Freestyle

• A swimmer who can successfully stay on top of the water can have more efficiency because there is less surface area for the water to grab on to.

• The term “Dry Back” can be used as a descriptive goal for athletes to use during a certain set or drill.

Hesitation Catch

Touch Touch Touch

Lane Line Drill

Backstroke • Backstroke is predominately becoming flatter

– The lack of rotation means a higher need for a straight back push down the body

– Gliding on your back does not give you the same Distance Per Stroke effect that Freestyle does. • Key focus needs to be on getting the elbow and forearm into the

right place so that the straight back pull can be highly effective

Can Drill

Standing on Head

3 Hand Switches

Kayak Drill

Breaststroke

• The top athletes in the world have a great understanding of energy traveling from the pull down into the kick.

– This flow allows the kick to have more power

– Think of a whip and the mechanics behind it.

• Power through the handle translates to speed at the tail

Cone Drill

Egg Beat small

Out Front Drill pt 1

Out Front Drill pt. 2

Butterfly • Just like Backstroke, butterfly is turning into a

flatter and longer stroke.

• The most important factor of butterfly are the catch, the connection of the release with the kick to support the breath, and the recovery that throws a swimmer forward into their line

• “CPR – Catch, Pull, Recovery. All while holding a tempo”

Y drill

3 Body Dolphin 1 pull pt. 1

3 Body Dolphin pt. 2

Push off Bottom

Tomb Stone

More Stroke Work

• Getting into the more continuous motions

• Feeling the flow of the water

• Developing Speed and Power from our drills

Power Resistance to Movement

“Dry Back”

Natalie Coughlin

Freestyle: Straight Arm Vs. Bent Arm:

Recovery and Catch • Straight Arm

– More Speed going into the entry – Higher tempo – Less Control over the water – Roll of the body adds to the force of the pull – Harder to maintain for longer races

• Bent arm recovery – More control going into the catch phase – Slower tempo – Allows hips to add torque into the pull – Can maintain for longer swims i.e. Aerobic Capacity sets

Bent Arm

Hackett

Straight Arm

Natalie Coughlin

Backstroke: Elbow and Catch Focus

Aaron Peirsol

Straight Pull Down the Body

Michal Phelps Myers

Hip Angle: Hip Tilt vs. Hip Thrust

Pelvic Tilt for Backstroke • The pelvic tilt aims the kick up with a relaxed

form

– At the end of the race when a swimmer becomes fatigued this simple adjustment will prevent the feet from dropping .

Aaron Peirsol

Breaststroke: The Pull into the Kick

• The pull has a distinctive outward scull

• The breath is not performed by lifting the head, it is on the inward part of the pull

Be cautious:

• Head lifts for the breath early – Head gets out of line early the roll of the body into the

timing of the kick could be thrown off

• Pulling back too far – Pulling back too far could cause the body to lift up too high

Brendan Hansen

Getting to the Line

• Because Breaststroke requires you to break the surface every stroke pushing forward through the kick the water will cause a massive amount of resistance that can only be off set by a tight and straight line.

• It is already such a large part of our training philosophy that our young athletes are picking up acknowledgement from growing up with such a large focus on it

Brendan Hansen

Butterfly: Engaging the Catch

• Just like freestyle the hand position of the

catch should be straight backwards. This allows the swimmer to grasp and hold on to the water .

Lindsay Marchand

The Pull /Body Line leading into the Second Kick

The Pull to Recovery

Michael Phelps

Recovery • Relaxed yet controlled • Getting the hand to the forward position with the

fingertips ready to glide momentarily and then into the catch can get eat swimmer a couple more inched with every stroke

Starting a practice off different • With Team Elite, we find different ways to engage our

athletes. By the time they reach this level they have been through so much training it is good to make things fun.

• Making sure that athletes love this sport all the way through their career ensures that they give back to the next generation.

• “Enthusiasm is caught, not taught”

Example Warm Up

5 Laps

Underwater Kicking Seaho

rse

Bottom Crawl

Swim

Seahorse

The Simplicity of Training

• A simple set performed well is better than a complicated set done poorly

• 8 x Kick on the wall-Flip W to cone Swim build Last 10 yards fast!

• Set Focus: – Tightness of their turn – Mandatory Underwater distance and comfort – Control of speed and energy output – Great race pace finishes

• Find the difference between writing your athletes a practice and giving them a purpose

Generating Power vs. Having strength

• Strength: Swimmer #1 can bench press 200 pounds but it takes him 40 seconds to push it up.

• Power: Swimmer #2 can bench press 200 pounds but it takes him 5 seconds to push him up.

This video is a great way to promote teamwork while generating Power

Maintaining Stroke • Cullen Jones

– Stroke Rate of 1.0 = holding the most efficient amount of water

– Stroke Rate of .95 = Hand starts to slide through the water

– Stroke Rate of 1.05 = Stroke Rate too slow and will not go as fast.

Putting it all together Good races, great athletes, better performances