Freestyle Drill #1 Catch up review

Catch Up Freestyle.

How to do it?

How to Do Freestyle Catch Up Drill – YouTube

• Arms at position 11 or superman 

• Eyes always looking straight down when not breathing

• Top of the head pointing towards destination

• Breath at the finish of the pull

• 6 kicks at the front while both arms are at 11 (we teach it without hands touching to simulate the proper catch position in front of the shoulders)

• Strong kick throughout

• Set up for the catch

• Maintain a high elbow position underwater through the pull

• Relax the out of water recovery

What does it improve?

1. It works as a kick drill to improve flutter kick.  With a gap between strokes swimmers need to ensure they are kicking steadily throughout.

2. It isolates each arm pull to increase distance per stroke, as you get a real sense of how much distance you get with each stroke (pull)

Why is it not the only drill we do?  Some pitfalls

1. Catch up is a drill that isolates specific aspects of freestyle but great freestyle resembles more of a ¾ catch up.  In other words when swimming free, we should begin the catch phase when our other arm is approx. ¾ of the way through the recovery.

2. It does not allow for the power of the hip drive or a full rotation to the same extent as other drills.

3. It allows for a pause which causes a deceleration in the stroke (see below)

Episode 16 – does the catch-up drill cause you to over-glide when swimming? – YouTube

The next drill to be reviewed is 6 kick (or 8 or 10) kick switch which works on different aspects of freestyle.