EXTENSION AND ROTATION How to get better extension and rotation.
PLAYING WITH BALANCE Here are some tips for you regarding balance in freestyle/backstroke.
INJURY PREVENTION While this video would have been great to use prior to the start of the season, it's never to late to take care of your body and get it in better shape. For those divers who are underclassmen, be sure there will be opportunities for you to do pre-season conditioning after our season, over the summer and next fall.
HEAD POSITION This video talks about head position, body alignment and rotation.
BREASTSTROKE STROKE TECHNIQUE: The key to an efficient breaststroke is learning the rhythm of the stroke.
BREASTSTROKE BREATHING: Another important aspect of the breaststroke is efficient breathing.
BREASTSTROKE KICK: This is one of the most difficult strokes to master because of the timing it takes to do it well. The kick sets up the pull, so let's focus on the things you need to do to have a GOOD breaststroke kick.
BACKSTROKE TURN: The backstroke turn is essentially a freestyle turn without having to worry about turning your body onto your stomach.
BUTTERFLY TURN!! The most important thing for you to watch and simulate, is what happens with the hand touch on the wall and NOT raising your upper body/head above the water. Core strength is key for any flyer to do this turn correctly.
ANOTHER FLIP TURN VIDEO!! This one is great to watch because the slo-mo quality is amazing!!
Another freestyle video for you guys. As we talked about today in the meeting, these videos are great ways for you to get some mental images of how it should look. That way, when you see video or still pictures of you swimming you will better be able to identify things you can work with your own stroke.
Guys -- this might be the best way of showing freestyle arms I have ever seen. As a former excercise physiololgy and kinesiology student, this uses the best terminology for anyone who understand about those things. For you who haven't taken anatomy & physiology, this video has great Images with great explanation because of the dryland quality. Excellent for all swimmers, especially with the fact that the majority of you will be using freestyle the majority of the time during swim practices. Get familiar with this video.
Proper Breathing Technique With our newer swimmers, one of the biggest things we have to work on is proper breathing technique. Watch the video below to make sure that you are not using bad technique!!
Flip turns, flip turns, flip turns!! Fellas, our races will be won or lost on our starts and turns. If you are practicing them wrong -- and you continue to do them wrong over and over and over again during practice -- you are creating bad habits that are difficult to break. Here is a pretty simple explanation of the flip turn. See it in your head, imagine how it should feel. As soon as we get to the season you'll be able to match yourself up with this video when we use the GoPro for training!!
Breaststroke Turns Here's breaststroke technique for the turn -- notice how Rebecca talks about not grabbing the wall -- just touch it with both hands and as soon as your hands hit the wall one of them drops (actually your elbow) to your hips and at the same time your other hand will go over by your ear. Basically, do what Jesse Gambrell says, "Elbow your brother and call your mother."