Swimming Drills Discussion

Drills, drills, drills is one of the swimming streams many coaches take in the pursuit of a perfect stroke. It is not easy to maintain a beautiful, efficient stroke in high speeds and that is when technique drills come into play. The hardest part about having the perfect stroke is the ability to change, modify and adjust swimmer's stroke as the swimmer develops.

If one desires perfection he/she cannot be afraid to try new things. Swimming is a constant learning process, as many great coaches state, "to be the best, you gotta learn from the best". Here are a few tips on how to get started with good technique.

1. Watch a lot of swimming videos of top level swimmers (start here: at swim.ee )

2. Do not think of technique as something that you will learn and never have to think about it again. Wrong! The perfect stroke requires constant attention, so stop your mind from wondering all over the place when you swim and focus on how the water feels, how much of it my arms are pulling, am I kicking enough, am I relaxed, do I hold a good streamline off the wall etc.

3. To help you with motivation, you may pretend that you are being watched in every single practice by fans in the stands or on the pool deck and they will laugh at you if your stroke looks like crap.

4. Ask your peers or coach to watch you and evaluate what you are doing right and what wrong.

5. If you have an access to a underwater camera, USE IT. If you do not own one, they are not that expensive to buy and are worth the purchase. (ex: AquaCam)

6. Finally, relax! It is the ease and efficiency of the stroke that makes you go fast , not how many muscles you put into it.

There are a few drill discussion forums on the web and here are some examples:
- Go Swim
- USA Swimming
- WebSwim

and many more....