If you were asked to recommend one drill, exercise, or activity to help someone improve their swimming ability (beyond swim more!), what would it be?
Similarly, what’s one drill/exercise/activity that has made the biggest impact on your swimming?
Anything goes.
Looking forward to hearing about your experiences.
Andrew
These activities for me are the most ‘unlike’ regular swimming, and also massively useful for feel and my efficiency. I never experience the feel/speed/mechanics of these drills outside of these drills. Put another way, most other drills or exercises I can do or simulate if I swim a regular set and focus on what the drill is asking for. I can’t simulate these drills unless I actually do them.
If you were asked to recommend one drill, exercise, or activity to help someone improve their swimming ability (beyond swim more!), what would it be?
Similarly, what’s one drill/exercise/activity that has made the biggest impact on your swimming?
Anything goes.
Looking forward to hearing about your experiences.
Andrew
As I’m sure you know, the drill that is most effective depends on the particular weaknesses of the swimmer. My most prominent deficiencies, as far as I can tell, are a lack of EVF and a tendency to cross the midline with one arm.
For me, the YMCA drill proved very helpful in improving my EVF. I don’t do it regularly, but it did help me get a sense for where my hands/ arms should be and to gain a feel an EVF position.
In terms of drills I do regularly, Snapping T’s drill involving a PVC pipe to avoid crossing the midline is very useful. If I don’t practice that, my left arm will inevitably drift back across my head so I do it every time I swim.
The single-arm drill is also helpful. I do it with fins and a snorkel and use it to concentrate on a number of things (not all at once). Hand entry, EVF, rhythm, balance, core engagement. I will do a lot of 100 yd drills where I do 25 single-arm and come back swimming with both arms while concentrating on the arm that was the focus of the previous 25.
Full disclosure, I’m an average swimmer that does my 100s (SCY) a little under 1:30.
Crossing the midline: https://youtu.be/TRz6urskSLE
Single arm: https://youtu.be/LiWg96Vqf14
I’ve come to think that the catch-up drill is the one most AOS swimmers really need.
It gets a bad rap because if overdone it slows and disrupts your natural stroke rhythm, and to swim faster you need more turnover generally, but for AOS swimmers who aren’t that great, this is the drill most of them really need.
It’s like a hallmark of AOS that their lead arm drops prematurely once they take a breath. If they had great competitive swimmer body control this wouldn’t be a big problem, but of course they (me included) don’t so you get all sorts of over-rotation, twisting, bending as a result. Virtually every single adult swimmer in the pool I train in drops the lead arm early, leading to all sorts of stroke chaos, and really should be doing this drill a LOT.
I had to really exaggerate it myself to get it - I thought I was doing a great job holding that arm out front as long as possible, but then on my early self videos, it actually looked pretty bad with no arm in front for a good gap in the stroke. I now practice it mindfully, really holding it out there and streamlining, and it was the key technique improvement that made my self-video form look from ‘kinda terrible’ to ‘kinda good.’
I def feel that it also fixes a lot of hard-to-explain common swim errors: over-rotation (you can’t over-rotate much with that arm out in front), corrects a lot of body position errors while stroking, and keeps you more streamlined and compact. But it’s definitely not a natural movement for most and has to be practiced.
If you’ve never self-video’d yourself, and you’re not a fast swimmer, I’ll bet you’d be horrified with how early your lead arm drops while swimming.
10 x 25s all out sprint for time
.
core strengthening.
I read the original post as looking for out of water and I agree with core works. I’m a swim coach (high school) and core work is the one thing I wish more of my athletes did year round.
In the water as far as freestyle is concerned I like what we call the 6-6-6 drill. Hand out at the catch, body rotated, and kick AT LEAST 6 kicks with the head in the right head position. Both with fins and without. The hand/arm in the right position to start the pull gives you a much better chance of getting the most efficient pull.
dolphin kicking on back on front in streamline and dolphin kicking on left and right side with one arm forward and one on side.
As the majority of poor swimmers are those who never swam competitively the one useful thing that always struck me was distance per stroke.
It teaches body position and balance, the need for a complete pull and rotation. Plus the ability to relax and be streamlined.
Watching a recent race some of the women were taking only 5 (both arms) strokes for a 25 yard pool. At speed.
I have watched lesser swimmers take up to 20 strokes for the same distance. Lousy turn included.
It’s the only metric I work on in the pool, no matter the speed I am trying for.
Having coached since 1975, I feel the best drill to improve your freestyle is to swim/learn the other strokes- not just the competitive ones, but the RedCross/lifeguard/WSI strokes and then make up your own by combining diferent aspects of one with another (ie legs of buterfly with arms of backstroke or whatever) Simply said- have fun with what you learn.
These activities for me are the most ‘unlike’ regular swimming, and also massively useful for feel and my efficiency. I never experience the feel/speed/mechanics of these drills outside of these drills. Put another way, most other drills or exercises I can do or simulate if I swim a regular set and focus on what the drill is asking for. I can’t simulate these drills unless I actually do them.
Good stuff.
For me, that’s the biggest value of fins. Use them to go REALLY fast and learn to adjust your skills to those speeds. Beyond the reason you mentioned, the higher speeds also magnify the drag, so you can feel if you’re plowing a bit, especially when you breathe.
Any particular type of sculling you like?
Your point about simulation is great. The best exercises are the ones that let you feel something novel that’s relevant to better swimming. It’s all about sensation.
As I’m sure you know, the drill that is most effective depends on the particular weaknesses of the swimmer. My most prominent deficiencies, as far as I can tell, are a lack of EVF and a tendency to cross the midline with one arm.
