Week 3 & 4 – POSTURE
Holding your core steady so the work
of your arms and legs may be transmitted into forward motion or rotation vs.
simple twisting of the body that creates resistance.
Much of your body’s resistance in the
water comes from parts of your body that do not form a smooth line from front
to back. By practicing on land, using the ground as a reference, you can go to
work on this area confident you’re on the right track. You want to form as
smooth a shape as possible from front to back so the water flows easily over
you. Then you can take this to the deep end and work on posture drills there
while holding the position you experienced on land.
This is Natalie Coughlin. Watch her
from above from 23 to 30sec and again from in front at 42 to 47sec. See her
core body posture as her hips and shoulders rotate together. This is perfect
posture – you want your body to do this. She talks about having your lower abs
tucked in tight. Her kick is amazing and very narrow. Her head is still except
to breathe.
Note: There are other ways of using
the upper and lower body together in the swim stroke. Some swimmers keep the
hips flat and move the shoulders against them. World records have been set with
both methods. However, I believe the best place to start that will give the
greatest benefit long-term is with a body that moves as one unit. It is much
easier to start there and then branch out.
On Deck (Posture):
Go through the following points face
up and down, using several kickboards to lie upon. Do this for 3-5min. Practice
narrow kicks we did in class while keeping your back connected to the ground.
You should be able to control the curvature of your back while moving your legs and take all the pressure off of it.
Note: This deck work was developed by
Olympic coach Richard Quick.
Face up –
Key Points:
Pull your belly button into your spine
and flatten your low back to the ground.
Breathe out and push your ribcage down
toward your waist.
Tuck your chin back so the back of
your neck lines up with your spine.
Imagine you’re being stretched by
someone pulling on the top of your head. Lengthen your neck.
Face down –
Key Points:
Pull your belly button into your
spine, and take it off the floor. Your ribs and hips should be touching on
either side of it.
Breathe out and flatten yourself down
to the ground, all the while keeping your stomach from touching.
Tuck your chin back so the back of
your neck lines up with your spine. Lift your forehead just a millimeter off
the ground.
Imagine you’re being stretched by
someone pulling on the top of your head. Lengthen.
Warm-up (400):
16x25 leaving every 50-60sec, focusing
on each point above for blocks of four 25s.
Hard Swim (100):
Swim 100yds fast. Work on going out
easy and then building effort from there. Before you start, choose the form
thoughts from the breathing work that you’ll focus on when the going gets
tough! Holding form under duress is one definition of a good swimmer.
Rest several minutes after this
effort.
Posture Pull (300):
6x50yd (may be extended depending on
your ability)
Use a kickboard as a pull buoy.
You’ll recall from class that the
board acts as both a keel and a float. It forces your inner thighs and lower
abs to work. A pull buoy is designed to sit between your legs without any
effort – but we want some effort. They have their place, but the board is
better here.
You’ll know right away if you’re
lifting your head to breathe because you’ll have to really crane your neck.
Your hips won’t be able to sink in reaction to your head being lifted (to keep
your neck from bending).
There are three focus points (think
about them one at a time for 50yds):
1)
The
board should rotate flat (or close) to the surface every stroke. You pull and
fully rotate whether you are breathing or not. Your head stays perfectly still
as your body rotates around it.
2)
Tuck
your chin and roll your head with your body to breathe. You’ll OVERrotate to do
this, 90deg from horizontal to each side. It is farther than you’ll go in a
normal stroke but mastery of this will make smooth breathing and horizontal
body position something easy to maintain. Beyond that, you’ll know when it’s
not present so you can put yourself back in position no matter what the
situation.
3)
Hold
your lower abs in to take pressure off your lower back while at the same time
contracting your hips/glutes to hold your straight legs up behind you. Remember
that this is something we as adult must do to approximate the position that
Olympic swimmers are in effortlessly after many years of practice. Starting the
kick above hip level is crucial.
What enables the following positions?
How is she able to rotate her hips and shoulders together as a single unit? Her
core is extremely strong and she has practiced holding herself in a “flat body”
position as we do with our posture work.
