Swim Drill Of The Week: Hip Driven Rotation Progression

drill-of-week-hip-driven-rotation-progression

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 a freestyle progression to work on developing strong hip driven rotation through four different drill variations. Take a look at the drill progression below:

*all with a snorkel

50 as 12 kick switch

50 as 6 kick switch

50 as 3-12-3 (3 strokes, 12 kicks, 3 strokes)

50 as 3-6-3 (3 strokes, 12 kicks, 3 strokes)

50 focus on hip driven rotation

This drill progression progresses through two variations of two different drills. The start of the progression works on exaggerating hip rotation by forcing swimmers stay balanced on their side for an extended period of time. The first drill variation is 12 kick switch, which is an extended version of 6 kick switch. This drill has your swimmers rotate from side to side every 12 kicks with their arms glued to their side, with the rotation driven from their core and the power of their kick. The next 50 is 6 kick switch, which is the same drill but with half the number of kicks on each side.

Following the extended balance work, swimmers will move into a 3-12-3, an extended version of 3-6-3. Swimmers with push off the wall and take 3 perfect strokes, keeping their lead arm extended on their third stroke and kicking on their side for 12 kicks. They will then do a 50 of 3-6-3, kicking on their sides for only 6 kicks before transitioning back to using their arms. The progression ends with a 50 of freestyle focused on translating that drill work into a long, hip driven freestyle stroke.

The drill progresses from slow, mindful rotation to faster and more fluid rotation as you add in the arms. During this progression, make sure you see swimmers rotating from their core and maintaining a strong kick throughout. Using a snorkel throughout the drills will also keep your swimmers honest and force them to rotate from their hips and core as opposed to using their breath to drive an uneven rotation. 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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