| Basic Description
- Swimming on your front, pulling with an simultaneous, symetrical
short arm pull and an underwater recovery and a simultaneous,
symetrical leg kick.
Co-ordination is roughly PULL-BREATHE-KICK-STRETCH & HOLD.
Simultaneous - both at the same time
Symmetrical - they are mirror images of each other
Part 1 ~~ WHIP KICK ~~
Learning the Whip Kick
Arms
Co-Ordination
Q & A
1. Learning the Whip Kick:
We will start by looking at the kick on our back. Right now,
sit down on the floor and bend your knees to 90°, with your
knees about 1 fist apart. Place your heels on the floor about
shoulder width apart and your toes pointing up and away. It
should look like this:
Put your legs back down flat on the floor and do it again a
few times until you can find this position easily. Now, close
your eyes and find what feels like the same position. Open your
eyes and check. Practice that a few times with your eyes closed
and check it each time until you can get the position right
every time without looking at it.
Next, find this position against a wall. Only your 2 big toes
should touch the wall, your heels shopuld be very close to the
wall, your knees should still be only 1 fist apart and knees
should be bent exactly 90° still. Find that position a few times,
then try to find the same position with your eyes closed. Lie
on your back on the floor, now and put your arms at your side.
Before you open your eyes to check this time, feel your big
toes against the wall, see if you can touch each outside ankle
with your fingers. Then open your eyes to see if your knees
are 1 fist apart. Great work so far!
The most important part of the "whip" kick is the
push or propulsion part. Have a look at your position against
the wall. The inside of your foot and your lower leg are facing
the wall. These surfaces are the blade of your paddle that is
going to push you through the water. Sir Newton tells us that
"for every action there is an equal, but opposite reaction".
So, If I want to move head first in the water I have to push
the opposite way with my kick. Now we are going to finish our
whip kick homework by practicing the push part of the kick.
On a slippery floor, keeping your knees strong and steady, slowly
push your bigs toes against the wall and you will get pushed
head firstaway from the wall. Keep pushing until your feet come
together. Do it again a few times and gradually increase the
push. [Make sure you have room to slide and that your head does
not hit anything!]
Now you are ready to do some pool practice. Do the same exercizes
at the pool. Then start to float and kick on your back using
your new kick until you can feel the water being pushed away
and you start to move head first.
2. Arm Action:
The breaststroke pull is a complex 3 dimensional skill that
eventually has to be co-ordinated with the kick and the breathing
to create an efficient stroke.
In this work at home exercise we will start you on your way
to learning the breaststroke pull. You will need to draw the
following diagram on a large piece of paper (flipchart size).
In creating your diagram, the distances are as follows:
A to D is the distance from your chin to your finger-tip when
your arm is straight out to the side
B to C is 1/3rd the distance from A to D
C to D is the distance from your chin to your elbow when your
arm is straight out to the side
When starting to practice, have someone read the steps to you
and do them slowly at first until you can do them perfectly
with your eyes closed before adding the breathing steps.
Step 1: Place the diagram on the wall with the D directly in
from of your chin. Stand 2 of your feet away from the chart
(i.e.: put the toes of one foot against the wall, and place
the toes of the second foot at the heel of the first foot. Put
the first foot beside the second foot.
Step 2: Reach up and put the longest fingers of both hands on
the A of the diagram. You should have to stretch a little to
reach it. Your palms should be facing the floor as much as the
wall.
Step 3. Bring your fingertips to point B. As you are doing this,
make sure that a) your palms always face the floor, and b) your
elbows don’t go past B. Your forearms should now be parallel
to the floor. Have a look to see how you are doing so far.
Step 4: The next motion involves your shoulder action only.
Keeping your fingertips on the paper and using your shoulders,
bring your fingertips to point C. Your palms should still be
facing the floor and your forearms should still be parallel
to the floor.
Step 5: Keep your palms toward the floor and bring your fingertips
almost to your chin.
Step 6: At the same time do these 3 movements. a) move your
fingertips toward A, b) your palms toward the chart, and c)
your elbows toward D
Step 7: Continue this action until you stretch up and touch
A with your fingertips. Hold in this position for a full 5 seconds
EVERY time. This s-t-r-e-t-c-h position must be held in your
breaststroke every stroke. As you get better you will feel how
long to stretch it for but it must be there every time.
As you practice, try to make the action smooth and continuous
from A to B to C to D to A, s-t-r-e-t-c-h, then A to B …
When you get to the pool to practice, use a noodle and watch
your arms to make sure that you are doing it correctly.
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