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
Parents
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
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
