Atlanta Rainbow Trout

Kicking

• Intro to flutter kick including line drawings and images of elite swimmers during a sprint in Olympic races.
• How to improve your kick?
• • Vertical kicking is a great way to get immediate feedback on changes to your kicking pattern. If you rise up higher, it's a better kick! Video demo.
  • KOB (Kick on Back) and kicking on your side are great ways to get a different feel for your kick. KOB also lets you watch your knees to make sure they aren't bending too much.
  • Sprint kick: Short bursts of sprint kicking are important because kicking technique is quite different during short races or the final 25 yards of any race.

Freestyle stroke

• Correct breathing technique.
• A video on the three most common kick patterns (2 kick, 4 kick & 6 kick).

Freestyle Drills

• How to improve your pull? These drills are in order of skill level. Beginners will likely struggle with the drills at the bottom of this list and very fast swimmers likely would benefit more from the drills in the bottom half of this list.
  • Kickboard hand entry drill.
    • How? hold the kickboard in one hand with your arm fully extended. Stroke with the other arm, entering the water just before the kickboard then extending fully forward. Video demo.
    • Why? Long & lean freestyle. Getting the full extension of your arm in freestyle creates a better body line while the other arm hits its max propulsive phase
  • Catchup freestyle.
    • How? Keep one arm in front of your body throughout the stroke cycle. Hands should not touch in the center but rather stay in front of your shoulders in an "11" position.
    • Why? Working one arm at a time allows you to focus on form. For any swimmers whose hips tend to drop while swimming, catchup also improves your form in the water. Video demo.
  • Fingertip drag drill.
    • How? Swim freestyle or catchup, but as your arm recovers drag your fingertips across the surface of the water. Video demo.
    • Why? Forces the elbow into a good recovery position, and pulls your recovery arm in tighter. 
  • Fist drill. 
    • How? Swim freestyle, but with your hands in fists. Focus on the feel of the water on your forearm. If you have an early vertical forearm with a high elbow position you'll be able to grab water more forcefully with your forearm and push water back towards your feet. To help with high elbow position, imagine reaching over a barrel as you pull. Video demo.
    • Why? Early vertical forearm. This means during your pull phase you are in a high elbow position.
  • Stroke count challenge. Variation: only left arm or only right arm. Why? As with vertical kicking, counting your strokes and trying each length to reduce the count tgives you immediate concrete feedback on small changes with your form.
  • 6/3/6. 
    • How? Take 3 strokes to reach a fully extended position with body rotation. While fully extended, take a breath & kick 6 time. 
    • Why? full extension and body rotation.
  • 6/1/6. 
    • How? Take one arm stroke to reach a fully extended position with body rotation. While fully extended, take a breath & kick 6 time. Focus: full extension and rotation. Video demo.
    • Why? full extension & body rotation.
  • Hold the Line. 
    • How? Variation on 3/6/3. 3 arm pulls and then instead of holding for 6 kicks you will hold until the momentum drops. Video demo.
    • Why? Full extension and clean body line.
  • 1-Arm Max Pull Drill.
    • How? One arm will be stationary straight out in front of your body at shoulder width. The other arm will also be in front of the shoulder. Take a moment to set up and concentrate then pull through with max pull effort. Set the arm back forward again pause to reflect and then pull again. Reverse arms after 25 yards. Video demo (Coach DiSorbo calls this "power catchup" but I think the name doesn't make sense.)
  • Sailboat drill.
    • How? Swim freestyle, but pause with the recovery arm shaped like a sailboat with the fingertips almost ready to enter the water. Then plunge the recovery arm forward while pulling with the underwater arm. Video demo. 
    • Why? Body rotation & shoulder drive. 
  • Bow & arrow drill.
    • How? Variation on sailboat. Swim freestyle but pause with the arm early in the recovery phase. Video demo. 
  • Boom drill.
    • How? Sailboat / bow+arrow variation. Instead of pausing with the arm in a sailboat shape, hold the driving arm above the water early in your recovery. Instead of alternating arms, you're going to be doing one power driving arm the full drill. The arm that isn't the focus on a 25 will do an underwater recovery to set back up for the drill. Here's a quick video where the swimmer changed the drill a bit or DeSorbo's full video demo with explanation.
    • Why? Heavier emphasis on shoulder drive. Also because it doesn't include the triangle shape, it can be used to train a straight arm recovery freestyle.
  • Underwater recovery. Do a full reach forward and pull back with each arm, then recover under water near the body. Like a long & lean doggy paddle. It’s almost a catchup drill, where you’re going to hold the extended arm in front almost until the recovery arm comes back. Focus: it reinforces for your brain the drag factor of water. Video demo.
• How to improve your underwaters? Caeleb Dressel's youtube channel has a great tutorial for advanced swimmers.

Back to SKILLS page.