We are psyched to be in South Florida for the remainder of the summer. That means our videos have a change of venue. We’ve taken out talents to SoFlo and are joined by Dave Gibson, Head Coach of Swim Fort Lauderdale, to talk freestyle recovery.
One of the most prominent problems that coaches run into is having a swimmer that can’t finish with a good freestyle recovery. They recover short on their stroke and don’t follow through. This drill is a perfect way to correct that problem by placing a kick board between your legs and making sure to hit it on the end of each stroke.
We recommend going through the progression of a single arm, catch-up drill, and then into a full freestyle stroke. This not only helps technically with a better sweep and power correction in freestyle, but it also helps with your distance per stroke to swim more efficiently with less effort.
We look forward to shooting more videos with Dave and the whole crew at SFTL, our home pool for the summer.
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I think the key point I always tell a swimmer is that every drill has strengths and weaknesses. Get the strength from the drill and leave the weak points. For young swimmers who don’t roll, a drill like this might really help them understand or feel it better. I worked with a Coach who used this drill without the kickboard and called it “opposite cheek” free. Reach over and touch your right butt cheek with your left hand and vice versa. I had just learned from Richard Quick about releasing early to get back into the front quadrant, so I was opposed to the drill. But it was his program. I watched a very flat and slow freestyler suddenly learn… Read more »
I agree that every drill has pros & cons, but even the idea of “rolling” is outdated.
I understand that not everyone uses the same terminology, but the idea of the body (or at least the shoulders) shifting from side to side in freestyle, whether it is extreme or pretty minimal doesn’t seem to be too outdated.
Love this analysis, Billy! I totally agree that every drill has its strengths and weaknesses. If you take a drill like this at the surface level then it probably won’t be ideal as a copy-paste situation for all swimmers, but its benefits lie in the people that truly need them. The example you use with the very flat and slow freestyler is perfect where it can help as a base to add on, teach, and shape that freestyle into something that can be worked with.
Yeah…the idea behind this drill teach incorrect freestyle. There is a point during your pool that your forearm is going to be completely vertical and fingers pointed to the bottom. After this point in the pull you will be in the point of “diminishing returns” in terms of force against the water and moving your body forward. “Finishing” your pull all the way down by your hip with a completely straight arm is not correct…your forearm, hand will be completely parallel to the water and accomplishing absolutely nothing!
I get the idea of the drill but it certainly does nothing to teach a proper release position. The elbow should never release over the back. Be careful with this drill.
I have never found a drill or teaching that I am more opposed to than this one. The elbow needs to “break the ice” and start recovering forward. This drill leads to a straight arm in the water by the swimmers side causing drag.