Swimming made easy

by Terry Laughlin

  3. Continue breathing on every armstroke, but remain face down during the recovery.

  Drill #8.3: Body-Dolphin Butterfly

  Why do this drill: It integrates all the skills you worked on in the first two drills with armstroke, recovery, and breathing. The drill is simple: Keep your arms extended for two extra pulses before each stroke, but don't pause (as in hip-delay) When you take the stroke, concentrate on the following:

  Stroke. Pulse, stroke, and breathe just as in Stoneskipper, but instead of pushing the arms back, flare them out early and to the side to start the recovery. This should feel as if you are making a karate chop out to the sides with your hands.

  Recovery Wide and flat. Feel as if you are sweeping the arms forward until you land head, arms, and torso together.

  Breathing. Breathe as early as possible in the stroke. Practice a "sneaky breath," as if trying to hide your breath from an observer. Keep your head in line with your spine and look down during each breath.

  • Low Profile. Keep your head and shoulders as close as possible to the water's surface. Imagine trying to fit the stroke and breath under a very low ceiling.

  • Pulsing. Don't let taking a breath or moving your arms interrupt the pulsing rhythm you've set up in your core body. Fit everything into your core-body rhythm.

  Drill #8.4: Swim Butterfly (EZ Fly)

  Why do this drill: Put the whole stroke together — no butterstruggle.

  Practice tips: Swim just three to six non-breathing full strokes at the start of each length—only as many strokes as you can take and still feel smooth and in control.

  As soon as your stroke feels even slightly rough, switch to a short-axis drill (anything from Lesson 7 or 8) or swim any other stroke the rest of the way. This makes it much easier to execute all the skills learned in butterfly drills. Once your technique feels good, add one or two breaths. As you practice, focus on the following:

  • "Sneaky breaths." Keep your head in line with your spine and look down slightly as you breathe.

  • Keep your recovery wide, flat, low, and relaxed.

  • Land forward, not down.

  • Don't take a single stroke of "butterstruggle."

  Practice Tips for Lesson Eight

  1. Always begin fly drill practice with at least a few refresher lengths of Lesson Seven drills. They are so valuable to imprinting a relaxed rhythmic core-body undulation that they helped set a world record. In August 1999, just before breaking the 100-meter butterfly record (the oldest standing WR at the time), Jenny Thompson was doing Head-Lead Body Dolphin in the warmup pool just before climbing to the blocks for her race.

  2. For novice flyers, Slim Fins can be a huge aid in gaining control and learning to do your drills with ease. To gradually wean yourself from fins, simply practice the drills for shorter distances or fewer cycles and build distances patiently.

  3. As the drills become "nobrainers," you can build them into "drill progressions" by swimming one length of each drill - in the order in which they are presented in this book. Once you've reached the most advanced drill, return again to the most basic drill and start the learning sequence again. Always avoid butterstruggle.

  4. If you are a novice butterflier and want to swim it in a meet, but are uncertain of your ability to swim the whole distance, both Drill #8.2 and #8.3 are legal forms of whole-stroke butterfly, either to swim the entire race distance or to use as a "rest" when your whole-stroke becomes too much like butterstruggle.

  Lesson Nine: Breaststroke Drills

  Before learning or practicing any of the following breaststroke drills, spend a few laps reviewing the drills in Lesson Seven. This will help establish shortaxis balance and coordination before you move on to a more difficult skill. Refer to the Four Strokes Made Easy DVD for the best guide to these drills.

  Drill #9.1: Heads-Up Pulling

  Why do this drill: The fastest way to master a quick and efficient breaststroke pull - one that keeps you moving FORWARD - is to practice with your head above the water. This teaches you to keep your pull compact and your head steady, and to spin your hands quickly to the front. This drill is most effective when done with tremendous focus and intensity for very short distances.

  Key Points:

  • Look down slightly at all times. Feel as if you're wearing a neck brace. You stay low, you look down, but your goggles never touch the water.

  • The pull is quick and compact. In order to maintain good rhythm, use a small dolphin kick. Drive your arms forcefully to the corners.

  Take a quick, powerful, and compact pull, and spin your hands directly to the front again.

  During the pull, keep your hands and arms in front of your shoulders.

  In fact, try to keep them as far forward as possible, even while spinning your hands quickly out and together again.

  Keep your elbows as high as possible on the outsweep. Hunch your shoulders forward on the insweep.

  See your hands fully extended before your chin is back in the water.

  Keep a constant core-body rhythm as you practice.

  Drill #9.2: Underwater Kick

  Why do this drill: This is the best way to develop a more effective kick. Being submerged makes you more aware of water resistance on all body surfaces.

  Key Points:

  • Start by pushing off deeper than usual and keep your arms streamlined forward the whole time you're underwater. Start with just two to three kicks on each drill cycle.

