getREAL Swim Tip

The last post was about working on drills that help with body position.  Well that is all well and good, you say, but what about the arms?? 

Here are a couple of drills that will get you going with the arms in the correct position and doing the correct thing. 

First of all, the shark fin drill or the stun gun drill (I'm not sure why it's called that??)  This drill focuses on keeping body position stable while breathing, and also working on a high elbow in the recovery portion of your stroke (that is that part where your arm is out of the water.)


The next drill is called Practice the Catch.  The "catch" is the part of the stroke where your arm is pulling you through the water.  It's sometimes called the pull.  I do this drill all the time!!  Two important things to remember during this drill are to keep your arms spread apart when they are in front...almost like they are on railroad tracks.  This keeps you from crossing your arm over the center to the other side of your body.  It makes for a more efficient stroke and places much less stress on your shoulder.  The other important thing is to let your arm drop down to the vertical position before you begin to pull back.  Remember what we are practicing is the catch, which is just the very first part of the pull phase of the stroke.



Here is a simple workout that can put these drills into practice.

Warm-up:  100-200 yards easy swim

Main Set:
50 yards shark fin drill, 50 yards swim - repeat 2-3 times
50 yards practice the catch drill, 50 yards swim - repeat 2-3 times

Cool-down:  100 yards easy swim

Total yards:  600 yards - 900 yards

If you have any questions about these drills, please email me or leave a question in the comments!!

Happy training!