I do most of my training alone, and I do a lot of SLOW things when I train, such as SCULLING. I don’t get in a lot of yardage, but I don’t really care because I’m trying to learn or change things about my stroke. I’m always a little nervous when I give this kind of practice to my Masters team, because I think they’ll get bored or get upset because they’re not getting in the yardage. This morning, I gave my Masters swimming a set that I do when I swim alone and want to focus on my hands, wrists, and forearms. They actually LIKED IT!
WARMUP: 400
400 your choice, on your own.
SCULLING SET: 600
Do everything in this set with a pull buoy. On the swims, try to incorporate the hand motion that you are “studying” when you scull. On all the sculls, try to maintain a straight line from fingertips through hand through the wrist and along the forearm. Do not collapse your wrists!
Swim 4 rounds of:
25 kick
25 scull
25 swim
Round #1: Fly
Kick = Hand-Lead Dolphin Kick on Your Stomach. kick with your whole body, not from the knees
Scull = Face down. Windshield-washer scull at about nipple level. You are simulating the OUTSWEEP of butterfly
Swim = Butterfly
Round #2: Back
Kick = Head-Lead Flutter on Your Back. Rotate side to side. Point toes. Narrow, steady kick.
Scull = Head-Lead on Your Back, elbows at sides, sculling up and down with forearms and hands. You are simulating the downstroke of backstroke.
Swim = Backstroke
Round #3: Breast
Kick = Head-Lead Breast Kick on Your Back.
Scull = Head-Lead on Your Stomach. Simulate the outsweep of breaststroke.
Swim = Whole-stroke Breaststroke
Round #4: Free
Kick = Head-Lead Flutter Kick on Your Back, rotating side to side
Scull = Face down. Stabilize the upper arms by holding them to your sides. Scull with only the hands and forearms, simulating the finish portion of the pull. Maintain straight line through the wrists.
Swim = Freestyle
I wanted to make sure everything had the feeling of the freestyle scull, so we did:
3 X 50, swum as 25 freestyle scull/25 freestyle.
QUICK SET: 200
8 X 25 BRISK Freestyle on approx. 10-second RI. Your sole focus is transferring the sculling lesson into whole-stroke swimming. Focus on keeping a straight line through the wrist. Do not collapse the wrists. You should feel your hands accelerate through the pull.
MAIN SET: 1200/950
Fastest swimmers did the yardage on the left; other swimmers did the yardage on the right. On all of the FREESTYLE in this set, focus on the sculling lesson. No collapsed wrists!
300/200 Freestyle
200/200 IM with fins
200/100 Freestyle
200/200 IM with fins
100/50 Freestyle
200/200 IM with fins
WARMDOWN: 100
100 EZ
Total Yardage: 2550/2300
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