Right now we are focusing on two key elements in your swim performance;
- Balance/stability: our main objective is to gain awareness of core muscle activation as it pertains to stability in your freestyle swim stroke. Think of your core as being all muscles that act on a) the pelvis, b) spine, d) ribs and c) shoulder girdle. It is not just the hips in a whole body sport like swimming.Some drills you can use to gain core awareness are;
a) swim with band around ankles no pull buoy,
b) streamline position off wall and on simulations on land,
c) streamline position on bosu ball- both prone and supine,
d) repeat exercises a)-c) with roll initiated from the pelvis, but activating the core as one unit. - Propulsion basics: in propulsion we learning how to think of the pull as in “pull the body past the hand” NOT “pull the hand back”. This key element in swimming performance requires a basic awareness of core stability, as gained from working on the previous exercises.Some drills for propulsion initiated from the core are;
a) relax back (lats) on the recovery AND through the entry and right up to the catch. Then initiate pull from the core (lats, pecs, shoulders).
b) high elbow on pull- on entry, relax shoulders and lats to keep elbow high 10-20 cm under the surface as you set up for the catch,
c) your catch occurs when you apply pressure on the water through your hand, so as to initiate forward movement in your core. Try to keep you elbow high and stable at the catch.
d) Aim to accelerate your core from catch to exit. Start your pull slowly and well connected to your core, then gradually apply more force / speed to your pull so as to maintain core acceleration through the exit. Your goal is to enter the glide phase with peak core speed, not to generate peak hand speed in the first half of the stroke only to lose it before the exit.
More tips and drills will be added in the future.
