Drills → Freestyle
Bookmark and Share   Print this entry Print this entry
font size A A A

Freestyle - Reach, Ride, and Grab

Posted by Glenn Mills on Nov 29, 2011 07:00AM (0 views)

Swimming with paddles gives people a feeling of power as they pull, but this drill will help you focus on another aspect of your stroke... reach!

Why Do It:
The surface area of the paddle can help your hand slide, or ride, forward during extension as it braces your arm against the substance of the water.  The larger surface area helps to hold your hand in that extended position.

How to Do It:
1 . This drill is about the front of the stroke, so put on some paddles and you can decide if you want to wear a pull-buoy, or just swim.
2.  Swim like you normally would, only really focus on keeping your hand extended forward for a bit longer than normal.
3.  You should have a "riding" feeling with the hand out front, with the sensation starting with the hand, traveling down the arm, and continuing down the side of your body.
4.  Pause for just an instant on each side, and repeat... often.

How to Do It Really Well (the Fine Points):
After you've had a chance to ride a bit, focus your attention on your hand, and side.  When you start the pull, grab the water with your hand, and engage the muscles on your side to help pull it back.  Having your body completely extended for just that extra bit of time should awaken the muscles in your side and back, and allow you to connect with the entire body.

For this drill, we used the Finis Fulcrum paddle.


Tags freestyle, pull, paddles


Responses

Responded Nov 30, 2011 02:09PM

I have not used my paddles for a while now, so this is good motivation to do so.
Responded Nov 30, 2011 05:21PM

I know, me neither. I need to check the strap to make sure the rubber is still good! But for me, too, this makes me want to pull them out of my bag.

Responded Nov 30, 2011 05:35PM

I like the term "ride", just curious what the symptom(s) of too much "ride" are?
BTW, the new site ROCKS!
Responded Nov 30, 2011 05:41PM

Thank you for your videos and simple instructions...you make me a better swimmer every time I swim...it has taken me a long year to totally revamp my stroke and in fact, I am a much better swimmer than when I competed in my youth! I love the sport now...whereas before it was drudgery!

Responded Nov 30, 2011 05:59PM

Reach is exactly the right word. I always say reach out to where it's comfortable, gliding doesn't help at all. Not even the 1500m swimmers glide, their hand is always moving, either reaching forward or pressing back. Good stuff.

User_go Please login or signup to leave a comment.

The Pool

Subscribe RSS Feed


Videos-Evals

Drills

Products

Practices


 

More

Underwater Tag Cloud

1650 Aaron Peirsol active drag active recoveryswimming aerobic endurance age-group Amanda Beard anchoring android Android app ascending sendoffs backstroke balance beach reading bilateral breathing birthday swim blueseventy Body Shape bodyline brain training breakout breaststroke breath control breathing Brendan Hansen broken swims butterfly catch challenge set coaches coaching combat side stroke competition crossover turn Cullen Jones Cullen JonesKarlyn Pipes-Neilsen cycle rate Dave Denniston descend set distance per cycle distance training dive dolphin dolphin kick DragSox Drills dryland DVD efficiency eggbeater kick Endless Pools Eric Shanteau Eric Vendt etiquette EVF fatigue feel Finis finish fins fist drill flip turn flip turns flutter kick Fran Crippen freestyle gallop stroke goals goswimtv.com hand entry hand exit head position heart rate hybrid IM inner strength iPhone app Jason Lezak Jeff Rouse Jessica Hardy Kaitlin Sandeno Kara Lynn Joyce Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen Kevin Clements kick kids learn-to-swim long axis strokes loping Margaret Hoelzer masters medball Michael Phelps middle distance Misty Hyman mobile video monofin neural Olympics one-hour swim open turns open water Over training pace pace clock paddles paralympics parents passive drag propulsion pull pulling pulse rates pushoffs pyramid questiontaper race specific training racing recovery relay starts resisted swimming rhythm Robert Margalis Roland Schoeman Roque Santos rotation Sara McLarty science Scott Tucker sculling SEALs shoulders sighting snorkel speed work sprint Staciana Stitts Starts stations Steve Haufler straight arm recovery streaming streamline stretch cord stretching stroke count stroke rate subscription support swim across america swim camps swim fun swim technique swim training swim video swimming Swimming Golf swimming music Swimsense swimsuit taper teaching Tempo Trainer tether timing training Triathlon tuck turn Turns underwater dolpin underwater pull Vasa water poloswimming water temp weights work to rest ratio

Who is GoSwim?

We are a group of swimmers who swim really fast, and like to help others learn how to reach their competitive potential in the area of professional swimming.

Want More GoSwim?

Subscribe to our RSS feed Subscribe to our RSS feed


 
built by devtwo