Ankle Pull Buoy Swim Drill
Maintaining a stable core is an important part of a good freestyle. This drill is a good one to help accomplish this. Many athletes swim with a pull buoy – as many triathletes know, some rely on their pull buoy! The main point of using one is to isolate the arms and strengthen them while working on technique; it’s not about removing thought and ploughing up and down for length after length!
Why Do It:
Freestyle is faster when you rotate through a solid tube in the water, rather than wiggle down the pool. This drill requires the swimmer to tighten the core a bit to maintain the straight line through the entire body.
How to Do It:
1. Put on a pull buoy at the ankles, not between the thighs as typical.
2. Push off and start swimming.
3. Hold the pull-buoy tight between the ankels by squeezing the legs together.
4. Keep the hips at the surface by tightening the core.
How to Do It Really Well (the Fine Points):
Limit the side-to-side movement of the legs while you’re swimming. Taller swimmers will move a bit more than swimmers who are more vertically challeneged simply because of the longer line. Holding the pull-buoy in for longer swims will also show you another benefit of working the groin and inner parts of your legs.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to get in touch; either by email, facebook or leave a comment on here! Let us know how you get on with the drill if you try it!
See what’s up next week for our #SwimTechTues tip!