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Swimming % of time doing drills
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 2010-01-01 10:26 PM |
Veteran 546  |  Subject: Swimming % of time doing drillsI guess this has been discussed before..but I'd like to know what % in terms of weekly distance do you spend doing drills. I have just managed to do 1000m non-stop and for the last few weeks this is what I seem to do when I swim outside my coaching sessions. So if I do 6000m in a week..I probably do 75% as freestyle swim and 25% in drills (normally in my swimming lesson).. My goal is to both increase speed (my best has been 1000m in 27 mins - like to get that down to sub 25 mins in two months) and swim 1500m non-stop in 4 weeks.. I guess others have been challenged with this too |
| 2010-01-01 11:30 PM in reply to: #2588702 |
Member 35 Greensboro | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills I'd recommend investing in a pair of fins and paddles. Fins will really increase your leg/kick strength. Paddles help make sure your pull is correct. Since your a beginner (if you dont have paddles already) get a small or meduim pair and move up as you advance in your swimming. Keep doing your drills, as an advanced swimmer I still do drills to remind myself to work on my weaknesses. |
| 2010-01-01 11:38 PM in reply to: #2588702 |
Extreme Veteran 419 San Jose, CA | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills This time of year, I'm mostly doing drills and working on technique. Later in the year, closer to race time, it's much less. |
| 2010-01-02 12:24 AM in reply to: #2588702 |
| Veteran 546 | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills Thanks for the responses..I have fins and a snorkel..but no paddles.. I do use fins for some of my drills and the snorkel for leg drills..but haven't used paddles yet... Are paddles worth it? |
| 2010-01-02 6:31 AM in reply to: #2588702 |
Bob 2194 Binghamton, NY | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills I would suggest that you limit the drills to just a couple hundred yds per workout. If you are doing a 2000 yd workout that would be 10%, if you're doing a 4000 yd workout it would be 5%. Try to stick to 1 or 2 drills, do them right after your warm up then continue your workout. Here's an ex: 10 min warm-up (easy swimming, think looooong strokes) 4 x 50 @ :30 rest Drill (Even catch-up, odd finger drag) 4 x 50 @ :30 rest Free (try to apply the drill in your swim) 5 x 100 @ :30 rest 3 x 200 @ 1:00 rest 200 easy swim (looooong strokes) Too many drills tend to confuse people and make it hard to apply the drills to the rest of the workout. Keeping it to 1 or 2 drills is much more manageable. Other drills to think of: Fist drill - Swim with your hand in a fist 6 beak drill - 6 kicks before each pull Sculling - Done with paddles and pull buoy |
| 2010-01-02 6:35 AM in reply to: #2588776 |
Bob 2194 Binghamton, NY | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills getfitfast - 2010-01-02 1:24 AM Thanks for the responses..I have fins and a snorkel..but no paddles.. I do use fins for some of my drills and the snorkel for leg drills..but haven't used paddles yet... Are paddles worth it? Paddles are worth the investment. No need to get anything fancy, just something to increase the surface area of your hand. I suggest to secure the paddle only with strap for your middle finger. Don't use the wrist strap. This way if you are not catching the water correctly at the start of your pull the water will take the paddle off your hand. |
| 2010-01-02 7:59 AM in reply to: #2588702 |
Expert 2547 The Woodlands, TX | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills getfitfast - 2010-01-01 10:26 PM I guess this has been discussed before..but I'd like to know what % in terms of weekly distance do you spend doing drills. I have just managed to do 1000m non-stop and for the last few weeks this is what I seem to do when I swim outside my coaching sessions. So if I do 6000m in a week..I probably do 75% as freestyle swim and 25% in drills (normally in my swimming lesson).. My goal is to both increase speed (my best has been 1000m in 27 mins - like to get that down to sub 25 mins in two months) and swim 1500m non-stop in 4 weeks.. I guess others have been challenged with this too I wouldn't go beyond the 25% you are doing now and perhaps reduce it down to 15-20%. Drills are important, but applying those techniques to your actual stroke are even more important. |
| 2010-01-02 9:29 PM in reply to: #2588702 |
Member 85 | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills A set I like to do to try to get the most of of drills is to incorporate the drill into a hard set. I haven't been swimming as much as I should, but the set looks something like: 10 x (100m or 200m (hard) + 50m drill) no rest I'm in a long course pool and 50m drill is plenty of rest for me, but if you're going short course and feel like you need a short rest you could go: 10 x (100yd (hard) + 25yd drill) 10" rest I've always felt like doing drills in the middle of a hard set can help reinforce what the drill is trying to teach you. Remember to really think about the drill while you're doing it and try to feel for it during your hard interval. I also think drilling while you're tired helps teach you to hold your stroke together when you get gassed. |
| 2010-01-02 10:33 PM in reply to: #2588702 |
Expert 1456 Central New Jersey | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills Just don't become dependent on the "tools". Swam on Monday next to a guy who did his entire workout with paddles. It may help with stroke technique, but you can't use it in the race |
