Freestyle - Position 11 Surge

When swimmers start to become more accomplished, they can start to add smaller focus points to standard drills.  This is one instance of that.

Why do it:
Learning how to determine that you're sending all your energy forward during a hard pull, helps swimmers become more effective in that pull.

How to do it:
1)  Start in Position 11, with both arms extended directly in front of the shoulders.
2)  Softly start to drop one hand into the catch position, keeping the elbow high.
3)  Accellerate the hand through the end of the pull and return it to Position 11.
4)  Repeat with the other arm.
5)  Breathe with a scull after each arm has pulled.

How to do it really well (the fine points):
Take your time on this drill, and set up the catch slowly.  When you start to apply power with the arm, focus your attention on the lead arm and the head.  When you push harder with the pulling arm, do you pop up?  Do you dive down?  The goal in this is to make sure the lead arm and head are stabilized during the push to the end of the pull.

This is a standard case of SEND IT FORWARD, making sure all the energy you're using on each pull sends the body in the right direction, and that the action of a hard pull doesn't push your head, or lead arm, in a direction that will set up the next pull in an bad position.