Why you need to Max Propulsion with Coupling Motions
While nearly all of the forces that create propulsion come from the hands and feet, certain other movements we can do with will increase the amount of propulsion coming from the pull and kick. We call those coupling motions.
3 Common Freestyle Flip Turn Mistakes
Freestyle Flip Turn Part II: Olympian and The Race Club co-founder, Gary Hall Sr., breaks down “the flip” in the freestyle flip turn.
Yoga for Swimmers: Increase Your Core Strength (20 minute workout)
Follow Olympians in this 20 minute vinyasa yoga for swimmers focusing on core exercise.
Swim Training: Rethink Rotation in Backstroke and Freestyle
Gary Hall Sr.: “Although coaches and swimmers commonly believe that one of the reasons fast freestlyers and backstrokers rotate their bodies along the axis of their motion is to reduce drag, I don’t agree.”
The Two Important Nuances of a Great Kicker
I want to bring your attention to two common, but not widely recognized, problems of the kicking motion that adversely affect kicking speed. Neither is related to propulsion, but both are related to frontal drag.
Kick Faster In Freestyle and Dolphin Kick
One of my pet peeves is when coaches refer to the up kick on freestyle (or dolphin kick) as the ‘recovery phase’ of the kick.
How to Speed Up Your Kick from Hip to Knee to Ankle
The amount of propulsion generated by the kick is arguably the most important difference among fast and not-so-fast swimmers.
How To Improve Freestyle Kicking – Video
The speed of the freestyle kick is the baseline speed for your freestyle. The higher the baseline speed (kick speed), the faster you will swim, after adding your pulling motion and body rotation.
How to Breathe in Swimming
First, I want to dispel one myth about breathing during intense exercise. In no sport does an athlete ever take a complete inhalation or expiration.
How To Train For High Octane Freestyle
The 50-meter sprint primarily involves two of the three energy systems we have available to use. Stored energy and anaerobic energy production are the two principal ways in which we delivery ATP to our muscles for this short, all-out burst of speed.
Why RPM Matters in Swimming
In the sprinters’ world, RPM matters. When a swimmer goes from hip-driven to shoulder-driven, he basically changes the technique of using his hand (and arm) from an airplane wing and paddle to using it as a propeller.
How to Avoid the ‘Modern Toilet Seat’ Syndrome, Backstroke/Freestlye
I call this the ‘modern toilet seat’ syndrome, because in swimming freestyle and backstroke, the hand slows down just like a modern toilet seat with a spring on it to keep it from falling down hard.
Tripp Montgomery Joins The Race Club Family
The Race Club was responsible for training 53 Olympic swimmers that won 23 Olympic medals over 4 successive Olympic Games from 1996 to 2008.
Five Nuances of a Great Start
We have discussed the two different basic techniques of track starts, weight forward and weight back, and the importance of coupling motions in improving the outcome of both techniques.
How to Get the Best Leg Motion on Your Start
The third coupling motion is also important and that is the back leg lift.
