Teaching the Seven Competitive Turns STEVE HAUFLER. Orinda Country Club

Transcription

1 Teaching the Seven Competitive Turns STEVE HAUFLER Orinda Country Club

2 OUTLINE 1. General Comments 2. Basics for all Turns 3. Streamline, Ready Position, Push-offs, Underwater Kicking 4. Free-to-Free 5. Back-to-Back 6. Fly-to-Fly, Fly-to-Back, Breast-to-Breast, Breast-to-Free 7. Back-to-Breast 8. Advanced Drills, Mirrors & Visual Aids, Dry Land Drills 9. Common Mistakes and How to Correct Them 10. Summation Includes basic teaching progression, underwater technique and breakout

3 GENERAL COMMENTS The best way to learn how to teach and coach is to observe another teacher actually working with an athlete. Coaches must realize the importance of teaching young age-group swimmers proper turn technique. To become an effective teacher of turns a coach must do 5 things: 1) Break down each turn into a logical teaching progression. (Turns are like aqua-gymnastics with pikes, tucks, spins, rolls combined with specific, precise and high-speed arm and hand movements.) 2) You must be willing to get in the water. By moving the swimmers limbs and head through the correct motions, you ll be more successful at imparting the correct muscle memory. 3) You must teach the 3 turn fundamentals to all swimmers streamline, ready position push off, and underwater kicking. 4) Limit training to 25 s until turns are learned. Set aside an intense and concentrated period of learning. 5) Help swimmers understand that developing excellent turns will help them improve their times, win races, and give them the potential to compete at the highest levels.

4 The 7 Parts of a Highly Effective Turn First is the approach how the swimmer sets up his or her body between the flags and the wall Second is the touch how the hands make contact with the wall Third is the change of direction involves turn technique and speed Four is the foot plant Five is the push-off and streamline Six is underwater technique and speed Seven is the breakout Each step is important to the overall success of a turn. Each step should be taught separately and in sequence. The swimmer needs to master each step before going to the next to become successful in performing the complete turn.

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6 The Streamline Head in the Neutral Position Flat Back Two Squeezes: hand over hand with top thumb squeezing the under side of the bottom hand and the biceps squeezing your ears Point your Toes Measure the Total Streamline

7 Teaching the Streamline Step #1 STANDING Step #2 FLAT on your BACK on the DECK Step #3 TAKE it to the WATER on your BACK Step #4 TURN it OVER Step #5 ROCKET PUSH Step #6 ROCKET LAUNCHERS Step #7 BLOWING BUBBLES Step #8 STREAMLINE LOG ROLL

8 The Ready Position One hand on the wall Balls of feet planted on target Feet planted upward for Free and Back and toward the side wall for Breast and Fly Chin near wall side shoulder, eyes looking down or at the wall hand, head straight Non-wall hand underwater near hip, fingers in direction of other wall and palm facing up (ready to push water up) Hand-elbow-shoulder-chin-shoulder-elbow in LINE Elbows Bent

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10 The Push-Off Hands leave wall, head maintains position Elbow stays in the water until hand almost touches the same side ear, in an answering the phone type motion Face goes under and hands find each other underwater and above head for streamline The other hand will push up on the water, which will assist in dropping the body down Extend arms and legs simultaneously to add force to the push-off Leave the wall in streamline Maintain a straight body line off the wall

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13 Ready Position Push-Off Step #1 READY POSITION on the WALL Step #2 READY POSITION PUSH-OFF on the BACK Step #3 READY POSITION PUSH-OFF from BACK to FRONT Step #4 READY POSITION PUSH-OFF from SIDE to FRONT Step #5 LEARN BOTH SIDES

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16 Teaching Progression: FLIP TURNS Step #1 BUBBLES OUT THE NOSE Vertically bob and blow bubbles out your nose. Remember to blow bubbles out your nose when you practice your flip. Step #2 STRAIGHT OVER FLIP Push off the wall powerfully; take a couple of strokes pulling your arms to your sides, and then flip straight over. Step #3 HEAD LEAD POSITION MID-POOL Swim 3-5 strokes toward mid-pool and then alternately stop one hand and then the other by the hips and glide (turn palms down.) Step #4 HEAD LEAD POSITION MID-POOL with SUBMERSION

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18 Step #5 HEAD LEAD POSITION MID-POOL with SUBMERSION and a STRAIGHT OVER FLIP As you finish your last pull and you are submerged, then flip straight over. Step #6 FLIP with a NOODLE Hold a cut noodle with straight arms and your palms DOWN over the back of your legs. Push off the wall and do a straight over flip. As you begin the flip (bowing down with straight legs and looking for your knees) keep your arms straight as you slide the noodle down the back of your legs to the knees. After the noodle is past your knees, let go of the noodle and continue to flip straight over.

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20 Step#7 PUSHING the HAT BACK While standing on the bottom of the pool or on the deck, get the push the hat back feeling by placing a tall Abe Lincoln type hat on the top of your head: Keep your elbows bent and in front of your face, where you can see them Fingers are straight up and palms face front of the hat Use both hands to push the hat back just a few inches. Repeat to get the feeling of using your hands like this during the flip.

