Drills in swimming
A drill is a specific exercise designed to improve a particular aspect of swimming technique. By isolating a precise part (or parts) of a movement, an educational exercise enables you to work in detail, correct technical errors or bad habits and refine your style.
Essential for learning and perfecting swimming skills, drills are used by everyone. In football and basketball, players rehearse their routines; in swimming, it's the same with drills. Even the most experienced swimmers, such as Caleb Dressel or Léon Marchand, incorporate drills into their training.
There are many different drills. Some aim to improve coordination between arms, legs and breathing. Some target specific muscle groups to make the stroke more efficient.
Why do drills?
Every swimmer is different and has specific points to improve on his swimming technique. Drills help to target these areas.
If a swimmer has a bad habit or often repeats the same mistake (e.g. crossing the arms in freestyle). Repeating some drills can help to correct these faults.
Some drills target specific muscle groups to increase power or endurance, for example.
They help to synchronize movements (arms, legs, breathing) for more fluid and efficient swimming.
Want to improve your swimming technique? Find out more about our drills for the stroke of your choice:
Want to improve your swimming skills? There are over sixty different drills on theOpenSwim app. Our drills cover all strokes, all swimmers no matter their level and are directly used in our workouts. 700+ workouts are doable thanks to the app.
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