Heather Fell: Drills, drills, drills. They're not the most exciting part of swimming,
but they are essential for improving our stroke. There are some common ones that we all use fairly
regularly for working on those overall aspects of our swimming stroke. They do the job well,
but there are also some more unusual drills that can still get the desired effect.
Today, it's time to spice up our swimming drills.
I have to start with a quick disclaimer. These are unusual drills and therefore don't have official
names, so please accept my suggested titles. [music]
Think of the recovery action of your front crawl as zipping up your body. Well, we're going to add
in the unzipping action now as well. This drill is great for encouraging a relaxed recovery arm,
working on a strong core and a strong kick, while still trying to maintain that correct
body position. It's quite simple. You're going to bring your recovery arm over
just like you would do normally, but as your fingertips touch the water at the hand entry,
you're going to take your hand back out the water and reverse that action
all the way back until your hand is at your hip that your fingertips dip into the water there,
bring it back to the front and then continue with the rest of your stroke. You'll do this
continuously on both sides. [music]
This is a hard one to label and quite a hard one to describe, but it's going to be working on
high elbow and your overall body position. We're basically going to be pausing the
stroke midway through the pull and the recovery. Yes, that sounds complicated,
but bear with me on this one. You want to start by taking three strokes, and then
midway through that third stroke when your pull, your arm coming under your body is halfway through
and your recovery arm is also halfway in the air, you're going to hold it there.
With that arm that's under the water in your pull phase, you're actually going to do a scull for the
count of three underneath your body. You're sculling in the mid-scull phase. Once you've
counted to three, you're then going to continue with the rest of your pull and then your recovery
can complete. Do another three strokes and then you're going to stop until you're on the other
side and you'll repeat it that way. It's really focusing on keeping your elbow nice and high and
keeping that feel of the water midway through. [music]
This one is easier to do physically and also easier for me to explain.
Now, finger trickle just slows your stroke down generally whilst helping to encourage a relaxed
recovery arm. It also guides your hand in at the start of the catch and the pull. Simply, for this,
as your hand comes out of the water for recovery, instead of taking it fully out of the water,
leave your fingertips touching the water surface, and then you're going to literally trickle them
through the water through to the front of your stroke for the whole of your recovery phase.
You'll do that on both sides. You don't want to leave your hand too deep in the water because
that would add in too much resistance, but you don't want to just be touching the odd splash,
you do actually need your fingers touching. I know some of you out there might be saying,
"Well, I swim with a straight arm recovery." This is purely a drill. It's not trying to change your
stroke, it's just trying to help getting your arm nice and relaxed. Like all drills,
it's got aspects that can be working on your stroke so when you return to full stroke,
hopefully some of that will carry over. [music]
Slowing things down gives your brain longer to think about things. When it comes to swimming,
there are so many aspects of the stroke you need to process. This gives you more time to
think about each of those areas. If there are small changes you're trying to make,
you can focus on those, and then hopefully, make them become more permanent in the future.
This is a relatively simple drill. You're going to simply take one full stroke nice and slowly.
By that, I mean a pull under your body with your left arm and your right arm. You're going to
do it as though you're swimming in slow motion, so super slow, over-exaggerating how slow it
would be. Then, you can focus on whatever points it is you're needing to work on on your stroke.
Once you've done that complete cycle, you then want to do three strokes really fast,
a little bit quicker than it is normal, and return once you've done those three
full strokes back to one full stroke slow again. Hopefully, on the slow one,
you can think about those aspects you're working on, and on the fast ones, they'll hopefully become
a little bit more natural. [music]
This last one is a bit of fun while still helping with that feel of the water. You're going to be
working on your sculling. If you've got sinking legs, I would suggest popping a pool buoy
in between them because this is going to accentuate that. You want to start off by
pushing off the wall, which might sound simple. It's not. You're only trying to push off with
your hands because you're going feet first. It might actually be easier just to start by
floating in the water in a neutral position and then you're hopefully going to start moving down
the pool with your feet first. You're going to be sculling with your hands facing diagonally
down towards the bottom, and you'd be making that normal sculling action that we've talked about and
we've practiced before. It's very much coming from the wrist, trying to feel the water. Hopefully,
you will then start to move forwards feet first. I warn you, it is going to be very slow progress,
so be patient and just try to do 10 or 15 meters to start with at a time. If, however, you find
this really simple and you're flying down the pool and you want to challenge yourself, then why not
think about trying to do it with your hands above your head. Hands up nice and straight, but you're
going to be having your wrist so that they're actually facing up towards the ceiling slightly
because you're going to be pushing the water away from you to try and propel yourself forwards.
I warn you, legs really do have a tendency to sink on this one, but both of these drills are
a bit of fun and they're just going to help you get that feel of the water at the same time.
Well, that's just another example of a slightly fun drill, but there is still a serious element
that's going to be helping work on your stroke just like all of the drills we've mentioned.
Sometimes, trying to spice up your swim training can be a challenge, so why not mix in some
of these drills into your next swim session? If you've got any favorites that are a little
unusual and you find work for you, please do share them in the comments below. If you've enjoyed it,
give us a like. Remember, you can follow us on all of our social media channels, and you can
also subscribe to us here on YouTube. [00:06:01] [END OF AUDIO]