Hi! My name is Coach Topolski, I had an email that wanted to discuss how to improve your stroke, how to make some positive stroke changes? I would like to tell you the most important way, probably the easiest way to make effective stroke changes through Isometrics.
If you are a breaststroker, holding this position, the position you want -- if this is what you want, do this position outside the pool area, 20 seconds. If it's butterfly beginning catch, same thing. Freestyle -- if it's like an Alain Bernard, you're really tall or the swimmer has a short stroking, you want to lengthen up, get him to start doing an isometric steps longer.
A catch can be with a straighter arm or a bent arm. Alain Bernard is a Early Vertical Forearm, like this. It's still a catch. It's an Early Vertical Forearm catch. He's not laying on his arm. Rebecca Adlington, awesome Early Vertical Forearm, like this. So I would separate all the strokes, breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke, freestyle into three separate phases and do those three phases at every single practice.
Beginner phase for freestyle, Rebecca Adlington style is number one, two, down a little bit, three right here. Don't worry about the sculling in. I have people teaching that all the time, it's not necessary, in fact, I think, it's something that can really hurt a swimmer stroke, because trying to correct somebody that sculls in towards the mid-line too quickly is just a very difficult habit to break.
If you want to break it, and you're sure you want to break it early movement towards mid-line, use isometrics. You can use them in all four strokes, you can lay on your back and go through the motion and timing of breaststroke. I'm a breaststroker myself and I lay them on my back and my legs are up, I go into the position. When my hands are finishing, I like to see my legs chambered, I'm on my back, holding that position, getting out. Do isometrics all the time.
They are a great way to change and force positive changes to your swimmers. Three day a week, depends if your coach will need, your muscle memory adapts to that real quickly than it takes three weeks, sometimes eight weeks, but do it every single day. Good luck to you!
If you have any questions, email me at tomtopo@netzero.com or my Gmail address now, or my Facebook, I've got all those and I would like to hear from you and I can answer any of your questions, and hopefully we can help you. That was brought to you by Techpaddle, Early Vertical Forearm Trainer. Everybody from an Olympian to a beginner should probably have one of them and use them every day.
Congratulations! I hope you can see those stroke changes quickly. Good luck!
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