STROKE PATTERNS
Winning Spirit Racing Camps
Bob Steele
BACKSTROKE
• Steady head position (PLATFORM)
• Head back, eyes vertical (90 degrees) or slight chin tilt
• Catch 1’ anchor?
• Rotate (GORILLA)
• 90 degree recovery- shoulder FIRST (RIFLE BARREL)
• Bent arm pull (ARM WRESTLE)
• Little finger entry (KARATE CHOP)
• Thumb exit (SHOT PUT)
• Body/trunk rotates past the anchored arm
• Alignment and skewered
• The dolphin underwater kick – starts/turns.
BREASTSTROKE – Pull, Breathe, Kick, Glide…
“PULL”
• Setup, hand position, (45 degrees UP n’ OUT)
• Head position (NEUTRAL)
• Extension (135 degrees)-outsweep
• Catch – rotation (GORILLA)
• In-sweep – wrists straight, palms turn
• Recovery – pistol - push hands forward with elbows – forearms on surface
“BREATHE” when hands are under the eyes (LIFT WITH BACK) look at water
• Recovery (ELBOWS PUSH HANDS FORWARD-pistol hands at surface)
“KICK”
• Leg action, hip external rotation, knee inversion, foot eversion
“GLIDE”
• Eyes look at bottom – stretched with head down
• Stretch into next stroke press position
• Downhill swimming
BUTTERFLY
Body position – on the surface – (HEAD DOWN BEFORE HANDS) Head-butt Grandma
ARMS-PUSH or PRESS
• Set up - hand entry width is dependent on strength (NO AIR ?)
• Press to 130 degrees and rotation (GORILLA)
• Insweep – to chest – NO OVERLAP !
• Length of stroke depends on strength
• Breath – breathe on surface – out on in-sweep – in before finish
• Exit - rounded (POCKET high elbows or FLIP finish/ballistic-TIRED)
RECOVERY relaxed - elbows-up slightly (FLEXIBLE) flat (swing palms up)
TIMING: small kick entry (POP to catch), big kick (BAMM) (PUSH to recovery)
KICK – 90 degrees – emphasize the UPKICK – 2/stroke
FREESTYLE
BODY POSITION-head neutral - hips drive entry
• Head Position-down low – McD or see hand or Green Elephant
ENTRY- 30 degrees-head/shoulder-palm @ 45 – extend forward to eliminate AIR
CATCH-PRESS fingers-wrist-elbow-under body
1. Front Quadrant (16 of 20 Golds/ 43 of 60)- fingertips, wrist, elbow, C-line,
flip – High LEVEL elbow to 109 degrees – Pushing hand pushes entry hand.
2. Opposition (4 of 20 Golds) – straight arm
3. Catchin’- no finish
4. Combination – Front Quad to Straight Arm last 15 to 25?
FINISH-pocket for flip
KICK- Pool 6 beat (whitewater)
OPEN WATER 2 beat (until last 400 m)
STROKE DEVELOPMENT
Use the word TRY
Say the same thing MANY different ways to trigger understanding.
CORRECT skills from warm-up to warm-down 1:1 during rest periods AND while swimming.
Teach OVERCORRECTION – weird, strange, different, crazy, unusual to be RIGHT
OVERLEARN: repeated correction for ONE WEEK for a NEW skill to become a habit.
Create the TEAM progression, squad to squad, based upon the Senior Level coach’s plan
Teach to learn to RACE not to train.
Correct HAND positions for minimal resistance, maximum catch
Teach Proprioceptiveness (Feel)and Pressoreceptivity (Anchoring) with rope climbing
ARM PATTERNS are the same for all strokes and understood with manipulation or DVD.
Create MENTAL PICTURES through dry-erase drawings, pictures, video, demonstrations, flip charts
and refer to it during practice for one week.
Teach using the whole method vs parts. Use parts to improve specifics with every swimmer knowing
the 4 drills for 5 strokes to use on drill sets.
Teach the Boomer Balance Drills for better streamlining, body position, comfortable stroke, pain-free
joints, and control.
Seek undisturbed water.
REINFORCE skill change with a flashlight, mirrors, thumbs up, being demonstrative
Make older partners responsible for YOUNGER PARTNER’S improvement
Total Team Practice or Overlap 20:20
Wear a NEON GLOVE during practice coaching free from the side and strokes from the end.
Get in the water with a mask and snorkel to MANIPULATE hands, fingers, legs and feet.
Use a GEAR-HEAD CIRCUIT at least twice a week without swimmers knowing what day.
TRANSFER OF TRAINING – dryland specificity DEVELOPS proper patterns-tubing/bench. Draw stroke
pattern on deck with chalk.
Visit www.gamesgimmickschallenges.com/coaching resources