I responded to a thread recently and noticed that several clients fall into the same category. They have swum in the past and have not swum recently. Getting back in the game is frustrating because they think back to where they were and have difficulty accepting where they are now.
Step one is to start from point zero. Build from nothing and increase yardage slowly. Use drills and kicking to gain conditioning while developing stroke patterns. Remember, “practice makes permanent.”
There are four areas to work on: kick, arm pull pattern, breathing and arm recovery. body rotation fits into all aspects of your swimming and therefore I did not mention it separately.
Kicking is a great cardiovascular conditioner. You can do it on your stomach with or without a board and on your back. Deliberately point your toes and think of kicking up. Build some distance just kicking.
Arm pattern - flex your wrist and lead the stroke with your hand and forearm feeling your elbow moving forward before you pull your arm back. Once you set up your stroke use your hips to power your arms back. Practice one arm swimming with your extended arm in front of you and in line with your shoulder. You can repeat many fifties changing arms at the end of each length.
One of the most difficult parts of a swim to master is the timing of the breathing pattern. As soon as you start your stroke by leading with your hips allow your head to move in line with your shoulder and breathe in. Make sure you have exhaled before you turn your head. You should feel as if your body is moving over your arm. Working on your breathing pattern will allow you to swim further with greater ease.
Arm recovery begins at the hip. Most of the power of modern freestyle comes the front part of the stroke and not the flailing back end. As your hand approaches your hip it is facing backward and not upward. Shrug your shoulder as you lead the recovery arm. Your elbow follows and your hand stays very close to your body. You hand is very relaxed as it leaves the water. You can do finger tip drag drills, thumbsies and even sewing machine drills.
Your drills will groove in patterns which will allow you to swim further with greater ease.
Give yourself the time to develop technique and endurance. They are not mutually exclusive.
Take rest as you need it and challenge yourself to swim further correctly. Always remain conscious as you swim. If you feel that your stroke is falling apart take a small break and assess the problem, make the correction and start again.
DougStern
thumbsies and even sewing machine drills<<<
can you describe these drills please?
Mac,
Both drills are designed to create a high elbow recovery while keeping your recovery hand close to your body.
Thumbsies drill is also called the “zipper” drill. Start with your thumb by the middle of your hip and scratch the side of your body as you lift your shoulder and bring your elbow forward. Your thumb should touch your arm pit creating a straight line from elbow to finger tips. As your hand passes your head it enters the water in line with your shoulder. Thumbsies drill prevents a swinging arm recovery and helps set up the front end of your stroke.
The Sewing maching drill is a drill I have described before. It is a totally front quadrant drill. Imagine that your your elbows and lower arms are the needles of a sewing machine. They go up and down. Start the drill while standing in chest deep water. Bend at your waist and place your face in the water with your fingers pointing toward the bottom of the pool and your elbows out to the side in a straight line across your shoulders. Get the feel of the drill by alternately lifting each elbow until your fingers come to the surface of the water. There is no forward or backward motion at this point, only up and down. Now go to the wall and push off with your face in the water and arms in the sewing machine position. Take several strokes before you start moving your elbow and fingers forward. As you are doing this drill you are kicking and turning our head to the side to breathe. Allow your arms to move forward and pull back only to your shoulders and immediately exit the water as you were doing before. You will be swimming withonly the front end of your stroke. Ask someone to watch you as you perform this drill. They will tell you how far your arm actually goes back. Does it stop at your shoulder or not?
These drills enhance shoulder flexibility and give you a sense of how far back your stroke actually goes.
DougStern