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My 10 Favorite Drills of 2010

Posted by Glenn Mills on Dec 28, 2010 05:42AM (14,603 views)

In reviewing the year, I decided to pick the 10 drills that meant the most to my own swimming or coaching this past year.  

After doing this for over eight years now, I still feel that there is so much to learn and so much to discover, but the overriding theme continues to be athletes taking responsibility for their own careers.  It's one of the reasons we do what we do, so that athletes look to coaches and teachers for advice and guidance, for training and workouts, for race strategy and technical advice... but to not depend on someone else completely.

With that said, here are my Top 10 Drills for 2010.

10) - Freestyle - Bent-Arm Extension - because not everyone is physically capable of being perfect.
9) - Backstroke - Opposite Shoulder Single Arm - because I can't believe I finally added a backstroke drill.  I need help here!
8) - Breaststroke - Breath Control - because being able to do this drill isn't as easy as it looks... and I was happy I could do it. :)
7) - All-Strokes - Shadow Play - because sitting here surrounded by snow, this reminds me of the great time I had at Pine Crest this past summer.
6) - Breaststroke - Separation Drill - because people shouldn't swim breaststroke like we did 30 years ago anymore.
5) - Freestyle - Single-Arm Trailing - because even watching Cullen Jones do a drill is a treat.
4) - Eric Shanteau Back - Breast Crossover Turn - because it drummed up some controversy and because everybody wants to master this one.
3) - Breaststroke - Narrow Kick with Roque Santos - because if you want to improve, why not learn from the best?
2) - Freestyle - Single Paddle - because Fran shows technique with extreme precision.
1) - Freestyle - Single-Arm Breath - because watching Fran swim will be something I plan on doing for years.

What were your favorites, and what are we still missing?  We've got plans to clean up and redo some classic drills, as we have MANY that aren't accessible right now.  We hope we've helped you learn a thing or two this year, or at the very least, inspired you to continue to think while you swim.

Have a Happy and Safe New Year, and remember to... Go Swim! ;)




Responses

Responded Dec 28, 2010 12:22PM

10) Butterfly - Single single double double
9) Freestyle - Catch up (6kicks 1 pull)
8) Backstroke - Catch up (6 kicks 1 pull)
7) All strokes - Hand sculling
6) Starts&Turns - IM - Ba to Br turn
5) Butterfly - 1 pull 3 kicks (1 additional kick in the streamlined before/ after each full stroke)
4) Backstroke - speed drill
3) Breaststroke - lay-out-drill (The Amanda drill)
2) Breaststroke - head up kick (amr in fron with a light sculling motion)
1) Breaststroke - the penguin drill ( kicking with hands on the butt; have to touch heals on each kick)

BONUS DRILL: Breaststroke - 1 pull 3 kicks

From 10 to 1 these are drills NOT the drills that I did the most; these are the drills that helped me improve the most this year. Thank you GoSwim, my coach and my fellow swimmers for the great ideas, example and support!

Responded Dec 28, 2010 01:46PM

My all-time favorite is All Strokes - Blowing Bubble Rings :-)
http://www.goswim.tv/entries/5579/all-stro...

Responded Dec 29, 2010 05:36PM

All they are good drills, but i miss butterflies and those for avoid body drop.

Responded Dec 30, 2010 01:19AM

Right now my favorite drills are (which I do as part of warming up, part of main set and part of cooling down)
Fly: 1- 1- 1
Fly: 2- 2- 2
Fly: 3- 3- 3
Breast: Kick with arms along side body, so I can feel my heels. Thank you all!

Responded Dec 30, 2010 06:05PM

Ah, I forgot one: yesterday flipping for an half hour with the purpose to discover where my hands are located during the flip. Practicing to leave my hands where they are, is a helpful enlightening advice. And relax the hands! It took me 8 years to come to this point. Now I think it is super simple! Again thanks to our Go Swim coach!!

Responded Jan 06, 2011 11:39PM

my favorite drill is single arm butterfly, and 1 pull 6 kicks bachstroke

Responded Jan 11, 2011 07:12PM

Reemi, you were talking about where your hands are on your flip turn. This is something that alot of swimmers don't think about. I am a coach & I coach all ages (3 years through college) & I still notice some of my older swimmers have trouble with that. We have a drill that we do to work on that & ALL of the swimmers like this one. Take 2 kick boards (1 in each hand, with palms facing down, thumb on the bottom of board & all other fingers on top), lay on your stomach with arms at your side (while holding a kick board like I described in each hand), with head in swim position kick flutter kick into the wall, flip at wall while leaving the kick boards at your side (they don't move while your flipping), at end of flip, flip the kicck boards over while keeping them in the same place, & push off wall on your back with your arms straight & kick boards above your head. After mastering the drill with kick boards try it exactly the same way, but without the kick boards. I have yet to find a swimmer that this does not work for & that does not love this drill. This is also a great way to teach flip turns to new swimmers. This also helps swimmers that have trouble just being able to do a flip. The boards gives them a surface to press on while flipping. Have fun trying it, it really helps.

Responded Jan 13, 2011 10:55PM

Thank you, Dena for the precise description! I will try the 1 board- in- each- hand- drill to really feel what is happening during flipping. And yes it looks like fun to try this drill. Never too old to learn something!!

Responded Sep 29, 2011 09:45PM

Thanks for the great drills! I'll try a new one each day!


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