Do you (need to) do drills at all?

I agree with ddl. I don't believe in drills. I believe in whole stroke and while doing the entire stroke, concentrate on say hip rotation or high elbow or whatever. I have never raced doing a finger tip drill or zipper drill. I taught physical education for many years and always tried to teach the entire movement rather than disjointed parts. That said, I participate in the drills the coach gives if for no other reason than it breaks up the workout.:D

I also love to do drills the Monday after meet or triathlon as somewhat of a recovery day. I am usaully the first to ask for a "mellow Monday workout".

I'm still waiting for someone to support this idea that drills aren't beneficial with some hard evidence. You'd think the fastest swimmers in the world would be doing what's fastest. Show me some World Record holders who don't use drills in their swimming to isolate various aspects of their strokes, and I'll be willing to consider the idea that swimming only full-stroke is a superior way to train. I don't think you can do it...

Gobears, You are asking for some hard evidence that drills are not beneficial. I might turn that around to ask if there is hard evidence that strict drills work. Part of the answer is in how you define drills. As I previously stated, I believe in doing the whole stroke while concentrating on the part in question. Take kicking for example.. I find a better way to "drill" kicking is to swim with a very easy arm stroke and overkick the kicking part. That way my legs get more of a work load while I am still doing a complete stroke. I also continue to work on EVF and I can do that very effectively while doing a complete stroke with concentration on high elbow. Motor learning was one of my very favorite courses when I was doing a masters in adapted physical education. Here is an excerpt from the book "The Learning of Physical Skills" by John Lawther (page 76) that I think applies: "Part drill" is more effective and more meaningful at higher motor-skill levels At higher levels of skill, the individual can spend practice time very efficiently in polishing weak spots in his performance. The polish of these parts is, at this stage, much more effective with respect to the rate of learning because it is not "part drill". The "part" is now a meaningful act because the learner sees its significance in the total pattern, and fills in the rest of the pattern mentally while he overtly performs the part. He sees the part as it fits into the framework of the pattern, even though his overt action consists of practicing a very small part of the total... Those statements would seem to support the traditional view of drill practice. Here is the part that I feel nails it for me. ...The learner may also carry out the total pattern overtly but with his attention focused on one special aspect which he wishes to change in some manner. The rest of the act is carried out more or less automatically while he attends to the one part. So, it is not that drills don't work, it is more how drills are done. I didn't quite get the drill we did several weeks ago when we were asked to do several lengths swimming heads up. Or what is the value of the finger tip drill when you can simply ask me to concentrate on a flexed elbow on recovery. There are dozens of very subtle changes you can make in your stroke to get it to approach "perfect", I happen to think that working on those changes in the context of the entire stroke is a more effective way to go...at least for me.

Personally, I have always been a follower of the "Just Do It" school of swimming, but swimming form was always easy for me, I imagine drills are more valuable for those that are having trouble or started later in life. Despite this, I still like drills in workouts because they make longer sets less boring and easier to count where you are in the set. ie: 3x150 descending where each 150 is 1x50 swim stroke (non-free) 1x50 drill 1x50 swim free is a lot less boring than: 3x150 swim free etc etc

Thanks for taking the poll. Maybe I should clarify: what I meant was I don't think it's necessary to do the drills that are not full strokes. I fully agree that full-stroke swimming that focuses on certain aspect (e.g. breathing, pull, recovery, kick, core use...) is very important and necessary. What I am rather indifferent is the "partial" stroke drills, such as kicking without arm movement, or using only left hand and leg, etc., to correct/improve some mistake/weakness. I am not saying those drills can't be helpful. What I think is that the problems can be more directly and effectively corrected/improved through full-stroke practice. It makes more sense because after all, there are problems that will reveal only when you put everything together and swim full stroke. Take the kick board. You may be able to train the strenght of your kicks using the kick board, but the way you kick with a kick board is different from the way you do kicks when swimming full stroke; after using the board, and back to full stroke, you may find new problems with your kicking, especially with regard to coordination with arms. So why not just do the full stroke and pay attention to the kicks?

i have generally looked down my nose at drills... believing that it is better to always do the whole stroke, and simply focus more on one element as i do it. but there have been times when i found drills indispensable... especially when i took on learning fly. and as mentioned, when introducing specific technique ideas that are new to a swimmer, i believe drills are essential. if you do more drills than whole stroke swimming however, i don't know that it would help that much.

I'm definitely a big fan of drills. With swimming, for me, it is all about feeling, and drills make it easier to feel the sensation I should be aiming for in my full stroke. Too, they often magnify aspects of the stroke and thus make certain points more apparent than they might be in the full stroke.

I agree with gigi, I still have to force myself sometimes and not "rest" during drill sets but really focus on what I am doing. I do drills daily and believe the "perfect stroke" does not exist. I will be willing to bet that we all have something we should really change in order to make us more efficent. If you practice the "correct" stroke then that is the way you will swim. I don't think that swimming with a snorkle is really considered a drill, but it is my favorite way to lengthen my stroke along with bilateral breathing sets.

Hi Glenn-- I'd say my evidence lies in the many swimmers I have both swum with and trained that seemed to benefit from drill work. From the beginner to elite levels. My college coach, who was a World Record holder and coached World Record holders, used drills. I've watched videos from some of the USA's best coaches that have drill after drill to show swimmers how to master their strokes. I haven't ever heard of an elite swimmer who doesn't do any drills. This is why I'm asking the OP for proof that his way is superior. I'd like to know if this is a legitimate position. The OP's original statement is very strong. His assertion was that all drill work might be useless and swimming only full-stroke might be a superior way to train. To make such a statement requires some amount of proof. Your statement seems less strong--you seem to be saying that drills are good for some things but once you are at a higher motor skill level you might not need them? (The excerpt you quoted assumes I know what "part drill" is). Perhaps that's true, perhaps not. I don't know. I do know that drills work very well when I'm teaching and coaching.