Just got back in the pool after 4 months off, not a strong swimmer but average for triathletes who recently learned to swim. As expected I struggled my first time back in the pool with my form. I can’t seem to keep my elbows high and near the surface as I start the pull. Any tips for drills to work on specifically that part of the stroke? My pull is terrible, and I know it’s because of a cross over problem (working on hand entry much wider to correct that) and a dropped elbow which creates little propulsion. Even when swimming 3 times a week and in season, I struggle to take less than 22-23 strokes per length.
I have a vasa ergometer at home and have worked on it in the winter, but obviously not enough. I intend to spend more time on the erg to build up the strength in the swim muscles which should help, but I need some good drills to work on in the pool.
Don’t bother with drills, get good at the backstroke, you have to keep your arms in a very “high elbow position” (although you’re upside down) and learn to pull with your lats. If you can do a strong backstroke with good form, high elbow vertical forearm will be a snap. Drills are too easy to cheat at, you can’t cheat in the backstroke without looking like a complete dink. Plus, you learn how to swim another stroke which makes you look like less of a temperamental triathlete swimmer.
I agree with HXB that the key to a good freestyle pull starts with the lats. One drill I like involves swimming with closed fists (vs. open palms) during a warmup/drill set; it allows me to really feel the initial catch after entry and then “hold” onto the water through the pull. It obviously won’t feel as strong as an open palm pull but if your fist is slipping through the pull you’re probably not really “catching” the water. From there I switch to freestyle with paddles to accentuate the pull and work on gaining power.
As a point of reference I take ~14-15 strokes per length normally and ~16-17 when doing freestyle with fists w/o kicking more, swimming harder, etc. (Former D1 swimmer, fwiw.)
How confident are you in your body position? I ask b/c this seems to be the recurring theme I see few want to address. Once your body is supported properly so many of these issues just melt away. Conversely, the ability to hit nice catch and pull positions is so difficult with poor body positions. Remember: ‘aero’ in the water always trumps power. Get slippery and everything else gets immensely easier…catch, pull, kick, breathing, rhythm and timing. Bringing your center of mass and center of buoyancy closer together will be a eureka moment for you. Dude is a huge dork in this video, but it’s pure gold.
There are many drills to work on EVF and thru trial and error you will find the best ones for your current functional ROM in the shoulders and level of fitness. The Vasa Ergometer is a great tool for this. Set the Damper Door setting on Level 1 and practice the freestyle pull pattern slowly, focusing on the setting your catch about shoulder width. A good visual cue for this is the pulley’s that the paddles run through on each side of the Erg. This may help with your arms crossing over center as well by having an entry point about shoulder width. Keep a firm wrist, fingertips pointing at the floor and a straight line from finger tips to elbow. This needs to occur before applying power and fully engaging your lats. Two variations to this 1) you can isolate arms by doing a single arm drill leaving the non-pulling arm in the extended/forward position 2) pulling both arms at the same time think butterfly pull or pulling yourself out of the pool. Plus, you can set up the Erg monitor to view/measure your power (Watts) for each arm. As for the pool, I have found a very simple drill I got from Marc Evans works great, single arm drill using a kick board. With your head out of the water, start stroking with one arm while the other arm is fully extended on top of the kick board. This lets you first see the entry point width, before you set the catch and then pull. Trying doing a 25 (1/2 of each arm) then swim a 50 to reinforce the drill. Repeat this sequence 4-6 times as part of warm up or integrate into main set.
Good Luck!
Have you checked out the Vasa videos - especially the ones with Karlyn Pipes? She’s a master swimming record holder and duathlon champion and she has a great way of explaining technique. I’ve sorted out my form on the Vasa Erg and it’s carrying over to the pool. Here’s the link to their channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/vasatrainer
Always wanted to ask Vasa owners how they account for a perfectly flat torso on the trainer unless they are swimming board flat in the water? Do you swim totally flat in the water? Interested to hear how that feels when you have two completely different body positions, but attempt to ingrain an EVF into both of those positions. Thanks
I can share my experience with that. The Vasa Ergometer does enable the correct scapular movement/rotation and shoulder action to support early vertical forearm and high elbow catch. “Board flat” kind of implies laying there just using arms, but I can tell you that even though one does not get the visible hip movement, the same core muscles used in pool swimming are activated on the Vasa Ergometer. The puddle of sweat I produce doesn’t come from an arm workout, it comes from a nearly full-body workout that I get on there.
I’m still newish to the Erg and like you I was a little unsure too until I got it and used it. I can say from just over a month of personal experience that with the Erg, I’ve been able to “get” what this high elbow catch is all about. (and see it by videoing myself). The Erg allows for kinesthetic feedback that lets you know when your form is on and when it’s slipping. And unequivocally yes, it’s making a difference in my pool swims significant PRs in the 200 and 400 just few weeks ago. I’m using the Erg for 20-30 minutes total 3x a week as a supplement to the pool right now (http://www.cortthesport.com/p/vasa-training.html).
Oh I have tried the Vasa and after 10 minutes it felt so incredibly different than swimming in the water I opted out. There was a local one for sale on CraigsList about a year ago so gave it a shot. I swim with a hip driven stroke and a considerable amount of rotation so there was simply too large a disconnect for me to consider using it as a training tool.
Glad you are enjoying it…swim hard and swim often!
I haven’t read through other users’ responses, but have you tried filming yourself? I used a gopro above and below water when trying to perfect my stroke (trying!! I never achieved it). It helped tremendously. But I also had the advantage of 3-4x weekly training from a top-notch swimmer, who’s also my friend. If you can’t see yourself objectively, you might never improve to a level of performance that’s satisfactory to yourself.
Bottom line is, keep swimming often. Practice makes permanent, not perfect. But if you keep experimenting while monitoring yourself on video, you’ll eventually find the right stroke that gives you the most pull with the least drag.
Thanks! Well if you get a chance to give it a second try, I’d encourage it. It can take more than 10 minutes – maybe a few sessions - to really ‘click’ with it. The first few times I could barely muster 500m on the lowest resistance (and I do 2500y in an average pool swim) but a few weeks in, I’ve bumped the resistance and distance, doing around 1500m as I continue to ramp it up!
Each of the things I like has already been mentioned by someone, but I’m still a work in progress.
-) Video: What things feel like and what they look like in the pool can be massively different. Used my contour roam to get some good underwater shots to figure out what I was doing.
-) Holding paddle drill: Swimming while holding your paddles in your fist so they go along your arm. Forces you to use your forearm.
-) Alternating one hand on kick board drill: Allows you to see what you are doing. I try to overdo the high elbow and see if I can get my elbow to skim or slightly be out of the water. Alternating the drill with regular laps to solidify the feel of the new motion helps.
