Going back to basics

So I like to try things with strokes. I research and find how others have developed their athletes and I try to teach a different method to the swimmers. Some of them do well with these other techniques, where others try and just can't grasp the concept or are less effective using that slight difference in the stroke.

I always go back to basics though. I am doing this now with breaststroke with my group. I mean I began the training season actually going back to have them thinking about the "ice cream bowl" in front of them. Scooping ice cream up by scraping the sides of the bowl with their pinkies and then putting it in their mouth, and not all over their shirt. This leads to a pinky turn that occurs a little sooner than I'd been teaching and much more of creating that "open book" as the hands meet in front of the chest. Going for more of a powerful breaststroke.

I think that a lot of my swimmers haven't developed "feel" for water well enough to do really effective lift force strokes, so I have been focusing a lot on "feeling" the water. This means for all strokes I am now emphasizing the hand turns to maximize resistance force against the hand. The pinky sweep to catch more water is a huge focus. Even with sculling, I am having them do more hand sweeps than before.

I think that this season will be a season where I concentrate more on the catch portion of strokes. That means more paddle time.