how to swim part 2

[ich bin ein berliner]

yay so you want to learn more on how to do better with your freestyle. these drills can be used by themselves but you can use all of them to progress to a full stroke. my awesome illustrations are crude but its just to help you get somewhat of an idea.

 

my coach gave us a 'swimming bible' which he calls it. heres a walkthru of how your freestyle should be.

 

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Freestyle:

At your hand entry your body rolls downward to the same side as your shoulder pushes forward from your chest (like streching something beyond your grasp). As you press down on the water be sure to roll your arm so that your elbow is high and you can grab the water and lever forcefully on it. You will feel as though you are reaching over a barrel. If you enter the water smoothly and efficiently, the beginning of your arm stroke will lead to an outstanding middle scull and finish.

 

[yes abstract but i'll try to clear this up as much as i can.]

 

At the in-sweep push the water directly backward to the hip, rotate your hand upward and outward as you begin to increase the velocity of your pull. ACCELLERATE and EXPLODE. You do not necessarily need to be so 'muscular' with your pull. Rather, you focus should instead be on being 'inertial'. In the words of coaching great Charles Silvia, "let your stroke carry you".

 

Hold the water as long as possible throughout your pull, paying particular attention to the power alley of you stroke. Also note that towards the end of each stroke you do not want to push your arm back directly to the surface. Release the water at this point, and round out your recovery. This allows you to:

- force a high elbow recovery

- limits drag force

- allows your stroke to carry you with minimal effort

- narrows your vessel

 

When recovering you rarm, hold the pulling arm out in front of your body to allow for maxium roll as you slip through. Remember, the faster you travel, the more drag you create so be careful not to fight yourself. You will do this by rolling your body and using your core strenth to generate speed. Again, the use of the "half catch-up stroke" will be a personalized one for each of you. Be sure to experiment to find your ideal catch-up. Keep the elbow high, and the hand low on your recovery.

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so theres alot of stuff in there that you may have no clue what it means, thats fine, i'll clear up stuff as i go along.

 

so first drill- hand lead (sweet spot)

doing this drill is really easy. you swim on your side kicking freestyle, the arm near the top of the water is at your side and the arm closer to the bottom of the pool is extended as far as possible. this is your 'sweet spot'. Each time you pull with your arm, your body should get somewhat close to this angle. (I never really get to that extreme of an angle but thats how your suppose to swim.)

 

x

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[ich bin ein berliner]

delete this thread... i was having internet problems when i posted this, so it posted double