Stroke technique tips by Terry Coppin
On all 4 competitive strokes the key to swimming fast and looking effortless is excellent stroke technique.
The target whether at the basic learn to swim stage or club competitive level is to make yourself long and strong in the water.
The points of reference for great swimming on all strokes are:
- Strong, powerful and relaxed leg kick.
- Long and fast arm sweeps/pulls.
- The head to be as still as possible on all strokes.
- Smooth comfortable breathing.
- Smooth timing between arms sweeps, leg kicks, breathing and timing of stroke.
Swimmers should aim to swim fast using the least number of strokes for each length/width of the pool, starting with a powerful push off the wall or a dive. The speed at which we push off is greater than swimming speed so it is vital to be as streamline and spear shape as possible off the wall.
Practice swimming all strokes smoothly without making any splash. Listen while swimming and try to practice silent swimming.
Practice the dolphin kick as much as possible. This kick is used for maintaining speed off the walls with streamlining. Most coaches agree the dolphin kick is the fifth stroke and at Brent Dolphins the teachers and coaches practice it regularly with pupils from learn to swim to top county coaching level.
When practicing dolphin kick swimmers should aim for the legs working at the same time and should have fast equal beat kick with undulation starting from tummy and hips and finishing with a whip like movement of the feet. The up-kick on dolphin needs to be as powerful as the down kick.
By listening to the teachers and trying to swim good stroke technique as much as possible, swimmers will improve in leaps and bounds and swim faster and smoother as a result.
Sectional Work by Peter Corr
This piece is on the importance of sectional work to the swimmer and means to improve areas within the strokes. It covers technical aspects of turning a basic stroke into an efficient one and better understanding of the strokes and how these technical aspects should be applied.
As a rule, the sectional work takes place after the main set and often lasts about 15 minutes. It is a key area for the swimmer to work on stroke errors. Equipment can be used to help in certain areas, such as short fins to increase flexibility around the ankle, correct over bending on the flutter kick and other uses to help the swimmer gain extra movement. Also on the butterfly it helps the swimmer to recover their arms over the water. Other equipment used are pull buoys for arms only drills helping to increase upper body strength, hand and finger paddles to increase the feel of the pull under the water and kickboards to build leg stamina.
Swimming drills can also be used and they are many that can be used for all strokes. General emphasis of sectional work is done over shorter distances, so the swimmer can work on the finer points. Sectional work plays a key role in improving efficiency within the strokes. It also offers variety to the session at the same time as challenging the swimmer mentally and physically to become a better swimmer. Sectional work is used from young age group swimmers up to Olympians and is the back bone of any swimming cycle, always remembering the five key principles:-
- Body position - is the swimmer streamline?
- Leg kick - is the swimmer kicking from the correct muscle group?
- Arms - is the swimmer making efficient use of the arm pull?
- Breathing - is the swimmer breathing at the correct time?
- Timing - are all the elements in the right place?
Cycles / Energy Systems by Ricky Duggins
The human body uses different energy systems, depending on what is demanded of it. Each system is based on present fitness levels, maximum possible heart rate and the heart rate required for the demand - for example, to swim 10M as fast as possible would hardly elevate the heart rate at all, but to swim 1500M as fast as possible would lift the heart rate to its maximum.
As swimming has such a variety of distances, as well as different strokes, it is important to strengthen all areas/systems to receive the most benefit. This would also include rest, recovery, diet and even sleep !
Some of the most basic energy systems are:-
- Basic Endurance - which involves keeping the heart at about 50 beats below its maximum, trying not to have it rise or fall - so not too much rest between swims.
- Threshold - 10 to 20 beats harder - almost/aiming to reach the point of having to ease back - but not !
- Lactate Tolerance - 10 beats below maximum - so plenty of effort over a shorter period with a longer rest.
- VO2 Max - flat out ! ... but not too far.
- Recover - it really is about training regularly and training SMART - which means resting and swims with little effort allowing your body time to recover, repair and strengthen... your heart is a muscle too.
So, to ensure all this is touched upon, we train to a cycle, which repeats itself, although not always the same sets, but the same energy system, as there are always different ways of hitting the system required. However, the human body is a clever thing and can become used to what's going on! So it also becomes important to "shock" the body by occasionally doing things differently.
So each week we aim for each swimmer to touch on as many systems as possible, depending on how many sessions they attend.
