Set of the Week - August 31, 2007

Here is a short set that lets you work on your freestyle technique while swimming rather than drilling.

8 X 50 freestyle

First 25 of each 50 is touch-and-go freestyle.
Second 25 of each 50 is full-extension freestyle.

Touch-and-go freestyle is better known as catch-up freestyle -- except that with touch-and-go freestyle you don't spend ANY time with one hand on top of the other. Touch one hand to the other JUST BRIEFLY and then start the pull.

Full-extension freestyle means that you extend one hand as far out front...and the other hand as far in back as you can -- on EACH STROKE. You want to get maximum distance between your hands on each stroke, even when you are taking a breath. Don't hold this position for very long. Just get to it and then start the pull with the lead arm and start the recovery with the trailing arm.

Touch-and-go freestyle and full-extension freestyle are not exactly drills -- they're more like exaggerated ways of finding some length in your stroke. They may seem like opposing ways to swim, but they actually complement each other. One draws your attention to the front end of the stroke. The other encourages you to focus on both ends of the stroke.