I am new to this forum (lurking for a while). And I am new to swimming as well (one year). My 100M Free intervals are around 1:25 - just as a gauge (with the flip turns of an elephant).
I have taken some lessons but have mostly worked on improving myself - via lots of technique drills & intervals.
I wanted to get people's opinions on One Arm sets (OAS). So far, I have found OAS to be one of the more effective sets for me. These sets seems to exacerbate any problems I am having with one side over another and therefor I can isolate problems and work on them.
In the swimming world does anyone do OAS? Are they just for beginners or not at all? I really just wanted to make sure I don't continue to pile on the one arm sets if there is some negative about doing them that I don't know about.
Regards
And one arm sets are as good as any drill.
I pretty much drown when doing one-arm freestyle. (This is one-arm free with the unused arm at my side.) What is this drill supposed to work on? What knobs should I be turning to try and improve this drill?
Skip
I pretty much drown when doing one-arm freestyle. (This is one-arm free with the unused arm at my side.) What is this drill supposed to work on? What knobs should I be turning to try and improve this drill?
Skip
They're good for working on balance and rotation and I think my stroke has become a bit stronger from doing them. I do one arm drills both in free and back just about every workout and sometimes do these drills with fistgloves.
I believe in almost every work out to add a set of drills. And one arm sets are as good as any drill.
Though there are lots of different drills that one can do. Each one usually works with a different "problem" to correct. My advise is to have a bunch of different drills in your book and mix them all in over a course of weeks or days.
It's my impression that swimmers do single-arm stroking drills right up through Olympic level. It is not a requirement. I definitely benefit from them, and all the coaches I have worked with intensively have had their trainees practice them.
You can do the single-arm drills BOTH ways: nonstroking arm at side and nonstroking arm in front.
Some swimmers might do fine without them.
:)
I never do one arm drills, but I think it makes more sense to leave the non-stroking arm out front. That gives you more of a feeling for what the actual stroke should be like.
I find that I integrate my kick with my catch better since adding one-arm swimming to some of my practices. No kickboard, I just leave my non-stroking arm at my side, use fins, and kick in slow motion at first to work on the timing. I do it slowly and aim for precision.
