Feeling the stretch in the muscle

For most coaches it has been awhile since we were unaware of what it was like to swim before we were taught. As a senior swimmer, you do so much repetition that it becomes the only thing you remember. This gets in the way sometimes, as you notice something in your swimmers, and you realize that you might have missed something that you needed to explain, and possibly help them realize what they should be feeling.

I have noticed that some of swimmers grasped when I talked about moving the elbow forward, and others picked up on the concept of rotating the shoulder forward. There are still some though that haven't quite grasped the concept, so I went to a more kinesthetic approach.

Here I had them all lay down on the ground, and then they moved into a side kick position. I have them move their elbow to the shark fin position. In both positions, I have them check their body line spots in regards to their arms, elbows, and head. I then instruct them to move to the sailboat position. Here is where I go to each swimmer, and slightly pull their elbow forward with their high elbow. They can now feel the stretch that I want them to feel in their lats.

When talking to the group, I asked if they felt the stretch. There were some responses that they felt pain. The swimmer did not recognize the difference in pain than a stretch. I continued to talk about the stretches we do everyday that helps build flexibility for this particular muscle. We tried the stretches, and some felt the stretch better now that they knew what they were feeling for in the stretch.

Some of the freestyles we did with the stretching as part of the focus, seemed longer than normal. Now we'll see how they apply it after a few workouts emphasizing this stretch.

I have done this kinesthetic method on a few other things, and it has worked out for some. I haven't emphasized the stretch on the recovery yet, and I just realized it while watching so many short strokes that glided their hand forward in the water from the top of their head to extension. After seeing the short strokes, I decided that talking about rotating the shoulder forward, needed to have some kinesthetic teaching to go along with it.