Single arm drills are a great way to improve swimming. I could list their uses and mention what aspects of the stroke they develop, but that would take quite a while!
My point is what is the best way to do these?
For a beginner, they might start out doing single arm drills with the other non-stroking arm out in front of them. Then they might progress to putting the non-stroking arm by their side in order to focus on gaining more rotation initiated by the core.
However, there is more than 1 way to do the above. Some folk prefer to kick on the side and stroke occassionally (1). Another approach is to do this, but stroking more often (2). Recently, I have experiemented with rotating at a “normal” rate (3) (ie the stroke rate is what you would normally have, allowing for only 1 arm!); and with a 2-beat kick.
I use a 2-beat kick when I race, thus I am thinking that I am best off with doing my drills with a 2-beat kick (where possible). However, approach (1) above could be the equivalent of an 6-10 beat kick, and (2) maybe a 4-6 beat one. I am aware that the kicks are not strictly the same (major-minor vs major-major) as you might have in a normal stroke, but here I am referring to them in order to discuss the effectiveness of using the person’s race stroke to kick ratio.
In my experience, the 2-beat single arm drill works better than doing it with more kicks: so should the number of kicks/stroke you do during single arms drills be specific to the way you swim in races? Or not? Which way of 1/2/3 above is best?
An aside: I have also found doing single arm drills with fists is even better for engaging the core, it avoids using the catch to breathe and using the pull to initiate the roll.
Alright, I’ll bite… a collegiate coach showed me this type of 1-arm drill a couple years ago, and doing the drill *feels *as though it helps me…
For the right arm count from 1 to 4 in your head (left hand on left pocket):
On 1 - arm recovery/right hand entry
On 2 - With hand extended out front, roll onto right hip and breathe on left side
On 3 - Roll back onto left hip and start exhale
On 4 - Initiate catch and pull
Repeat.
Reverse everything for left hand.
Maintain solid body position, and rotating around your center axis…no “snaking”.
Glad you agree- I read it like three times and just could not figure out what he was saying- i felt really stupid, but you brought me back to just stupid.
I do them with my non stroking arm by my side, tho I honestly don’t why I do them, i.e. what do they do for my stroke. As far as the kick pattern, I use 2 beat with normal swimming but end up kicking like crazy one armed just to stay afloat and keep forward momentum.
As an aside, I do wonder why we need to break down so many simple things into complex pieces. Kicking only, pull bouy, one armed swimming, one legged pedaling. Why not one legged running???
I do them with my non stroking arm by my side, tho I honestly don’t why I do them, i.e. what do they do for my stroke. As far as the kick pattern, I use 2 beat with normal swimming but end up kicking like crazy one armed just to stay afloat and keep forward momentum.
That actually is a great drill to improve your body roll and breath timing. If you are to early or late into the cycle it is pretty hard to get your mouth out of the water for a breath- one of my favorite drills both as a coach and swimmer.
Why not one legged running???
Not much of a runner here, actually very slow, so I am no expert but I will take a stab at this, is it because you will fall over?
As an aside, I do wonder why we need to break down so many simple things into complex pieces. Kicking only, pull bouy, one armed swimming, one legged pedaling. Why not one legged running???
Because swimming is so dang technical, and is about being efficient and technically sound in each phase of the stroke, and then bringing it all together. Work on specific things get them right individually and then work on the complete body of work.
Swimming technique is more critical than other sports, - largely because water is such a foreign element to us. But breaking down the individual components and emphasizing often leads to a loss of overall gestalt. One of the key elements to being a fast swimmer is to have the proper timing, and the application of force at the right time, and resting and recovery of those parts of the stroke that are not applying force: namely your recovery. Question: is body position a part of “technique?” If it’s not, it still is an important part of swimming, and if you’re not streamlined, you’re going to be wasting a lot of effort.
This is why, if you’re not an experienced competitive swimmer, kicking with a kickboard is largely a bad idea, as it takes one’s body out of position and interferes with overall stroke balance and timing. Especially since, in the Australian crawl, kicking does not significantly contribute to overall propulsion, - but helps to enhance stroke timing and balance. Finally, many of these “drills” take important TIME away from developing cohesion…
Though one thing kickboard flutter kick does teahc you is how to use those core muscles to keep your ass and hips up while you’ve got a fairly high head position.
It’s actually pretty useful to do if you’re at the point where you’re trying to get away from using your head as a pendelum to determine hip position.
