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
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. It's rather 6beat for half a cycle (while breathing usually) followed by two beat for the other half. So it ain't an avg over 2 complete cycles, it's really 4 actual beats, 3 (half of 6) + 1 (half of 2). And I find it rather common, especially among male swimmers. Perhaps one of the most notorious would be Hackett.
In fact, if you key in Hackett as a key word in youtube, your first hit should be this one:
YouTube- Grant Hackett Front Crawl Technique
And it shows Hackett switching between 6beat and 4beat. Very clearly in fact. I believe he uses some 4beats here and there to lower energy expenditure.
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. It's rather 6beat for half a cycle (while breathing usually) followed by two beat for the other half. So it ain't an avg over 2 complete cycles, it's really 4 actual beats, 3 (half of 6) + 1 (half of 2). And I find it rather common, especially among male swimmers. Perhaps one of the most notorious would be Hackett.
In fact, if you key in Hackett as a key word in youtube, your first hit should be this one:
YouTube- Grant Hackett Front Crawl Technique
And it shows Hackett switching between 6beat and 4beat. Very clearly in fact. I believe he uses some 4beats here and there to lower energy expenditure.
