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William Fremd High School
Girls Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
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Kicking on side with bottom arm extended - Keep pressure down
on the water by looking down at bottom of pool. This action keeps a balanced body
position on the side and also adds good head position. Maintain kicking on
the side
with a mid-pool switch while concentrating on a quick transition to other side
as you rotate your
hips. This drill aids in adding rotation in the stroke from your core (hips and abdominals).
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Kicking on side with arms at side - Rotate from side to side from your hips making sure your shoulders are tied into the rotation and that your
head stays in line with your spine. This drill forces you to rotate from your core,
you won't have your arms to help!
- Sculling - On your side with the opposite arm resting on your hip,
use a light flutter kick. Reach with your lead arm, keeping your elbow high as
you make very small figure-eights
with your hand. This drill will help you find a better "feel" for the
water, allow you to hold water better and should encourage you to maintain HIGH elbows
at the top of the stroke during the catch phase.
- One arm freestyle - As you execute this drill keep the non-working arm at your side.
Start the
pulling pattern with a high elbow while letting your hand lead the entire stroke.
Make
sure you rotate your hips during the drill. During this drill, alternate
your breathing so that you are breathing to the "non working side" of
your stroke. Isolates one part of the stroke,
which allows you to focus on a good pulling pattern.
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Swimming with closed fists - Swim freestyle with a closed
loose fist. This drill makes you more
aware of how much water your hand can actually hold. It aids you in developing a
"feel" for the water as you sense the water pressure on your forearm. It
is important to relax during this drill as you swim high elbows with high elbows.
Butterfly
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Hands down at sides kicking on your back -
Kick from your hips, not from your
knees. This drill helps you learn to incorporate your body into your kick
and not simply not rely on your legs.
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Hands down at
your sides kicking on your stomach. Works the full body
movement in true swimming position. Advanced drill: begin to get breath
forward without interrupting the rhythm of the kicking. Helps you learn
where the breath fits in with the timing of the kick during the stroke.
- See-saw drill - hands at sides, alternate pressing downward with chest and
releasing hips. Shows you how your core (hips & shoulders) are the
MOTOR in your fly! Advanced drill: Long See-saw - keep arms extended
forward on top of the water, keep pinky fingers at surface - disconnect arms
from chest "press through". Teachers you to swim from your core
(hips and abdominals) rather than from your arms and legs. You balance
like a see-saw!
- One arm fly (opposite arm at side)
A. Over-exaggerate the throw of the arm forward, try
to breath forward, "punch" the kick downward - hear thud!
B. Keep the thud and timing of 2nd kick but keep
nose on the surface.
- 4 Kicks/1 pull - Works timing and lengthens your stroke. Allows you to
concentrate on kicking your hands in (as they enter) and kicking your hands out
(as they start the recovery)
- Surf Drill Regular hourglass pull pattern, kick (1) as your hands
start the beginning of the pulling pattern (2) as hands pass under hips
(thud!). Recover the hands underwater with 2 small kicks. Do not
rush beginning of the drill. Lets you work on timing of pull and kick
without worrying about recovery.
- 2 / 2
/ 2 - keep your non-working arm up front, try
to stay on top of the water and not dive down. Works on the total cycle of
the stroke but with less energy used. On the 2 full cycles try to get
great distance per stroke.
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Tips to remember: Butterfly is a very tiring stroke if you rely more on
your arms and legs and not your body core to swim it. Most of these drills
focus on the core, so you should be able to practice technique without getting
too tired! Just like backstroke, use your underwater! Learn to
breath low on the water, it will save energy. A good breathing pattern to
follow is every other for the 100 and 2 breath - 1 cycle no breath for the 200.
Backstroke
- Shaping - Shape your body by rounding your shoulders forward and backward in
a circular motion. This drill can create a balanced streamlined body position.
(Remember
what happens when we "pull the string"?)
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Kicking on side with bottom arm extended - Keep pressure down on water by looking down
your shoulder. This motion keeps a balanced body position on
the side and also adds good head position. At the same time kick on
your side with a
mid-pool switch. Concentrate on a quick transition to other the side rotating from hips.
This drill can add rotation in the stroke from your core (hips and abdominals).
- Robot drill - Swim in a very mechanized way. During the recovery
phase of the stroke, drop your arm into
water at a 90 degree angle. By executing the drill in this manner, the
drill can help to correct over reaching by
exaggerating an outside the shoulder entry.
- Deep catch - As your hand enters the water, allow your head to roll with
your body and watch as the hand "grab" as much water as possible.
This drill exaggerates a deep catch.
