DRILLS FOR SKILLS 

 

Deciding that drills are needed over punishing yourself in a swim session with a grueling workout is not that hard when you decide to pay attention to hydrodynamics and resistance.

Fighting the gorrilla is hard enough, you dont stop when you want to, you stop when the gorilla decides your dead!! what I mean by this is… drills are swam everyday by the bet of the best in the world, why would you not want it to be a part of your warm up and cool down for each and every training session?

For the time crunched athlete, drills are still your number one chance to lower the effort levels or levels or exertion during the triathlon swim portion, while trying to save energy for the bike and run legs of the tri.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a point of no return on drills for swimmers and there is a point when certain athletes will always be high volume swimmers. however here is my Question to you, ” do you think about every stroke you take’?? give me an honest    answer of yes and there is no need to continue to read this post. however if like most of us, the pure bred water fish or the amateur extortionist a simple rule to engage the brain will lead to huge swim time deductions.

 

 Now before I go any further with this I have some rules for triathlete swimmers 

1. swim cadence or stroke rates — triathletes need the ability to be able switch / match /alter their individual strokes to suit races, race types and conditions.

2. Hips and shoulders must move together – hips are the driving force of the stroke- just because your moving your shoulders doesnt mean your hips are following

3. bilateral breathing in training– I don’t care what you do in races. do what comes natural.

4. A neutral head position – keep working on rotation drills, please do not neglect your kicking drills

5. Get the sequence right when choosing your drills and remember technique over speed with these, the speed will come eventually

How do i know what drills to choose for me?

Ask your swim coach to take a video?

Ask a life guard to take a video using your mobile phone? ( make sure your get permission)

Ask a friend what she or he see’s and even better yet is to ask someone who doesnt have a clue about swimming what he or she see

If none of the above are possible try re-searching a local club coach who can help. but get the video done, 99% of us are visual learners, so make it happen

Do your research and begin with this—- inward rotation of the shoulder joint to keep your elbow high in the underwater phase of your swim stroke—– do not bend the paddles

rotation / rotaion / rotation

Choose your racing kit according to your ability and racing distance 

example: No pockets on race suits for sprint distance or non wetsuit swims

 

 

This is a swim set that was swam with the shannon masters swimming club on technique mondays

Swimming drills sessions are very important part of training for any wannabe triathlete