Triathlon Swimming Drills

Many swim drills and exercises have been popular for training with swimmers. Not only in the water, but on land as well. Keep in mind that you’ll want to practice the proper motions, since they will eventually be party of an efficient freestyle stroke. Also try wearing finds as you practice drills, until you are able to master it better with bare feet. Here is a list of some of the most popular drills used:

1.) Balance Drills
Just like it is important to learn how to stand up and be balanced before we can learn how to walk, a swimmer needs to learn how to be balanced while kicking, before they can perform highly effective swimming.

Back Kick:
While standing in the water, change into a lying position, with your shoulders down, and your hips lifted. This places the head mostly underwater, with only the mouth and nose exposed. This position means that you are balanced. Try the next few motions once you’ve gotten this first part mastered, back-kick while still on your back, and then rotate onto your side, for a twist-down kick. Then, rotate your chin so that you are looking down at the bottom of the pool or a few kicks. Rotate your chin back to the side-facing position, and then return your body to the original position on your back. Repeat this on the opposite side of your body also.

Vertical Kick:
There are many swimmers who tend to waste a lot of energy on kicking while using incorrect leg motions, which means that they are kicking mainly from the knees. Using vertical kicking will help work on effective kicking motions, and also conditioning the right muscles. Start by placing one hand on the top of the other placed on your chest, and start kicking in a deep area of the pool. When you first use this drill, start with using full size training fins.

Side kick:
While keeping your arms down, kick at with your arms at the sides of the body. Then rotate the head and spinal alignment. Bear in mind that good balance requires less breathing, and only the occasional chin rotation.

2.) Arm Stroke Drills

Catch Up:
This drill is important because it helps the swimmer focus on stroking correctly, while using just one arm at a time instead of both. This will start with swimmers in a prone position, which both arms extended. Begin the freestyle stroke with one arm, while leaving the other arm extended. Complete the one arm stroke and after fully extending the stroke arm, begin the alternate side stroke. This will emphasize the glide, full extension, as well as the correct catch, pull and recovery. You’ll want to begin this drill slowly, and after some experience you can speed up to normal stroke pace.

Single Arm:
This technique is probably the most popular of all of the free style drills. The main point in this drill is to examine each part of the arm stroke. Using the same technique as you would with the catch up drill, start with both arms extended, perform a one arm stroke, and repeat with the same arm for the entire length of the pool. If you are doing consecutive lengths, then switch arms as you do each lap. This drill can be used with fins to work on fast hand entry, and can also be used without the fins once you have gained proper experience.

Fist:
The fist drill is used to teach you how to use the arms for propulsion while swimming. Start by clinching your fingers and thumb in a moderately tight fist. Then start using the freestyle stroke by acting as if reaching over a barrel during hand entry and catch. This should use your feet, your forearm, as well as your fist for a single unit of propulsion through the water. Another way to try this drill is to use a tennis ball instead of clenching your fist.

Back Sculling:
Improving your motion in water, as well as your balance, this drill is used while on your back. Once on your back, look beyond your feet, while keeping your arms at your sides, and sculling with your hands. This uses your hands to move your body backward.

Stroke Count:
While using a steady, premeditated stroke, count the strokes for one length of the pool. Try to reduce the strokes when swimming consecutive lengths, by streamlining and extending your stroke. If using full speed interval sets, maintain a new stroke count. This drill is excellent for testing, as well as for active recovery between interval sets.

3.)Breathing Drills

Offside:
On average, the left side is the weaker side to breathe on for 90% of swimmers. Try to repeat your breathing on opposite sides for consecutive strokes. Work with trying to breathe on one side for a length, and then on the other side for the length back. This is a good drill to practice while in the middle of longer intervals, or also in open water swim.

Buoy sighting:
When working with pool practices, try this drill. You will want to place something like a chair or a block in the middle of the lane, along the wall. Once you are doing your lap, practice slightly lifting your head for sightings of this object ever 5-10 strokes. Be conscious of finding the idyllic number of strokes between the sightings. When looking for the object, only lift your goggles slightly above the waterline, and preferably do this on a breath stroke. This exercise is helpful to use when working with bilateral breathing.

Drafting:
This exercise can be tricky at first, but very effective. Practice your breathing and stroke pacing while you are swimming directly behind another swimmers feet. You’ll want to maintain focus on the feet, and avoid anything more than just the occasional light touch. Do these while attempting to keep your head down for most strokes.

4.) Speed Swimming & Interval drills

Once you work past the beginner’s stage of swimming, try to begin doing intervals in almost every workout that you have. The only way to ever swim faster is to train faster and work harder in the interval sets. When you are swimming continuously, it can be very difficult to enhance speed, or even to uphold speed, so try to keep the long swims limited to 1500 m.

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