- One arm backstroke - Keep the non-working arm at your side and start the
pull with a deep catch. Make sure you rotate to both sides with each stroke
so both shoulders
should alternately come out of the water. The emphasis on this drill is
to isolate
your pulling pattern. It should be done with attention to balanced
body position, rotating and steady tempo.
- 6-3-6: Kick on
your side for 6 cycles of kicks. Take 3 strokes and kick on the opposite
side for 6 kicks. This is a great drill to emphasis swimming on your
side but also includes rotation.
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Perpendicular arms kick: Lay flat on your back and hold both arms up above
your chest
in a streamline position so that they are perpendicular to your body and flutter kick
down the pool. This is an extremely hard drill if you don't already
have a strong, fast kick. You will need to use your legs, as well as
balance, to keep your feet close to the surface.
- Spin drill: Sit up in water and spin your arms as quickly as possible. Do
not focus on technique, instead focus on the highest possible tempo that you can
maintain. This drill will
teach your body to "redline" - turn over at a higher rate than you
ever would in a race.
Tips to remember: Learning to use your underwater dolphin kick in
backstroke is critical.
A good breathing pattern is to inhale on one arm recovery and exhale on the
other arm recovery. A strong, balanced and tight kick is a must for
backstroke. Don't be afraid to keep your head back while swimming, your eyes
should be looking toward the ceiling. Keep your hands moving and try not to
stop your hands at your hips. ( Tempo is very important to maintain.) Your
turn is similar to a freestyle turn once you rotated onto your stomach.
Know your stroke count from the flags to the wall for both your turn and your
finish.
Breastroke
- Kicking on your back - Keep hands under your buttocks as you drop your heels toward
the bottom
of the pool. Remember to keep your knees under the surface of the water and rotate
your feet around
your knees. This drill encourages you to keep from dropping your knees while
you're kicking.
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Kicking on your stomach - In this drill, keep hands at side and do not let knees go wider than
shoulder width apart. Focus on squeezing your knees together. Emphasis
should be placed on a
narrow whip kick. An advanced form of the drill is to begin to take the
breath forward (when feet are at "loaded" position) without interrupting the
rhythm of the kicking. The timing of the kick is emphasized here.
When breathing,
keep face close to surface of the water.
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Streamlined kick
- Keep your arms extended and squeeze your head between your biceps. During
this phase of the drill you should keep head down as you kick yourself forward
with a downward "T" chest press at finish of kick. This drill encourages
you to keep a straight line from head to toe! Focus on pressing downward
and forward from the chest at the same time to allow the body to slide
forward.
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Sculling - Keep your elbows high and still. Let your hands sweep out to corners of
stroke and then inward ("wipe the bowl") - Your palms should be
facing backwards with the fingertips pointed downward.... use a light flutter
kick. The inward scull is what makes you go forward in breaststroke!
This drill helps you feel how sculling moves you forward. Remember... keep
your elbows high at the surface of the water.
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3 sculls/1 stroke - Focus on pulling one motion forward from the corners on the
stroke. The pull should be emphasized in this drill. This drill can keep you from pulling arms underneath
your body.
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Breast arms with dolphin kick - Kick your hands forward as the hips rise. This
is more of a power drill so... drive your hands and head forward as you
streamline. (Great drill to use with fins.)
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Breast arms with flutter kick - Use quick strokes and a fast recovery (Do
not get "stuck" in your stroke).
The emphasis here is on FAST hands. Try to get your hands from an outward scull position
to a streamline position as fast as possible.
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Breast / fly drill: The swimmer should take 2 strokes with the right arm fly/2 strokes left arm fly/2full strokes breaststroke with
the head down. Breathing should be executed on the fly strokes.
Incorporate the undulating movement of the fly your stroke.
On the recovery, press the chest and pelvis forward!
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Accordion drill: Begin in a streamlined position. As the feet get into
position to kick pull hands toward top of head. As you kick, extend the hands
forward into a streamlined position. This drill works on timing of kicking
bringing the hands
forward in the recovery.
- 3 - 2 - 1:
During the streamlined position count to 3 after the feet finish the kick and
before taking the next stroke; progress to counting to 2 and then 1.
Focus on being patient and streamline in each cycle. This drill
will help you find the ideal tempo for your stroke.
- Kick / Kick /
Pull - Keep your arms in a streamlined position with your head down.
Get maximum distance out of each of the stroke and each of the kicks.
The kick to pull ratio can be altered to work on the swimmer's position in the
water and to lengthen the stroke. This drill is great for working on finishing your kick
completely.
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