Swimming Set of the Week - January 13, 2009

If you want to add a technique day without sacrificing fitness, here's a 2000-yard practice that works.   If you're a coach, you'll find that this practice gives you lots of opportunities to talk to the swimmers about their technique.  You can coach them on the fine points of whatever drills you're using, and you can give them feedback on how well they're integrating the focus of the drill into their actual swimming.    The emphasis is not on speed, but on how well you can transfer the lessons of the drill into your swim stroke.  This is for a 25-yard or 25-meter pool.  Here are some suggestions for drills, but you substitute your own drills and focus points.

Swim 8 rounds of the following:
25 drill
50 drill/swim
75 drill/swim/swim
100 swim/swim/drill/swim

Round #1:  With fins 
Drill = Hand-Lead Body Dolphin.  
Swim = Fly
Focus =  Stay low and keep moving FORWARD during the breath.

Round #2:  No fins
Drill = 2 Left/2 Right Backstroke
Swim = Backstroke
Focus = Bent-Arm pull, pushing water with palm and forearm

Round #3:  No fins
Drill = Breaststroke with an Extra Kick
Swim = Breaststroke
Focus = Get extended with eyes down (eyes below arms) on every stroke

Round #4:  Fins
Drill = Flutter Kick on Your Back with One Arm Extended
Swim = Freestyle
Focus = Get your hands extended front to back on every stroke.

Round #5: Fins
Drill = 2L/2R Fly
Swim = Butterfly
Focus = 2 kicks per armstroke and straight-arm recovery

Round #6: No fins
Drill = Flutter kick on your back, arms at sides, 6 kicks on one side, then rotate to 6 kicks on the other side
Swim = Backstroke, focus on the kick, not the arms (take 3 kicks on each side)
Focus = Forget about the arms.  Focus on a rhythmic and constant kick of either 3 kicks per side or 6 (during the drill)

Round #7:  No fins
Drill = Body-Dolphin Breast (one full stroke of breast followed by a dolphin kick while your arms are extended)
Swim = Breaststroke
Focus = Wider-than-usual outsweep, and don't collapse your wrists on the insweep and pull

Round #8:  Fins
Drill = 4-4-4 Freestyle (alternate 4 strokes fingertip drag, 4 strokes high-elbow recovery, 4 strokes straight-arm recovery)
Swim = FAST freestyle
Focus = Experiment with your arm recovery when you swim fast, and see what feels productive.