I do them with my non stroking arm by my side, tho I honestly don’t why I do them, i.e. what do they do for my stroke. As far as the kick pattern, I use 2 beat with normal swimming but end up kicking like crazy one armed just to stay afloat and keep forward momentum.
As an aside, I do wonder why we need to break down so many simple things into complex pieces. Kicking only, pull bouy, one armed swimming, one legged pedaling. Why not one legged running???
I bet if it could be done, it would be done as a way to make your technique better, one leg at a time. Just because it’s not done doesn’t mean it’s useless. I do one arm drills in swimming and I can see that both arms do different things wrong and different things rigtht. I’m sure it’s the same for running. We do single leg drills in cycling to see what parts of the revolution have flat spots etc. And in cycling also, my legs do different things right and wrong too.
I don’t necessarily disagree with your experiences arching your back and kicking vigorously to keep up one’s hips and keep a great body position. But I really think that it’s a questionable methodology for newbies and slowtwitchers…
Conventional wisdom is to just get people to keep their heads down: and in just about every case that I’ve seen and employed, - it works. There are too many elements of stroke timing, and applied strength, and balance: the kick should be used as part of the stroke that helps one to roll properly on breathing and compensatory rolling to keep the body streamlined. IMO, this becomes strikingly evident when I slow my stroke way down, - I regularly practice taking 9 or 10 strokes per 25 meter pool length. It is kind of complicated, - having the right hip drop while the head is low and the right hand enters the water while simultaneously kicking down with the left foot. A coordinated rhythm of 3 or more elements working together…
But even more than that, - it’s simply exhausting for all but the best of trained kickers, to kick hard enough with an arched back and lifted head: it’s exhausting.
A great drill to put a really fine point on all of this is to push off the wall on the surface of the water with elbows locked with straight arms and hands together and head down and just glide. Then try it again, but lift the head up above the arms this time and one will quickly experience a drop in the hips, and a quick stop to the glide…
I’ve essentially got something like a one and a half beat kick when I’m full stroke, and I used to be able to hold 100 yard kicks on a 1:40 sendoff with said one and a half beat kick for a thousand yards while comfortably aerobic. Unless you’re doing 50s, you shouldn’t be kicking vigorously when you’re trying to kick fast.
It’s all about figuring out kick efficiency. Some time, watch the teenage swim team kids do kick sets. They look like they aren’t doing much in the water, but if you pay attention to the pace clock, they’re seriously booking as they barely splash and chat about who they’re going to ask to prom.
Fast kicking isn’t about being vigorous, or being splashy, it’s understanding how to get maximum propulsion with as little foot and hip movement as possible. Watch some video of Laure Manaudou. It looks like she barely kicks at all, but she gets amazing propulsion from what looks to be very little effort. There are a number of people at Terry’s TI board who keep going over and over the video of Laure trying to figure out how she gets so much power from such a slight kick. (and she is getting huge power. You don’t go a 59 LC 100M backstroke without being a fine kicker)
Head down is the quick and dirty way of getting hips up, but it’s problematic for a bunch of reasons in open water.
Propulsion is less somewhere between 5 and 8% in a freestyle sprint from the kick, and considerably less when one is swimming distance races. It just doesn’t happen. That’s why people swim almost as fast times with pull buoys as they do with just swimming. ANd, - it is further evidence of the importance of body position as the pull buoy keeps the hips up.
It’s simply way too obvious that a drop in the hips is one of the worst things that can happen when you swim the front crawl…
you’re right that you can increase the efficiency of your kick by developing and I wasn’t talking about splashing around.
Little kids kick fast cause they weigh 1/4 of one pound and they have no upper body weight to slow them down…
Yep, - kicking in Backstroke and especially breastroke is far more important than the crawl, it has a much percentage of propulsion in those other strokes…
For Slowtwitchers and newbies, upper body strength, stroke timing, body position, and the proper relaxed recovery and navigation training, should be things that concern them the most, unless they like the back of the pack…
I agree that dropped hips are a pretty big flaw. We’ll just agree to disagree with the best way to deal with that problem.
I guess I’m weird these days because, despite my apparent lack of kick, (I’ve never been able to hold a six beat kick for more than about 75 yards, or a four beat for more than 200) pull buoys have always significantly slowed me down.
And I said nothing about little kids kicking- I mentioned teenagers planning prom. Adult bodies with full-sized torsos and all. It just isn’t as hard to correct hips by using core miscles as you make it out to be.