Thanks for the advice. I have a dorkle in the closet. Haven't been able to flip with it so well. I'll try again. I already lost the nose clip I bought. Wouldn't stay on ...
Maybe your shoulders would be even happier, Paul, if you did some of that RLSMVF instead of EVF with fins. :thhbbb:
Poolraat,
I'm pretty sure you can find it advertised in "Swimming World" and it's probably available through some swimming retail websites like Keifer. I got mine as a present.
I received my snorkel yesterday but won't be able to use till the weekend due to work. Actually, it'll give me some time to review the video and take notes as there are at least a dozen freestyle drills I was not familiar with before. I want to make sure I'm doing them correctly. They all emphasize body line, either coordinating the catch with the kick or the catch with hip rotation.
I don't believe in oxygen deprivation training (I get enough at 5,200 feet of elevation) so I'll be using the snorkel exclusively for drills.
Rich
Ok, I have to admit that when our coach calls for DPS or stroke counting during a set, I fake it. Why, it is usually at slower intervals and it seems like it just too easy to cheat with out getting any real benefits.
However, I do notice that on some days when I am feeling off and not hitting times I should that I have a tendancy for my hands to track wide and my pull is not be in sync with my core rotation ( and or my core rotation is lessened). And this is mostly when I sprint. And more often when I am tired. One day I will be two seconds faster on a sprint 50 than the next day.
So while swimming slow repeats working on stroke count probably won't help that. However, I think swimming a descend while maintaining the same stroke count like Paul did could be very helpful for me to understand where, when and how things start to get out of sync.
Thanks for such a great thread, Paul.
Kevin
Paul, I think your initial post is great. In the past I’ve never been much of a drill advocate as I shared your view that they often weren’t connected enough with improving racing speed. You mentioned the U of A drills. Have you seen the new video series from Frank Busch and staff? I saw the freestyle one and was totally blown away. The next day I order one of those snorkels (which hasn’t come yet, darn). I love the way they progress through each drill and always end with 4 X 25 swim descending the time in order to never forget that speed in the water is the goal. I also can relate to keeping the drills to 25 yards at a time so you maintain your concentration. Their drills are also very “kickcentric” which I can relate to.
Where can I find this video series? I just got a snorkel and am looking for ways to incorporate it's use into my training.
