The Only Swim Drills Triathletes Actually Need

[@gtn]

Would you add more swim drills for triathletes? 🏊

[@TriathlonAnt]

Honestly I really only agree with the water polo drill. I have done it in the past, but I would add that it should be done in moderation within the moderation you advised. It can give a crick in the neck if done too long/often. I do disagree with the sculling drill, mainly because of my philosophy on drills themselves: that they should emulate a piece or part of a stroke that needs work done to make it more efficient. Often times I have seen coaches give swimmers scull drills to their swimmers for front crawl, only to then complain and reprimand the same swimmers for doing the sculling motion while pulling for front crawl! I did not see that result in your stroke Mark, which actually surprised me. Your hands entered and remained steady in the pull phase, with now side to side motion noticeable, so I guess with that, to each their own. BUT, if I had to add something it would be kicking on your front, arms by your side, and pressing slightly down and forward from the chin/chest area. Your eyes should be focused on a spot down and ahead of you, and you can breathe to your dominant side. The only problem is if whether you should have your nose pointed in that direction or pointed straight down. It's been a while, and I forget what my coach taught me. And you can add shoulder rotation to it if you wished. I saw great results in my freestyle back as a senior in high school with these two drills.

[@ianharber4352]

I'd add clenched fist front crawl great to get your elbow up and using your forearm as well as hand to pull. Best do it slow to start and focus on elbow up.

[@TriathlonAnt]

@@ianharber4352 One of my former coaches recently advised that over using paddles. In a way, it helps swimmers gain a technical advantage and then when returning to a normal stroke swimmers get a speed advantage.

[@johnellis6944]

I would add 1 length Right arm only then 1 length Left arm only. The opposite arm should be out front. The reasons: This helps to stop your hand crossing the centreline on entry. It helps with driving the hand into the water and also you can focus on a full stroke length as well as getting that rotation. As your hand exits the water you can reach forward with the opposite arm and get some nice extension which will help you understand what that feels like so that it will hopefully carry over to your normal stroke. I am comfortably a sub 1hour IM swimmer and I do this drill pretty much every session as part of my warm up. Keep up the good work team.

[@TriathlonAnt]

I would argue that this is better than 6 kicks to 1 pull, for various reasons some of which you mentioned here. Although I would go a step further and say keep the non-pulling arm by your side, as this will force you to rely on getting power from the pull to generate momentum and rotation. Additionally, while doing your drill you can kick six times while pulling.

[@paulnagel8161]

Perfect for the off season!

[@nope69555]

Still learning freestyle for my first Tri and appreciate the help on drills!

[@danieleleopaldi4667]

You are good. Thanks!

[@oh8021]

Enjoying your videos and tips all the time - one question - what would be the point where you will need more than those drills ? Say you're a mid aged medium build male person with no swimming background, would you be able to go up to 1:40/100m pace with those drills w/o particular strength training ? Swim is my weakest part and want to know how much time I should spend on swimming while I am still a 2:20-2:30 swimmer - should I spend time on weight training as well or not.

[@marie-louisekarlander2366]

I do them all Superman, Tarzan and sculling. Also do one arm crawl, more difficult with the passive arm to your side than in front of you. We also do Total Immersion, just one leg kick on every arm stroke. (Sorry for the swinglish) . Last Tuesday we schould sculling in backstroke, backwards the feet first in direction and the hands/arms sculling behind your head. ??!! Can’t say I made it. Marie-Louise 🇸🇪

[@robohippy]

Well, you use 2 drills I would never suggest, the 6 kick one stroke, and the sculling drill. My favorite is the catch up drill. The 6 kick one stroke drill, to me imparts over rotation since we never swim on our sides like that unless you are a weirdo like me who swims the over arm side stroke. As for the sculling drill, I can see it being handy if you are swimming breast stroke. Maybe good if you have no sense of "feeling" the water. That feel of the water came naturally for me, which is probably part of why I find no use for it. What the catch up drill does is you are pretty much swimming in slow motion. This drill focuses on full extension and linking your body rotation to the arm pull. If you can remember, making sure you get that little wrist flick to finish the arm pull. I can see the water polo drill for triathletes, which I am not....

[@Thrash155]

Sweet, I'm covered. Polo Drill = Tarzan(Johnny Weissmuller) Drill for Me, Skull Drills teach so many things, Balance, Strength and Hand Placement. Great Stuff GTN.. :)

[@michelebelardinelli5126]

One of the best for me is trying to find the max length after pushing off the wall in streamline position

[@Beatriz_MC]

So... I'm not a slow swimmer, I just do a lot of waterpolo swim😁

[@Jett125]

Gtn's getting edgy. I like it

[@willkinmont611]

John Bull!

[@jaafaralbaghdady0139]

Can you do 1:30/100m how to reach video ?

[@TriathlonAnt]

Isolate the elements of the strokes. So do kick sets and pull sets. But the key to improving in them is pushing yourself. So if you can consistently kick 100m in about 2 minutes 30 seconds for repeat 100s, go for 2 minutes 28 seconds. And try to do it consistently. Work in rest/recovery workouts to give your body a break and try to continue to improve.

[@jaafaralbaghdady0139]

​@@TriathlonAnt how many days are prefered....far as I have saw three days is the point where you develope ...and so like how much time is required to these numbers to show like 1:30 if lets say I train three times a week