Hi! My name is Coach Topolski, inventor of the new Early Vertical Forearm Trainer, what we call it Techpaddle. The reason I am talking you now is to what everybody understand that the concept of the Early Vertical Forearm are catch, it isn't a new concept, but how we train on the equipment that we used to train for that vital component of the freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly is different, and it's very different, because in swimming the way that we have been training swimmers is to pull, which is very important to get the water and to push back. We do pull-ups, we do arm extensions or triceps extensions, try to get kids to pull back faster, but the Early Vertical Forearm position is really dominated by small muscles, not large muscles.
So this package that I am holding here is a set of large paddles that we sell in a bag, in carrying bag. It comes also in medium and small sizes for children, because this is kind of a skill that you need to teach early when you've been swimming 16,000 strokes a week, and that's what's been documented. Some swimmers swim 16,000 times and repeating their arm strokes. If you have a bad habit, it's very, very difficult to correct. So you want to start kids early, learning an Early Vertical Forearm position.
When you open the bag, it comes out, they are all wrapped up really nice, and it also come with new velcro strap, so they are a little bit easier to put on and keep on. There is a right hand and a left hand paddle, and this is the right one, you just stick your arm in it. These are the older straps and then just pull down, and when you put your hand in, you want to stretch out, and just put your elbow up and your fist down, you don't want to open and cheat That would be like using a hand paddle, these aren't hand paddles. You are not going to swim yards with these. It's not going to happen.
So don't even try. You are supposed to be doing very, very slow, slow motions with them. If you look at the best Olympic world record holders, even at that level, their Early Vertical Forearm is pronounced more with one hand than the other. When they use their right hand, they are able to keep their head in water, but when they are swimming and breathing out their right side, they usually don't have an equal affective vertical forearm with their left hand.
So every swimmer from a beginner to the lead swimmers with the world record holders, still have to work on this, because it's very important. It's the most critical phase of the stroke when it comes to producing power. I have -- I teach kids from four years old all the way up to college kids, and you have to get them into position to show them that approaching this position is not only uncomfortable, it's not really natural.
Most swimmers that are the lead swimmers have it easier; it comes easier to some swimmers than most. And I am talking about the majority of swimmers, it's difficult. I spend hours and hours trying to get kids to realize that they have to focus, and hold them, hesitate and hold up position in the water so they can analyze. If they can't analyze their stroke, they are doing way too fast. And the fact of the matter is, you can't get kids set in college kids these hand paddles or forearm paddles, and just tell them to swim with them. It's a technical tool that takes a lot of time, so please take your time, do drills where you're isolating one arm, and look how slow I move my arm.
And if I am in the water, it's difficult to put your arm in this position. It's hard. It's difficult, and just to get kids to put them on, and not use them correctly, is as frustrating, because these paddles can make a huge difference. When kids are at plateaus, and they want to drop, this instrument; this piece of equipment is the thing that you need to use. So please, put them on, use them slowly. We do a warm up and then I have the kids put them on for 50, and then I have them do their stroke for 50, and work on Early Vertical Forearm with the techpaddles.
Backstroke, same thing and get the catch and slowly, slow motion. Slow, that's not the way we train in swimming. As slow as they think they are going, it's never going to be slow enough for your coaches, swimmers; you got to slow it down to a point where it feels like they are not meant -- for instance, you are going to be swimming and you are going to be sinking unless you have a pull buoy, or you are kicking really hard. It's hard to kick really hard and fast to keep you moving, so you can take time out, and develop the muscle memory here in your shoulder to get the Early Vertical Forearm that you need to propel yourself to higher levels, to break those plateaus into drop times.
The only reason I develop this, is to improve an Early Vertical Forearm and let you drop some big times. There is no reason why you have to have yo-yo seasons where you start all slow every year, and then just get to your time that you were last year. We want you to drop big and these techpaddles are going to do it for you.
If you have any questions, give me -- drop me a line at my email address www.tomtopol@netzero.com and you can also go www.early-vertical-forearm.com and get a hold of our website and see more about this remarkable revolutionary training device, we call the Techpaddle.
Good luck, please try, I think you should carry them around, buy them yourself, I don't think you are coaching, but they should be a piece of your training equipment, and you'll take them everywhere, because these things produce; what I tell, they are suppose to produce an Early Vertical Forearm and your drops in times, good luck!
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