All Strokes - Forearm Strength

If you're looking for something to strengthen your forearms, especially for breaststroke, here's a quick drill that will do the trick.

Why Do It:
Maintaining a solid line from elbow to the tip of the hand through your races requires strength in your forearms and hands.  While we only show this for a very short distance, move this to your 25-yard or 50-meter pool... and enjoy.

How to Do It:
1.  I always have an extra pair of paddles in my bag, with no straps, just for drills like this.  If you don't, flip the paddles over.
2.  You'll not only be strapless sculling forward, but also going backwards.
3.  When going backwards, the feet may have a tendency to fall, so putting the pull buoy farther back toward the ankles will help keep you moving.  We even modified our set up with the FINIS ankle strap so the swimmer had nothing to worry about.
4.  Keep the hands HIGH at all times, forward and backward.

How to Do It Really Well (the Fine Points):
This is where it becomes fun.  Start the swimmer off in one direction.  Then, like suicides in basketball, create a mark on the bottom of the pool.  Once the swimmer reaches that mark, he simply changes directions from forward to backward, then from backward to forward.

It won't take long for you to understand that changing directions like this in the water is very difficult, and the faster you're going, the tougher it is.  Make up your distances, and have fun.