The Learning Process

If you haven't read my Tuesday practice report, here it is: Tuesday Practice Blogpost

Now, on to the video you see below.  Oscar M and I were working on some Fly yesterday.  I thought I'd post this 11 minute progression so athletes and parents can see what we do at practice.

My hope and certainly Oscar's goal is to take this work and apply it throughout the week and month we have coming up.  

As a note on Fly drilling, there are two major drills we use for Fly.  One is a kicking drill and it's focused on the technical aspects of the Fly stroke (not on this video).  Another is what I call the "cycle drill".  When performing the "cycle drill", athletes should perform a certain amount of Right arm strokes, transition into an equal amount of Left arm strokes, and finish the length with full strokes.  Each athlete should have one set of numbers they are trying to hit each time they do this drill (generally about 6, 7, 8, or 9).

There are many different reasons this drill is a great drill -- but it's only a great drill when done well and fast.  Oscar's progression here is simply a learning progression, but you can envision Oscar going faster and faster with his style of drill (8 strokes: 3Right, 3Left, 2Both arms) if he simply works hard on it every day.

Even if you know very little about swimming, I think you will be able to figure out what is going on by the 4th or 5th minute….you have to watch close and listen as if you were Oscar and you were performing the drill and taking my suggestions.  Don't worry parents, even if you don't know much about swimming -- the more this video is for you!  By watching you can get a feel of what 10 minutes of our warmup is like.