With triathlon and open-water season fast approaching, we focus this week on key skills to establish BEFORE you start to add sighting and drafting. Today: extension and relaxed breathing.
To make a smooth transition from drilling to swimming, start with a length of Position 11 - Triple Switch. Set up a steady rhythm with your switches. Now try a length of freestyle — but make it Position 11 Freestyle — returning your arms to Position 11 after every arm stroke. When you need some air, simply turn your head and …without interrupting your rhythm…get a quick breath of air. On this length, our swimmer is breathing on every stroke, but notice that he gets back into Position 11 following every arm stroke. He doesn’t allow anything to interrupt his rhythm. When he needs some air, he fits the breath into his rhythm and keeps going. This swimmer is using a bilateral breathing pattern with Position 11 Freestyle, which means she is breathing to both sides. She doesn’t stay in Position 11 for very long, but she gets there on every arm stroke. This is a great way to develop a stroke that is balanced and smooth and LONG. Here’s another length of our triathlete swimming Position 11 Freestyle. His body rides a little deep in the water, but notice how he maintains great extension with the lead arm on every stroke…and how he finishes each stroke at the back. Position 11 Freestyle is helping him develop rhythm and flow and LENGTH in his stroke. Once Position 11 Freestyle starts to feel comfortable and natural…and this can take several weeks or even months of practice… you will naturally begin to “let go” of Position 11 a bit… and will spend less time in “11” before you start to pull. Here’s our triathlete after he’s progressed to a more “standard” type of freestyle. Notice that while he doesn’t quite get into Position 11, he maintains great extension with the lead arm and maintains his rhythm. Both of our swimmers have devoted many hours to this freestyle learning progression. Each time they went to the pool, they started at the beginning of the progression and worked their way through to the end, gaining confidence and skill each time they completed all the steps. They did several lengths of each drill… finishing with several lengths of Position 11 Freestyle…and then started over again at the beginning. Our triathlete is now winning races…and our female swimmer is a coach! So be patient! Work on the progression one step at a time. And work on the entire progression for as long as it takes you to build a smooth and long freestyle. Build your technique one step at a time. The speed will follow.
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