Swimming Training Tools
One way to improve your swimming strokes is by using training aids. Some of the most popular and most widely known swimming tools are the kickboard and the pull buoy. The Kick board is a tombstone shaped piece of foam that you rest your arms on when primarily focusing on your kicking technique, henceforth, the name “kickboard.” The pull buoy is a tool used to strengthen the swimmer’s pull while not relying on your kick to drive your stroke. It is usually two cylinder shaped pieces of foam either held together by more foam or by cords. The pull buoy is held between the legs at any point, you can put it between your thighs or your ankles depending on what you are wanting to accomplish. In the book it says that many people figure that doing lap after lap on a kickboard is going to improve your kicking technique but the real trick is to focus on what you are doing and find your center of gravity in the water (Laughlin 197). I will use this when I am at practice and really think about whether I am balanced on my kickboard or not to help me improve my times in competition.
Other training aids that the book mentions are hand paddles, fins, ankle straps, and elastic tethers. I am familiar with all of these methods and have used them many times on my team but have never really thought “am I doing this in a way that can improve my stroke?” The stretch cords or elastic tethers that it talks about are often used by putting them around a pole and pulling them in different ways to work your arm muscles. It says in the book, “In fact, a 1989 study at the University of New Brunswick in Canada found that daily stretch cord workout of 20 minutes (12 to 14 minutes of exercise, six to eight minutes of rest) helped swimmers hang om to virtually all of their conditioning during a three-week layoff” (Laughlin 202). We often do this sort of workout on my team and it has helped me strengthen my stroke for years.
Have you ever wondered in your sport if your training aids are helping you?
Laughlin, Terry, and John Delves. Skill Drills: The Fastest Way to a Faster Stroke. Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster, and Easier. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. 85. Print.
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