For me, the YMCA drill proved very helpful in improving my EVF. I don’t do it regularly, but it did help me get a sense for where my hands/ arms should be and to gain a feel an EVF position.
In terms of drills I do regularly, Snapping T’s drill involving a PVC pipe to avoid crossing the midline is very useful. If I don’t practice that, my left arm will inevitably drift back across my head so I do it every time I swim.
The single-arm drill is also helpful. I do it with fins and a snorkel and use it to concentrate on a number of things (not all at once). Hand entry, EVF, rhythm, balance, core engagement. I will do a lot of 100 yd drills where I do 25 single-arm and come back swimming with both arms while concentrating on the arm that was the focus of the previous 25.
Full disclosure, I’m an average swimmer that does my 100s (SCY) a little under 1:30.
Nice. Targeting specific issues and knowing what works for you is key.
I’ve come to think that the catch-up drill is the one most AOS swimmers really need.
It gets a bad rap because if overdone it slows and disrupts your natural stroke rhythm, and to swim faster you need more turnover generally, but for AOS swimmers who aren’t that great, this is the drill most of them really need.
It’s like a hallmark of AOS that their lead arm drops prematurely once they take a breath. If they had great competitive swimmer body control this wouldn’t be a big problem, but of course they (me included) don’t so you get all sorts of over-rotation, twisting, bending as a result. Virtually every single adult swimmer in the pool I train in drops the lead arm early, leading to all sorts of stroke chaos, and really should be doing this drill a LOT.
I had to really exaggerate it myself to get it - I thought I was doing a great job holding that arm out front as long as possible, but then on my early self videos, it actually looked pretty bad with no arm in front for a good gap in the stroke. I now practice it mindfully, really holding it out there and streamlining, and it was the key technique improvement that made my self-video form look from ‘kinda terrible’ to ‘kinda good.’
I def feel that it also fixes a lot of hard-to-explain common swim errors: over-rotation (you can’t over-rotate much with that arm out in front), corrects a lot of body position errors while stroking, and keeps you more streamlined and compact. But it’s definitely not a natural movement for most and has to be practiced.
If you’ve never self-video’d yourself, and you’re not a fast swimmer, I’ll bet you’d be horrified with how early your lead arm drops while swimming.
For those that are spinning out of control and have no patience, catch-up can be a good place to start. The rhythm issues are the ones that concern. Unfortunately, some people end up getting stuck in catch-up. If they don’t, then it can be very helpful for the reasons you mentioned.
I definitely agree that dropping the lead arm is a major issue. As you mentioned, I’ve found that it’s often a lack of stability that causes this to happen. Working on improving that skill tends to naturally improve the arm action.
As you also mention, when done well, it can fix a lot of problems in one shot, which is exactly the type of exercise to use.
Andrew
10 x 25s all out sprint for time
Measuring performance almost always improves it. Very underrated.
core strengthening.
Anything in particular that’s helpful? What impact do you notice when you are or aren’t doing core work?
I read the original post as looking for out of water and I agree with core works. I’m a swim coach (high school) and core work is the one thing I wish more of my athletes did year round.
In the water as far as freestyle is concerned I like what we call the 6-6-6 drill. Hand out at the catch, body rotated, and kick AT LEAST 6 kicks with the head in the right head position. Both with fins and without. The hand/arm in the right position to start the pull gives you a much better chance of getting the most efficient pull.
What type of core work do you do when you have the kids? What do you see changing when they improve with it?
With 6-6-6, is the main thing you’re looking for is the set up of the pull? As you said, if you don’t set it up right, it’s not going to get any better as they go through it!
Slightly unrelated…what’s the biggest challenge you face as a high school coach and seeing kids for a relatively short amount of time?
Andrew
dolphin kicking on back on front in streamline and dolphin kicking on left and right side with one arm forward and one on side.
Nice. Thanks for sharing. What’s the biggest value you get from doing so? With fins, without fins, both?
Andrew
As the majority of poor swimmers are those who never swam competitively the one useful thing that always struck me was distance per stroke.
It teaches body position and balance, the need for a complete pull and rotation. Plus the ability to relax and be streamlined.
Watching a recent race some of the women were taking only 5 (both arms) strokes for a 25 yard pool. At speed.
I have watched lesser swimmers take up to 20 strokes for the same distance. Lousy turn included.
It’s the only metric I work on in the pool, no matter the speed I am trying for.
Absolutely agree. Counting strokes is probably the simplest way to create change without having to know anything about swimming. Just having an awareness will have a positive impact. Actively trying to change it is even better. The feedback is immediate- the number is different or it’s not.
Andrew
Having coached since 1975, I feel the best drill to improve your freestyle is to swim/learn the other strokes- not just the competitive ones, but the RedCross/lifeguard/WSI strokes and then make up your own by combining diferent aspects of one with another (ie legs of buterfly with arms of backstroke or whatever) Simply said- have fun with what you learn.
I’ve always thought that learning different strokes allows you to learn the same basic skills (creating propulsion/managing position/etc) in a slightly different context. That variability is really valuable as compared to trying to do the exact same thing every time, and a lot more entertaining.
The coordination challenges you mentioned are awesome, too. Great stuff!
If you have shoulder pain, switch some or all of your swim to fist drill.
I think this has been instrumental in my ongoing recovery from biceps tendinitis. I am also doing a lot of PT on land, but for in the water, that drill helps. And you can get pretty out of breath doing it.