| 2010-01-03 8:26 AM in reply to: #2588702 |
Extreme Veteran 747 Overlea/Fullerton Maryland | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills |
| 2010-01-03 8:42 AM in reply to: #2590400 |
Bob 2194 Binghamton, NY | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills Grnfsh - 2010-01-03 9:26 AM what type of paddles are best to use? Anything will work fine. Here's a few from TJ's store. Speedo Training Paddle Fancy Contour Paddles TYR Catalyst Paddles (This is what I use) |
| 2010-01-03 10:53 AM in reply to: #2590185 |
Expert 749 | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills Fins also work on strength, swim specific muscles. Having said that there are some that are strongly opposed to paddles b/c they feel they cause shoulder problems. My shoulders are great so I use them, but with clients w/ any shoulder issues I leave them out. I use them & drills, both regularly. I like to incorporate both into each swim. Like Bob reccomended, warm up, strength, drill then ususally a main swim set. I would say it is about 10% of my overall time. The real purpose of the drill is to over-emphasize proper form, so it's really important to incorporate swim sets into drill work so that you first do the exaggerated proper form, then try to bring that form into your normal swim stroke. (sorry, I can coach swimmming but i sure can't spell!! : ) |
| 2010-01-03 10:57 AM in reply to: #2588702 |
| over a barrier | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills I generally get the smallest set of paddles I can find. Less torque/stress on the shoulder. I do 200 yds of drills every swim as part of my sessions. I swam competitively through HS though. |
| 2010-01-03 7:42 PM in reply to: #2588739 |
| Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills ahfarlow - 2010-01-01 11:30 PM I'd recommend investing in a pair of fins and paddles. Fins will really increase your leg/kick strength. Paddles help make sure your pull is correct. Since your a beginner (if you dont have paddles already) get a small or meduim pair and move up as you advance in your swimming. Keep doing your drills, as an advanced swimmer I still do drills to remind myself to work on my weaknesses. I love how people do not answer the question but come up with their own rediculous comment. To the OP, I personally do zero drills, but I have been focusing on building up distance. |
| 2010-01-03 8:43 PM in reply to: #2591386 |
Bob 2194 Binghamton, NY | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills recbrett - 2010-01-03 8:42 PM ahfarlow - 2010-01-01 11:30 PM I'd recommend investing in a pair of fins and paddles. Fins will really increase your leg/kick strength. Paddles help make sure your pull is correct. Since your a beginner (if you dont have paddles already) get a small or meduim pair and move up as you advance in your swimming. Keep doing your drills, as an advanced swimmer I still do drills to remind myself to work on my weaknesses. I love how people do not answer the question but come up with their own rediculous ridiculous comment. To the OP, I personally do zero drills, but I have been focusing on building up distance. Fixed that for you. And your post helps out the OP in what way? Fins and paddles ARE good tools to work on different drills. Just because he didn't give an answer to the OP about % of the workout doing drills doesn't make his advice any less valid. Certainly more valid than not doing any drills. To the OP - I think it's more important to focus on the workout. I'll agree with TJ (he's the fish) about the 20% as long as the workout is no more than 2500 yds or so. If you're doing a 5000 or 7000 yd workout 20% would be too much time spent on drills. IMO. |
| 2010-01-03 10:22 PM in reply to: #2588702 |
Member 75 | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills I for one am a big believer in drills, But you'll see several different opinions on drills and the % of time doing them. There are a couple of swimming plans on BT that focus heavy drills and light distance. Some are just the opposite. The phylosiphy is since you only Freestyle(Crawl) you don't need to do drills. If you have bad technique, your only reinforcing bad form by continuing to swim badly which will lead to injury or poor swimming economy. For me Drills make swimming Enjoyable and Fun and the Yards just fly by when doing them. Here are a list of the drills I do but Pull, Catchup, Fist, Kick(On Back, Front, Sides), SPL(Strokes Per Length), Golf, ISO Arm Stroke, Skull. Lots of Good Info in this Article. From Tri Swim Coach "What are the top mistakes you see triathletes making? One would be training too 'hard' instead of working on drills and technique. Many triathletes are competitive and just want to go fast all the time. This is the worst thing for swimming, because you will cement bad habits" http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1657 This is All about Swimming http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/index.asp?catid=19 |
| 2010-01-04 11:00 AM in reply to: #2588702 |
Pro 5761 Bartlett, TN | Subject: RE: Swimming % of time doing drills I usually like to do mix in my drills in my warm up sets, so I am not sure if I would classify it as my swim time. My first few laps will be spent working on gliding, hand entry, and balance drills (and a few sessions of a verticla kick drill) I see drills like these as things that you want to do slowly to make sure you are doing them right. Then I will go into my sets or my long swim, whatever is planned that day. |
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