(hip hop music)
- Now the catch phase of the front crawl stroke
is the part of the stroke when your hand first enters
the water after the recovery phase.
And it's a really crucial part of the stroke.
Yet it is actually a part of the stroke
that so few people ever miss out,
they slip through, or they just don't execute fully.
Now I'm a person, with my own swimming,
that if I'm not executing it quite right,
my swimming really goes down hill.
So, I'm continually performing drills
to try and emphasize and improve it.
And I thought I'd share my three favorite drills
for the front crawl catch.
Okay, so my first drill is what we call
the front scull drill.
Okay, now it doesn't actually look like
it resembles anything like front crawl swimming
or the front crawl stroke.
The reason for it is to give you that confidence
when your hand enters the water.
So you really get that purchase on the water.
The reason why so many people slip through
that first part of the stroke
is 'cause they're not confident
and they can't grab ahold of the water.
So we really want to improve that and emphasize that.
So that's where this scull drill comes in
and we're really trying to feel the water.
Now, we're here feeling for the water all the time.
But it is genuinely a thing.
We want to really get a perched the water here.
And that's what that scull drill in the front does.
So we want to start with our hands
basically shoulder width apart.
And we're going to scoop out with our hands
to just past our shoulder width and then come back in.
Almost like figure of eights with our finger tips.
Now if you want, you can pitch your hands
ever so slightly down.
And that'll help to propel you forward.
So we're just making this figure of eight.
I like to think of it as if you're splitting
a pile of sand in the middle
and then you're bringing that sand back together, okay.
Just like that.
And if you are, you can pop the pool boy in,
just to help keep your legs afloat
so you're not having to worry about trying
to keep yourself afloat.
(upbeat music)
Okay, my next one is almost an extension of the scull drill.
And it is the doggy paddle drill.
It's probably one of my favorites.
It allows you to really slow the stroke down,
break it down and analyze it and look
at your stroke as you're performing it.
So the object here is we are
taking recovery phase away from the stroke.
I'd also recommend popping pool boy in for this again,
just to keep the legs afloat.
So you're not having to worry about staying afloat, okay.
So we're literally just performing
the underwater part of the stroke.
I want you to start with your hands
in line with your shoulder.
We're going to focus on getting that catch,
pulling underneath you, all the way through to the back.
And once you're doing that,
you just slide your other hand up underneath the body.
And catch at the front there.
Okay, and really slow it down, look at what you're doing.
I tend to keep my head above the water.
Some people like to drop their head down into the water.
But if you keep your head above the water you
can just breathe as and when you like.
And just look at that catch as you're doing it.
Try and get the catch as close
to the surface of the water as you can.
And trying to get that elbow up.
As if you're trying to put your arm around a barrel.
So you're getting a really nice strong position
and real good purchase on the water.
Okay, and a little brucey bonus on for you here.
I'm not sure what you call this drill,
because I've made it up myself.
But it is the doggy paddle drill,
but I'm, again, breaking it down even further.
I like to do is just to really emphasize that front catch.
So we're just going to do a little doggy paddle drill.
So literally just small hand movements.
Really trying to grab ahold of the water
for that initial phase.
And then we're going to progress it out.
So slightly bigger movements all the way through
to a full doggy paddle movement.
And then once you're at the full doggy paddle extension
go back to those small doggy paddle movements, okay.
So just really trying to get a purchase
with the hands at that initial phase.
Okay, so my next, and my final drill,
is the water-polo drill.
Now this is essentially a full stroke, freestyle stroke,
but with our head up, out of the water.
Now the reason we do this is because, well,
basically you can't do it without a good catch
and a good purchase on the water.
So, by lifting our head up out of the water,
we have to push down at the front of the stroke
to give ourselves that lift, okay.
So, we're recovering with a nice high elbow over the water.
Head up out of the water.
You can have your mouth in the water for a lot of this,
but every so often you're obviously going to want
to lift that out to take a breath.
Try and keep a nice flutter kick going throughout,
'cause you're going to need that to stay buoyant.
If you like, you can pop some fins on for this one.
I'd avoid putting a pool boy in though,
just 'cause the extreme angle that's going to put your body in.
And then just making sure that we're pushing down
in the front of that stroke and good purchase.
Focus on what we just spoke about with the doggy paddle.
And with that, getting the arm around the barrel,
and a nice high elbow.
Push down and that's going to help lift
the head up out of the water.
Aright some of these drills obviously overemphasizing
certain actions and techniques.
But by doing them, they can really help
to improve your catch.
And that feel for the water that we always talk about.
I'd often try and pop these into my warmup
and even my warm-down.
It's often good to finish off your swim with good technique.
And that'll help for you to, again, reinforce that
and emphasize it into your next swim session.
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that by clicking just down here.