Myth #8: All swimming drills are good for you.
I am a great believer in doing drills. In fact, if most swimmers would spend a little more time doing drills and not worry so much about getting their hour or so of aerobic fitness in, they might come out ahead. The biggest problem with drills is that too often, they are being done without any real understanding of what they are supposedly teaching you. Unless you are planning to enter a drill race, there is not much point in doing a drill unless you understand what it is for. Coaches often go to great lengths to explain how to do a drill properly, but then forget to mention what the drill is for.
And sometimes the drills that are being recommended actually teach you the wrong thing. For example, if you have no kick and you are trying to get faster by learning how to increase your stroke rate, then a catch-up drill may be doing you a big disservice. Or if I ever see anyone who has been told to flick water with their hand/wrist out the back end of their stroke, I kindly ask them to hit the delete button. Or what does sliding your finger tips across the surface of the water (finger tip drill) teach you that helps you swim faster?
So all I ask is that you do drills nearly every time you jump in the water, even if for warmup. But that you understand what the drill is trying to teach you AND that the drill is designed for the technique you are trying to learn.
Gary Sr.
The Race Club
I have accumulated a list of about 20 BR drills.Each is good for correcting some stroke flaw or focusing on some part of the stroke.Very few of them would be good for most people most of the time.
A less-skilled breaststroker such as myself would probably find them confusing :)
Usually with breaststroke, I just swim full-stroke taking 5-6 strokes per 25 yards, and I focus on one or two things at a time. This past week I focused on recovering my hands forward like Soni does. Her technique seems faster than what I did previously so I'll keep at it and see where it goes.
I have accumulated a list of about 20 BR drills.Each is good for correcting some stroke flaw or focusing on some part of the stroke.Very few of them would be good for most people most of the time.
Please, do share! :applaud: I would love to know which of these drills you feel would help me, since you have seen my stroke and understand my shoulder limitations.
THANKS!!!
:D
So, Gary, do you have any great drills that make you kick more? I've put on zoomers etc., but frankly, I get so exhausted trying to six beat kick that then I can't even do the workout!! I have a horrible 2 beat kick from the good old days when my (foolish) coach told me that it was ok, since I was a distance swimmer. Now I see plenty of young people swimming the entire 1500 kicking like crazy and keeping a ridiculously fast past for the entire mile! So, what drills to make me at least a 4-beat kicker?
This one I REALLY agree with.When the "wave" breaststroke came into popularity there were several drills introduced that seemed to emphasize the wrong things,such as the "Cobra' drill that emphasized the up and down movement,but led many to go up and down more than forward,and the 'windshield wiper' drill to emphasize sculling,when ,mostly, pulling is faster. Not that even these can't be useful at times to help some swimmers,but it is important to know"how is this drill going to help ME swim faster."
Coaches often go to great lengths to explain how to do a drill properly, but then forget to mention what the drill is for.
When this has happened to me as a swimmer, I've tried asking. Usually, they don't know, so they change the subject rather than admit it.
The drills I do are really simple (e.g. 800 IM w/ 50 right arm, 50 left arm, 50 kick, 50 full stroke) and are just there for proprioception while I warm up.
More worthless drills that do more harm than good: 3-5-7-9 hypoxic freestyle, and anything that involves a pull buoy. (Well I suppose the drill of throwing a pull buoy as far away from yourself as possible does have some value :))
I have accumulated a list of about 20 BR drills.Each is good for correcting some stroke flaw or focusing on some part of the stroke.Very few of them would be good for most people most of the time.
Former Member
So, Gary, do you have any great drills that make you kick more? I've put on zoomers etc., but frankly, I get so exhausted trying to six beat kick that then I can't even do the workout!! I have a horrible 2 beat kick from the good old days when my (foolish) coach told me that it was ok, since I was a distance swimmer. Now I see plenty of young people swimming the entire 1500 kicking like crazy and keeping a ridiculously fast past for the entire mile! So, what drills to make me at least a 4-beat kicker?
First, there is no 4 beat kick. You either have 6 beat or 2 beat. Rarely, one will see a swimmer use a 6 beat for one cycle followed by a 2 beat for another....which technically averages out to a 4 beat kick.
My next thread will be on the legs...so hang on. But as important as the legs are, if you've never had a kick, you might be much better served keeping your 2 beat kick and focusing on a high stroke rate, front-quadrant pull. In other words, use your kick for balance, lift and some stabilizing force. Use your arms for propulsion. You can spend a lot of time and energy trying to develop your legs....when they won't help you too much. On the other hand, if you have potential to have a strong kick...then work the legs hard!
Gary Sr.
The Race Club
Guy, I'm with you on the pull buoy, and I'm curious about why 3-5-7-9 hypoxic drills are bad.
1. Bilateral breathing does not make you faster. How many elites do you see bilateral breathing? Some do, but most do not.
2. When you get to the longer 7 and 9 breathing schemes, you'll naturally shorten your strokes and quicken your turnover to get your next breath sooner. This is a negative, not a positive.
3. I typically take 11-15 strokes per 25 yards in freestyle. So on the 7 and 9 lengths, I should take only one or two breaths. Why does it matter when I take them?
4. If you want to restrict your breathing in a way that will have a positive effect, do it on every pushoff and take as many dolphin kicks as you can. In practice, I normally start backstroke swims by dolphin kicking well beyond the 15 meter limit. I sometimes do this in fly and free swims as well. The idea is to make the 12 dolphin kicks that I can do in competition feel easy.
Former Member
1. Bilateral breathing does not make you faster. How many elites do you see bilateral breathing? Some do, but most do not.
2. When you get to the longer 7 and 9 breathing schemes, you'll naturally shorten your strokes and quicken your turnover to get your next breath sooner. This is a negative, not a positive.
3. I typically take 11-15 strokes per 25 yards in freestyle. So on the 7 and 9 lengths, I should take only one or two breaths. Why does it matter when I take them?
4. If you want to restrict your breathing in a way that will have a positive effect, do it on every pushoff and take as many dolphin kicks as you can. In practice, I normally start backstroke swims by dolphin kicking well beyond the 15 meter limit. I sometimes do this in fly and free swims as well. The idea is to make the 12 dolphin kicks that I can do in competition feel easy.
Thank you That Guy, that was very well put. I love #4 and would like to add that a real breath control set would be executing your race breathing pattern on a high rest set.
