Question for swimmers and coaches out there -
Can Clockwise swimming help improve your stroke?
Quick background: My coach has implemented clockwise swimming (swimming on the left side of the pool) for warm-up and has received a lot resistance from longtime swimmers.
My coach explained that a lot of the swimmers are shortening up the right arm to make a turn during normal counter clockwise swimming. We also swim in a extra wide lanes in a 25 meter pool (the pool has individual lanes and we move the lane lines over to allow for circle swimming); which the coach thinks for the reason of shortening and crossing over the right arm.
For myself, I find that I have learned to flip turn on the opposite side but I find that I get so confused during warm-up and worried about the swimmer behind me running into me because they moved over too far (we have had some close calls in the water).
Anyone had any experience with swim practice that changes directions (swimming clockwise then counter clockwise)? Any advantages/disadvantages?
Thanks, John
As a coach of age groupers, I always have them reverse circle early in our "relationship". It's one way to get them to understand that there are good habits and bad habits, using their own predisposition to turn left as an example. (Circle-swimming a race adds length and time to your event!)
Then we practice on swimming straight into and out of the wall, keeping the body centered over the bottom lane marker.
As Geochuck says, it is also very helpful in extremely crowded pools, as it reduces arm collisions over/under the lane lines when swimmers are next to each other. The down side is it increases the "slipstreaming" effect as a "current" starts to develop along the common direction lane line.
As a coach of age groupers, I always have them reverse circle early in our "relationship". It's one way to get them to understand that there are good habits and bad habits, using their own predisposition to turn left as an example. (Circle-swimming a race adds length and time to your event!)
Then we practice on swimming straight into and out of the wall, keeping the body centered over the bottom lane marker.
As Geochuck says, it is also very helpful in extremely crowded pools, as it reduces arm collisions over/under the lane lines when swimmers are next to each other. The down side is it increases the "slipstreaming" effect as a "current" starts to develop along the common direction lane line.
