Taylah McCormick
Private Swim Session 10th December 2022
Great progress again ! You got into a more flowing rhythm with your stroke, with the side and breathing drill great to help connect your body and head when breathing.
Key points...
1. Arm Shape and Small Catch: Remember it is ok to get some internal shoulder rotation to help get your forearm to 90 degrees under the water. Similarly, some rotation from your hips helped to lengthen your stroke and not reaching forward, but to let the hips take your arm forward.
The small catch and then taking a stroke also helped with this and power.
2. Breathing: Holding your lead arm in the water longer helped to get more air in, as did exhaling from your nose. Once you have a breath and your head is returning to the centre, that's when you take a stroke.
3. Combining arm shape and rotation: Keep focusing on this, you are getting some good momentum and remember to get a flow with your stroke and hips, and a slightly quicker stroke rate. You will find a balance between stroke rate and intensity, initially as we increased your stroke rate you felt out of breathe but keep modifying this to find an optimal pace for you.
Keep practising, it will become more natural over time, and think of one component or one side of your body at a time.
Swim Filming
Initial Swim
-
Nice elbow shape and set up of your stroke
-
Head still and centered, but try to look down to the bottom of the pool more - this will lift your legs up higher in the water
-
Timing of rotation and stroke a little but out of sync
Rotation Drill
-
Head nice and still and centred
-
Getting all the way around to the side
Side drill - Left
-
Great lead arm position and angle in the water
-
Good body position with hips high in the water
-
Head nice and forward and down (smelling armpit!)
Side drill and breathing - Left
-
Excellent arm position, remember to keep wrist facing down
-
Great rotation from hips and letting head follow
-
You really connected with this drill!
Small Catch
-
Good forearm shape
-
Good shoulder rotation and bringing hips in to help with the shoulder rotation
-
Nice high elbow
Small Catch and freestyle stroke
-
Good arm shape when taking a stroke, you can see the power you are getting
-
Be mindful of bringing your arms into the middle, aim to keep them parallel to your shoulders
Better flowing swimming
-
Good forearm shape
-
Nice arm speed or stroke rate and rhythm
Final swim
-
Excellent !
-
Great rhythm and power
-
Nice long stroke being driven from your hips and controlling breathing and lead arm position
Taylah McCormick
Private Swim Session 26th November 2022
Taylah, you swim well and some tweaks to your technique can aid in helping it feel easier and providing more power and momentum. You have a good body position and your arms enter parallel to your shoulders.
You made some great improvements within the session, continue to practise and it will get easier !
Remember, just focus on one thing at a time or on one side of your body and practice the drill a few times, then a series of 1 x 25m drill, 1x 25m freestyle focusing on the drill component.
Key points...
1. Rotation: Initiate it from your hips, and rotate on both sides of your body, especially the side your don’t breathe on. You should feel like you are continually rotating throughout your swimming, like a flow. Link your hips and shoulders to rotate these together. Rotation also helps to lengthen your stroke by extending your arm forward.
You rotate well on the side you breathe, as you are getting your head into position to breathe, remember to rotate more on the opposite side to the side you breathe on.
2. Arm shape: Your arms enter the water parallel to your shoulders well, we worked on maintaining an angle downward in the water (like a spear fisherman or person!) to help keep your elbow higher than your wrist throughout your stroke and as you extend forward. This enables you to get your arms into a better shape earlier to get more power earlier and to help focus on combining with your rotation. This was a good development in the session and you understand the position 11 arm shape and angling down with your wrists well.
Just watch over reaching in front of you, remember to enter the water with your arms a bit closer to your body and let your hips, which are rotating to extend your arm forward.
3. Combining arm shape and rotation: The single arm drill really helped to understand the shape required (high elbow under the water rather than a straight arm pulling through) and combining it with your rotation. Combining your rotation with your arm stroke helped gain more power and momentum a bit like a rowing boat.
Keep a flowing continuous motion with your stroke, it will become more natural over time, it is just that you are thinking of many things at once at the moment, but it is a great development.
Swim Filming
Initial Swim
-
Head position good when breathing
-
Head still and centered
-
Lacking rotation on side not breathing to
-
Pulling through with a straight arm without combining with rotation
Rotation Drill
-
Head nice and still and centred
-
Good initiating rotation from your hips, letting your shoulders follow
-
Go all the way around to one side, back to the middle and then to the other side
-
Try kicking a little bit more as per the arm shape video to help with momentum
Arm shape
-
Head position good when breathing
-
Head still and centered
-
Lacking rotation on side not breathing to
-
Pulling through with a straight arm without combining with rotation
Small Catch
-
Relax your shoulders, and retract slightly if you feel you are over reaching
-
Small bend at the elbow and internal rotation of shoulder
-
Keep hand below wrist and connected to forearm ie. don't flick backwards
Single Arm Freestyle - Left
-
Keep a high elbow and bend at your elbow
-
Take a stroke and combine and drive from your hips
-
Feel your hip drive and the 'rush' of water when you take a stroke
-
Extend hand to the hips and then angle up and out of the water
-
Good connection of arm and rotation when taking a stroke on this side
Single Arm Freestyle - Right
-
Good arm shape with a bent arm under the water
-
Start your rotation a little bit earlier to connect it with your arm pulling through
-
Keep practicing this, you will notice a change in your stroke and more momentum
Better Swimming
-
Better rotation on both sides of your body
-
Take a stroke and combine and drive from your hips
-
Feel your hip drive and the 'rush' of water when you take a stroke
-
Extend hand to the hips and then angle up and out of the water
Final Swim
-
Good arm shape with a bend arm under the water
-
Good rotation on both sides
-
Good connection with rotation and taking a stroke
-
Keep practicing this, you will notice a change in your stroke and more momentum and it getting more fluid
Sample Swim session
Remember just think of one component at a time and build upon it.
Over time and with practise it will become more subconscious and integrate into a nice flowing rhythm.
You can use the Snorkel for any part of this set
200m warmup - with flippers and take a break hen you need to
4 x 50m (25m rotation drill on back with Flippers, 25m Freestyle) - short break
4 x 50m (25m Single Arm Freestyle, 25m Freestyle) - short break
Alternate with Left and Right arms doing the drill
4 x 50m freestyle, focusing on rotating especially to the side you aren’t breathing to / 15sec recovery between each one. Focus on getting a smooth flowing rhythm with your stroke
2 x 100m Freestyle / 20sec recovery between each one
Focus on getting a smooth flowing rhythm with your stroke
4 x 50m Freestyle/ 10sec
1.2km