Yup. Thats the idea. Again it’ll be a little different for each athlete but watch where elite swimmers enter the water. It’s high out above the head and outside the eyes. This maximizes the efficiency of the pull. That hand enters high and is immediately into the catch and pull, there is no shoot and glide.

The PB can serve as a guide or a goal to get the hands up and out, it is also a great drill for anyone who’s ever been told they “cross over”. Focus on entering the hand just off of the PB and getting immediately into the catch.

Let me know how it goes!

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Superfly Coaching
http://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

IL PIRATA VI GUARDA

Just wanted to say thank you for sharing that.

Ian

If you use a kickboard instead of a pull buoy, you get a wider entry, and it is harder to do it incorrectly (hold the board a foot from the near end).

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"Go yell at an M&M"

Absolutely. Just be careful, there is such a thing as too wide.

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Superfly Coaching
http://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

IL PIRATA VI GUARDA

All good points, but man it was hard to look at that guy swimming. Maybe a more ascetically looking stroke next time??

Thanks...

Thank you for the video. I thought the visualization of the drill was very helpful. Will give this a shot the next time I'm in the pool!

I'll see what I can do. Will let the athlete know you don't approve of his stroke.

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Superfly Coaching
http://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

IL PIRATA VI GUARDA

I'm sure the video is great and instructional, but I was distracted by that magnificent beard.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Thanks for posting this- it helps me understand where I need to improve (everywhere it feels like)

His beard or mine?

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Superfly Coaching
http://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

IL PIRATA VI GUARDA

lol, no problem. One thing at a time...

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Superfly Coaching
http://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

IL PIRATA VI GUARDA

How did it go?

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Superfly Coaching
http://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

IL PIRATA VI GUARDA

Thanks for the vid. Dig the drill, I suffer from bouts of trying to over extend my hands underwater, too close to my head.

I haven't done the drill itself. Although, I do some single-arm every time I get in the pool. So, I've been focusing on the crux of the drill since you posted it. I feel like I "reach" better, thinking about remaining wide, palm flat, and arm extended while still above water...instead of trying to "spear & thrust". I also feel like it helps minimize any fishtailing I might have had going on.

Saturday was an incredible day in the pool. the details are over in the june fish thread. But, Suffice to say, everything clicked, body was "quiet", and felt streamlined, I felt like I was initiating the pull very early and remained strong all the way through. it showed in my times which were my best times of the year.

No idea if this stroke concept had anything to do with it, or if it was just "one of those magical days". Today was not so great...for reasons also mentioned in the fish thread.

Let's assume this stroke concept and maybe even this drill had something to do with it lol...

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Superfly Coaching
http://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

IL PIRATA VI GUARDA

I’m mostly a ST lurker, but wanted to log in to thank you for this. I’ve wondered about hand entry, and was entering early and shooting forward under water. Shifting to this took about 5 seconds off my (admittedly high) 100/m time. Thanks.

Man, my thoughts on swim technique have evolved over time. As a competitive swimmer I would get pretty anal with it. As a triathlete I've taken the "close enough is good enough". Not to mention I think a lot of finer points aren't worthwhile if one is only swimming 3 times per week.

Perhaps a hierarchy of: (1) body position (2) hip rotation (3) stroke-related things is a decent way to think about it. I've also found when getting into open water being adaptable can take precedence over strict adherence to form.

It's funny, I can typically pin point when someone learned to swim based on their stroke technique.

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Superfly Coaching
http://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

IL PIRATA VI GUARDA

That's awesome!! Great to hear people are getting good use out of these. I have a few more in the hopper I need to get out the next week or so. If you have video of yourself let's take a look and I can do something similar.

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Superfly Coaching
http://www.superflycoaching.com/eric

IL PIRATA VI GUARDA

Thanks! I’ll have to get the GoPro in the water soon so I can take you up on that.

Thanks for posting. I've done the drill a couple of times and it helped me with my maddening tendency to cross over my head. I have one concern though. I'm an average swimmer and I took some lessons to improve my stroke. I was told to have my hand enter the water earlier than you suggest. The advice was to extend my hand through the water, not over it. The purported benefit is that having an arm extended in the water helps with balance (lifting my legs that tend to sink). Also, while moving my hand through the water means more resistance for my arm than if it were moving through the air, it lowers resistance for my head and the rest of my body. My arm in the water essentially creates a hole through which my head and body move, lowering overall drag. I don't know much about swimming, so I'm not really sure which is correct. I'd appreciate you/ others sharing your thoughts.