  Use your sense of the water's "thickness" to stay as slippery as possible. Keep your arms streamlined overhead and travel as far as you can after each kick. Slip your body through the smallest possible "hole" in the water as you glide.

  Most important, "sneak" your legs forward on recovery inside the same space your body traveled through.

  Also use that resistance to develop more thrust from your kick. Because the water feels more ''solid" while kicking under water, experiment with positioning your legs and feet to create maximum thrust.

  Finish each kick by squeezing all the water out from between your legs and feet, then hold your streamline and feel some glide before sneaking your legs up again to start the next kick.

  Drill #9.3: One Up, Two Down

  Why do this drill: To direct the energy in each stroke forward, increasing stroke length in each breast cycle. To emphasize slipping the body through the smallest possible hole in the water, just below the surface, during the glide phase.

  Follow this sequence:

  • Start each length with two underwater kicks, arms streamlined forward. Glide a bit after each kick (but not so long that you lose momentum).

  • Resurface by taking a quick, compact pull (similar to Drill #9.1) with breath.

  • Make the pull and breath quick and low, and keep moving forward. Imagine you are slipping under a low ceiling.

  • After the pull and breath, slice back into the water with a super-streamlined, forward-darting movement (imagine piercing the water) to maximize forward momentum and minimize drag. The hands can be just at the surface of the water, or slightly beneath the surface.

  Imagine you are slipping your needle-like body through a narrow tube just above (as you pull and breathe) and below (during the two kicks) the surface.

  Keep the extra underwater kick in every cycle of breast. While under water, emphasize good thrust and a long glide on both kicks.

  Drill # 9.4: One Up, One Down (Swim Breaststroke)

  This isn't really a drill, just a way to swim breaststroke with heightened focus on efficiency and specifically to bring the awareness created in the previous three drills into your whole-stroke swimming. It is the natural finishing touch to the progression in these four steps.

  Follow this sequence:

  Simply start with Drill #9.3 and take out the extra kick. With what remains, focus on the following:

  1. Make your glides extra-long and super-streamlined, "threading the needle" while under water.

  2. A quick, compact pull with the ha
nds always in sight.

  3. Breathe with your head aligned with your spine and looking slightly down. Imagine you're wearing a neck brace.

  4. Pierce the water with hands, arms, head, and torso after each breath.

  Drill # 9-5: Body-Dolphin Breaststroke

  Why do this drill: It will emphasize core-body movement (undulation) in your breaststroke.

  Follow this sequence:

  1. First review Hand-Lead Body Dolphin for one or several lengths.

  2. Start each breaststroke cycle with one hand-lead chest pulse, and using a dolphin kick.

  3. Release the chest (but don't take a breath)...

  4. ... then pulse again, driving your hands to the corners...

  5. ... and directly into a cycle of regular breaststroke swimming with a breaststroke kick.

  6. Finish the cycle of breaststroke with hip action exactly the same as in the chest pulse at the beginning, ie., with a dolphin kick.

  7. Glide for a moment before beginning the next cycle with another chest pulse.

  8. The more emphatic and powerful the chest pulse at the beginning of the cycle, the stronger will be the body wave at the end. Your practice should focus on making the chest press/hip lift at the completion of each cycle feel more identical to that at the beginning, and a more natural pan of your whole-stroke swimming.

  Practice Tips for Lesson Nine

  These five drills combine to form a natural and logical practice progression when done in sequence. They are also extremely effective when any of the drills are alternated with lengths of whole-stroke swimming. Whenever you swim, simply take the insight or awareness made most apparent by the drill and apply it to your whole-stroke swimming.

  Lesson 10: Short-Axis Combinations

  Our final lesson combines butterfly and breaststroke in ways that will give you unprecedented insights into how to use core-body undulation for breathing, power, and propulsion in both strokes. Doing alternating cycles of the two short-axis strokes, both drilling and swimming, creates a synergy that works like magic to improve each individual stroke and your overall awareness of how to relate to and work with the water. Indeed it does this to a greater extent than is possible when practicing only the drills of one stroke.

  Again, it's easier to understand the subtle dynamics of these drills by combining the visual reinforcement of the Four Strokes Made Easy DVD with the instructions below.

  Drill # 10.1 Body-Dolphin Combo

  Why do this drill: It will help you better understand how to use corebody undulation to provide the power and rhythm for both butterfly and breaststroke.

  Follow this sequence:

  1. Begin with one or two hand-lead pulses, then slide to the corners and breathe with a fly stroke. As the hands enter the water, flow immediately into one or two hand-lead pulses, then slide to the corners and breathe with a breaststroke pull. Use dolphin kick on the butterfly cycle, and breaststroke kick on the breaststroke cycle.

