Swim Drill Of The Week: Heavy Hands

Welcome to the “Swim Drill of the Week”. Swimming World will be bringing you a drill, concept, or tip that you can implement with your team on a regular basis. While certain weeks may be more appropriate for specific levels of swimming (club, high school, college, or masters), Drill Of The Week excerpts are meant to be flexible for your needs and inclusive for all levels of swimming.

This week’s drill is Heavy Hands, a drill for backstroke that is meant to develop acceleration through the recovery portion of the stroke into the catch.

The drill itself is fairly simple: swimming backstroke, swimmers with exaggerate the entry of their hand at the end of the recovery phase of each stroke. Swimmers should imagine there is a weight attached to their hand (hence the name of the drill) and that this is forcing them to throw their arms into the pull phase of their stroke.

The point is to develop a smooth, consistent tempo that accelerates into the catch so swimmers will have a strong hold on the water. When done correctly, this drill should feel like there is a “hitch” in the stroke, but once they move back into full stroke swimming their recovery phase should be fast even when relaxed. This is a helpful drill for IMer’s (particularly breaststroke IMer’s) who struggle to consistently find their tempo. Happy swimming!

All swimming and dryland training and instruction should be performed under the supervision of a qualified coach or instructor, and in circumstances that ensure the safety of participants.

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