Finding Freestyle - Float and Paddle

Dave Luscan - 2011-02-10 11:02 PM Consider swinging a baseball bat to be more of a simile than a metaphor and hopefully it will make more sense.  To hit a baseball, the power comes from the core but is delivered by the bat, like a swimmer who develops power through rotation (the twisting of the torso) but delivers it through the arms.

My example seems to be bending excessively because he is twisting his torso and little else, as the drill requires.

He is doing almost the exact same twisting motion once he moves to the water, but with the addition of minimal shoulder and elbow articulation, there is nothing 'un-straight' about his swimming.

This is a great drill to teach swimmers to utilize their core strength with many peripheral benefits as well.

I have experienced people swimming faster than they ever have before immediately upon "getting" this drill.  And that is doing the drill itself, with no kicking, moving through the water driving the arms with simple twisting motion. Powerful stuff.

Not sure of the exact curriculum in Swimming 101, but I am reasonably certain it is the failures inherent in a "diagnose and cure" approach to coaching that has directly contributed to over 100 swimmers finding our Passive Technique based Finding Freestyle program in the first few months.  And to use another baseball metaphor...we are still batting a thousand in regards to making every one of them faster.    *knocks wood*