  2. As you practice, focus on making the timing and breathing the same in both strokes.

  3. In both strokes, let the pulse drive your hands to the corners and into the stroke.

  4. In both strokes, you keep your head as close as possible to its natural position at all times.

  5. In both strokes, channel your momentum forward, not down, after the stroke.

  6. You can practice this in long, leisurely, relaxed repeats, alternating a fly stroke and a breast pull, after each pair of body dolphins. The more you practice, the more strongly you imprint length, relaxation, and fluency into your strokes.

  Drill # 10.2: Short-Axis Combo Swimming

  Why do this drill: Our final drill is the most challenging of all, but once you master it, fishlike swimming in either butterfly or breaststroke will be natural and effortless.

  Follow this sequence:

  1. Start with two (or three) strokes of butterfly, then take two (or three) strokes of breast, then go back to fly again.

  2. You can work on staying low and long if you don't breathe on fly. Get your air on the two cycles of breast. Then go back to fly again, just keeping your head in line with your spine.

  3. On one length, start with butterfly. On the next start with breast.

  4. Use the fly cycles to imprint more hip action in your breaststroke. Use the breast cycles to imprint more stroke length in your butterfly.

  5. Try to keep a steady, unbroken, unhurried rhythm through both strokes.

  This completes our lessons, but there are endless creative combinations you can do with the various drills to become steadily more Fishlike and fluent. Practicing the drills in combination with each other and with wholestroke swimming will help imprint the lessons even more strongly.

  Short-Axis Progressions

  Here are some sample combinations and progressions that we really like. Practice a full 25 yards of each drill before switching to the next drill. Then go on to try other creative combinations of your own design.

  • Start with Hand-Lead Body Dolphin...then practice Body-Dolphin Breast.. .and finish with One Up, One Down.

  • In another sequence, start with Heads-Up Pulling... progress to One Up, Two Down.. .and finish with One Up, One Down.

  A third breast sequence starts with Underwater Kick, progresses to One Up, Two Down, and finishes with One Up, One Down.

  For a fly sequence, combine Head-Lead Body Dolphin... followed by Stoneskipper.. .and finish with EZ Fly.

  Another fly sequence combines Hand-Lead Body Dolphin.. .Body-Dolphin Butterfly.. .and EZ Fly.

  Our final progression begins with Body-Dolphin Combo.. .segues to SA Combo Swimming.. .switches to One Up, One Down.. .and finishes with EZ Fly.

  Afterword

  Time To Swim

  The goal of this book has been simple: to start you on a lifetime process of learning to swim all four strokes better, to make you ever more efficient and economical in the water. And it will do that for you. But along the way, the Total Immersion program will accomplish more than simply making you a much-improved swimmer. Little by little, you'll also discover how to:

  • Determine the ways in which you, as an individual, can best use your pool time to produce constant improvement, every minute, every practice.

  • Experience unparalleled enjoyment with every stroke you take.

  • Use the perpetual process of refining the art of swimming to bring your mind and your body into closer harmony—out of the pool as well as in it.

  The building blocks of this process, as we've said over and over again, are the special Total Immersion drills. That is why most of the program in this book has concentrated on them as the tools of choice to refine your skills and heighten your body awareness. At some point, however, you obviously need to move up to practicing whole-stroke swimming, to polish the full skill as the sum of its parts. Whole-stroke practice develops the ability you need to blend the building blocks seamlessly under faster and faster circumstances, i.e., an improved time for your regular mile-swim routine or successful racing in competitive swimming or triathlon.

  When you do begin practicing whole-stroke swimming, focus on just two things:

  1. How good your movements feel.

  2. How efficiently you are moving.

  In a minute we'll review what a "good" movement should feel like in each stroke. But for now, just remember this: Your body has a highly developed ability to distinguish between desirable and undesirable movements; efficient movement always feels better. If someone tells you, for instance, that you can't possibly swim freestyle well with your head down "that low" in the water, that you have to hold your head high to ride high, put it to the test. Don't accept either prescription as gospel; try both. Swim a short distance with your head in line with your spine. Then swim a similar distance with your head held higher, and compare how each feels. Your body knows; learn to trust it. And don't be afraid to do things wrong now and again, even on purpose. It can only help to develop your "internal compass"—your instinctive gauge of what
's right and what's not — into a more discriminating instrument.

  To gauge your efficiency, get in the habit of counting strokes, whenever you are not focusing on one of the kinesthetic sensations described below. For stroke counting, remember that your goal is not to maximize your Stroke Length (i.e., reduce your strokes per length ever closer to zero), but to optimize it. In other words, your goal is to find the style of swimming that allows you to swim with a controlled and consistent stroke count with the least effort. As your practice teaches you to increase control and consistency and reduce effort, you'll be able to improve your SL, or increase your SR a bit without a major loss of SL (i.e., go faster without a serious increase in stroke count). Developing this ability to freely move your stroke count up and down while maintaining control and fluency is a key skill to getting ready for more serious and ambitious training.