Swim II - Class 3 - Posture

Tonight we worked on Posture, and a more advanced way of doing what we did in week one. It’s a big advantage to be able to hold your hips, shoulders, and head in alignment. This allows you to produce force most economically in two ways:

1 ) Your arm stroke is pulling a narrow, unbending body, that stays close to the surface. Muscles stretched against an unyielding frame produce force best.
2) Power from your kick can be directed to rotate your hips on demand, in conjunction with your arms vs. randomly twisting your body. A narrow kick becomes more useful. Less power is lost to meaningless motion.

NOTE: Remember that in the main sets this quarter we're doing both poor and perfect for swimming. This way, it is easy to feel the difference between the two and notice when your form is suffering.

Warm-up (200):

4x50 kick/swim

On Deck (Posture):

Jump out and go through the following points face up and down, using several kickboards to lie upon. Do this for 3-5min. Practice narrow kicks we did in class while keeping your back connected to the ground. You should be able to control the curvature of your back while moving your legs and take all the pressure off of it.

Note: This deck work was developed by Olympic coach Richard Quick.

Face up –
Key Points:
Pull your belly button into your spine and flatten your low back to the ground.
Breathe out and push your ribcage down toward your waist.
Tuck your chin back so the back of your neck lines up with your spine.
Imagine you’re being stretched by someone pulling on the top of your head. Lengthen your neck.

Face down –
Key Points:

Pull your belly button into your spine, and take it off the floor. Your ribs and hips should be touching on either side of it.
Breathe out and flatten yourself down to the ground, all the while keeping your stomach from touching.
Tuck your chin back so the back of your neck lines up with your spine. Lift your forehead just a millimeter off the ground.
Imagine you’re being stretched by someone pulling on the top of your head. Lengthen.

Warm-up (300):

12x25 leaving every 50-60sec, focusing on each point above for blocks of three 25s. You’ll finish at the opposite end of the pool each time.

Main Set:

Do the following as a continuous 300yd swim.
Remember, this is very easy swimming. Rests if any are short at 15-20sec after each 300.
100 count strokes
100 loose belly and lots of head movement up and to the sides
100 lower abs in / chin tucked (head very steady as body rotates evenly to both sides
Repeat 3 or more times.


Cool Down:
100 easy swim

Swim II - Week 2 - No Pressure Catch

No-Pressure Catch

Last week during the very slow swims, I could see side to side motion caused by pressing improperly at the front end of the stroke. Also, pressing down too early was causing most everyone’s hips to sink.

This week we worked on swimming fast, and removing pressure from the front end of the swim stroke – until the point where the forearm and hand are vertical in the water. This ensures all pressure is backward, moving you forward.

Warm-up:

200 easy, 4x50 kick/swim, 4x25 fast, all with 15-20sec rest between swims.

Main Set:

Forward Sculling (see end of post for details) – get the arms in the catch position. NOTICE that when you’re sculling that your hips and heels are at the surface all the time and it’s easy for them to be there. That’s because you’re only creating pressure back and not down in front.

Slow Swimming – take all the pressure off the catch

Fast Swimming – 20x50 (not a sprint, about 7-8 out of 10 effort), work on no-pressure catch, allowing the body to move over the hand and forearm.

Alternate the focus each 50 as follows:

1 – Count strokes per 25.

2 – Pull immediately, as soon as you extend your arm out front. Don’t wait for the arm to drop.

3 – No-pressure catch. Let the forearm and hand drop into place before applying any pressure. Feel your momentum carry you over your catch. Keep your head down and your back flat to the surface.

Cool Down:

100 easy swim

Prone Forward Sculling – sets up and strengthens proper elbow, shoulder, hand position

Face down in the water, kicking lightly to keep legs at the surface. Shrug shoulders forward so that elbows end up even with your temples. Hands are under the elbows. Scull with small motions like “figure eights”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WYyowAvb5U

This is a good demo of why you always want your palms facing backward vs. down. It is different (not better or worse) from the head down version we worked on. His arms/hands are angled at about 30-45deg in order to produce down force to keep his head up. Your hand/forearms will be vertical and in front of your head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CHt4J6nJvo

A good primer on sculling. At 3:00 she moves to a face down position and you can see her turn down force to back force that moves her forward. This is slightly different from the “elbows forward” front scull I usually teach that puts the arm in the beginning catch position. All this swimmer would need to do is shrug their shoulders forward and get their elbows and hands about even with the top of their head.

Swim II - Class 1 - Long Axis Stability

Long Axis Stability

Your long axis is the line that runs from the top of your head through your feet. It is the line your body should rotate around in freestyle (and backstroke).

This week we worked on slow swim form. It is just as (if not more) difficult to maintain proper body position through the stroke at slow speeds than at fast ones. You must be very deliberate with your motions and sense where the water is holding you up vs. where you’re pushing against it.

Throughout this class we’ll alternate swimming slow and fast. In addition we’ll often swim correctly and then do the exact opposite to feel the differences. This is what will help you get a feel for when you’re swimming well, and if you feel off, how to play with your stroke and correct it.

Have fun!

Warm-up:

4x50 kick/swim

200 easy free

4x50 fast free

10-20sec rest between swims

Main set:

The focus is maintaining body position at the surface at slow speeds / low effort levels.

You’ll count strokes the last 25yds of each swim (except the first swim).

100 – swim easy, count strokes

100 – swim easy, and BADLY, letting your hips drop way down every stroke, especially on breaths

100 – use a kickboard as a pull buoy, swimming very gently and feeling your body be as straight as possible, rotating around your centerline

100 – straight swim, very easy, trying to duplicate the feeling you had with the buoy

Cool down:

3-400 easy free