Swim Technique: It's Never Too Late

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It’s that time of year when everyone has been racing a lot; the workouts are either intense or recovery from racing. With all the focus on preparing and racing all the time, many athletes forget to continue working on the technique side of swimming, cycling and running.

Technique drills, although very important in all sports, are extremely important in swimming because it is such a technique-based sport. The rule of thumb, although there are always exceptions, is that the better your technique, the faster you’ll swim. Throughout the year, drills should be included at the beginning of every swim workout. Since swimming is such a repetitive motion, it is very easy to develop a stroke deficiency (especially when your are tired) and then the repetition of the incorrect stroke can ingrain that deficiency into your muscle memory. Doing drills can combat this problem by forcing you to slow down and really focus on your stroke therefore preventing and/or correcting deficiencies.

Whether you are a beginner or a veteran, it is important to establish and maintain a proper body position in the water. The most common stroke deficiency is sinking hips, due to the head and shoulders being too high in the water. This body position causes your body to plow through the water, like a snowplow. A correct body position is one in which your hips are up, allowing your glutes to break the surface, with your head in a relatively neutral position; in line with the spine. Balance drills are a great way to practice and improve your body position. The following are some good balance drills:

Balance: Push off the wall, with your hands straight out in front of you, shoulder width apart. Floating in this position, with a light kick, press your shoulders forward and down (towards the bottom of the pool by hinging at the hips). Make sure your head stays in a neutral position. You will eventually find a body position where your glutes float to the surface of the water and you feel like you are doing very little work to stay afloat; this is the position you want to maintain when you swim.

Side Balance: This is the same as Balance, only you are on your side. Keep your bottom arm extended and your other arm resting at your side. Again, hinge at the hips, pressing your armpit down and forward. Your top hip should be barely under the water’s surface.

Six Count: Start out in side balance, kick six times then take a stroke and roll to the other side and repeat. Make sure you maintain a proper body position the entire time.

Once you have established a good body position, stroke drills can be introduced to help increase your efficiency. A common problem people have is swimming with a straight-arm recovery. A straight-arm recovery can cause your hips to sway, causing you to ‘slither’ through the water instead of gliding in a straight line. Another major problem with a straight-arm recovery, is that your hand/arm must travel a longer distance (an arc), meaning your arm recovery is slower, ultimately leading to swimming slower. We all know that the shortest distance from one point to another is a straight line. Swimming with a bent-elbow recovery is exactly this–a straight line from the back of your stroke to the front. Drills like hip to armpit, and fingertip drag are good drills to work on a bent-elbow recovery.

Hip to Armpit Drill: As you finish your stroke, instead of doing a normal arm recovery, drag your thumb up the side of your body (from your hip to your armpit) then finish the recovery of your stroke normally. This will force you to bend your elbow as you move through the recovery portion of your stroke.

Fingertip Drag: A progression from Hip to Armpit. As your arm exits the water at the back of your stroke, instead of lifting it up to return to the front of your stroke, drag your fingers along the surface moving them in a straight line from the back of your stroke to the front.

Mid-season is not the time to completely change your stroke, but a few little adjustments can pay dividends for your end-of season goal races. Incorporating one or all of these drills into your swim workouts could very well give you a great boost in your swimming!

Kristin McGrath is a professional road cyclist and Senior Level Coach with Colorado Premier Training. She is also a competitive triathlete and swimmer. For more information on Kristin, visit ColoradoPremierTraining.com.

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