what do you think would be a good exercise for improving turns (other than doing lots of turns)? Leg press, calf raises, etc?
I think it's a bad idea to look at strength training that way. Strength training for swimming should be three things, in my experience:
1. Long-term and consistent
2. Total body
3. Aimed at increasing muscle mass
Like you said, doing lots of turns is the best way to improve turns. Anything that is very similar to a turn (fast flips in the water, push offs) will help, as well. Going to dry land to work on a water skill seems really pointless to me. My strength development took a long time to transfer to swimming speed, and it took a lot of added muscle mass.
Thinking along the lines of, "I want to improve my explosiveness on turns, so I will do explosive squats this week," will get you pretty much nowhere. Get some big quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves. Incorporate that goal into a total body strength program over a very long period of time, and eat enough food to gain muscle. It seems obvious, but people forget it all the time: all other things being equal, bigger muscles are stronger and more powerful in all activities.
what do you think would be a good exercise for improving turns (other than doing lots of turns)? Leg press, calf raises, etc?
I think it's a bad idea to look at strength training that way. Strength training for swimming should be three things, in my experience:
1. Long-term and consistent
2. Total body
3. Aimed at increasing muscle mass
Like you said, doing lots of turns is the best way to improve turns. Anything that is very similar to a turn (fast flips in the water, push offs) will help, as well. Going to dry land to work on a water skill seems really pointless to me. My strength development took a long time to transfer to swimming speed, and it took a lot of added muscle mass.
Thinking along the lines of, "I want to improve my explosiveness on turns, so I will do explosive squats this week," will get you pretty much nowhere. Get some big quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves. Incorporate that goal into a total body strength program over a very long period of time, and eat enough food to gain muscle. It seems obvious, but people forget it all the time: all other things being equal, bigger muscles are stronger and more powerful in all activities.