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22 Step #8 FLIP with a NOODLE and PRETEND to PUSH the HAT BACK Push off the wall with a noodle over the back of your legs. As you flip straight over, slide the noodle down your straight legs to your knees. Then let go of the noodle and pretend to push the hat back with your palms. Feel the water. Land on your back with the arms bent at the elbow about 90%. STEP #9 MID-POOL FLIP and THINKING NOODLE and PUSH THE HAT BACK Swim 4-5 strokes towards mid-pool and get in to a head lead position, submerge, and as you flip straight over, slide your hand down your legs to your knees (thinking noodle) and then using your palms, push the water back over the top of your head (thinking push the hat back. )

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24 Step # 10 ADD the STREAMLINE Do the same thing but add extending into a streamline after you push the hat back. Your legs may naturally extend (like pushing off) as you extend your arms into a streamline. Step # 11 PRACTICE APPROACH to the WALL Practice a head lead approach to the wall by stopping the arms before the head passes the T. Sight the wall by looking at the lowest part of the wall target, or at the point where the bottom of the pool meets the wall. Come to a head lead position, know where the wall is and stop without flipping. Make sure you finish your last stroke but don t come too close to the wall.

25 Step #12 SWIM, FLIP and PUSH-OFF on the BACK Swim towards the wall and submerge on the last stroke. You are in a head lead, hands back position. Flip straight over, thinking noodle, push the hat back, and streamline, and push off on your back. Step #13 FROM the BACK to the SIDE After pushing off on your back, rotate (streamline log roll) to a side. What side did you naturally want to roll to? Identify this. Step #14 ROLL from the BACK to the SIDE to the FRONT After rolling to the side in a streamline log roll, continue to roll in the same direction until you are facing the floor of the pool. Once you see the floor of the pool (while maintaining your streamline position) then you may pull that arm on the side you were rolling towards. Do not breathe on the first stroke.

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27 # 15 THE TURN Practice your flip turns and push off legal for backstroke. Your feet will land on the wall turned upward but slightly to a side, about 45 degrees or a little less. As you push-off, be legal for backstroke. Rotate your body toward the floor of the pool, maintaining the streamline position through the push-off, the kick, and keeping your head in a neutral position as you take your first stroke.

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29 What to Watch For Maintain speed and avoid deceleration into the wall Hold breath inside flags on approach Use submarine or blind approaches to avoid looking up and dolphin motioning into turn Know pool markings or use bottom edge of pool Submerge begins during the final stroke Lean on your chest to lift your legs Spring your heels at the target

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31 The sooner your feet hit the wall the better Nose stays close to the legs Hands are used for leverage, elbows remain narrow Hit the wall with balls of your feet Spring off the wall Hands in streamline before the feet leave the wall Rotate to front during streamline Break the surface before finish of first arm stroke

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33 BREAKOUT Freestyle Glide in a tight streamline position for a short time before slowing to your underwater dolphin speed. Start with dolphin kicks (2 to?) followed by flutter kicks, then a breakout stroke. Dolphin kicking and going into a breakout pull, without flutter kicking, usually causes a loss of speed during the breakout. Magic Words: Feel your back come out of the water, the pencil stays in. When you start swimming don t stop kicking.

34 BACKSTROKE TURN Step #1 KNOWING FREESTYLE TURN STEPS FOR STRAIGHT OVER FLIP (#1-12) Step #2 LEARN the THREE STROKE CROSS-OVER at MID-POOL Right arm cross-over start with both arms by your side and start by recovering your right arm first. As you begin your pull with your right arm, begin recovering your left arm. Only after your left arm enters and begins the pull may you turn your face down into the water. This pull is ¼ Backstroke and ¾ Freestyle. As your face enters the water, the right arm continues to come over the top and crosses over to begin the 100% Freestyle pull. LEFT ARM CROSS-OVER: start with both arms by your side and start recovering your left arm first. Direct as above for opposite side.

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36 Step #3 VARIATIONS in the BEGINNING POSITION for the THREE STROKE CROSS-OVER Streamline Position (right arm cross-over) - Pull right, roll and pull left (1/4 back, 3/4 free) and cross-over and pull right (100% free.) One Arm Extended Position (right arm cross-over) Pull right, recover left and pull (1/4 back, 3/4 free) and cross-over and pull right (100% free.) (Left side cross-over just reverse sides) Step #4 SWIM, CROSS-OVER and FLIP at MID-POOL

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38 Step #5 USING the FLAGS Through practice and trial and error, you will determine the number of strokes needed from the flags to the point where you will begin rotating toward a prone position. A total five stroke hand hit turn will be like this: as your eyes pass under the flags the next hand hit is #1. Hand hits and pulls #1, #2, and #3 will be 100% backstroke pulls. Hand hit and pull #4 will start your rotation and be approximately 1/4 backstroke and 3/4 freestyle. The 5 th hand hit is from the cross-over recovery and will be a 100% freestyle pull.

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40 Step #6 COMPLETING the TURN Step #7 THE PUSH-OFF Step #8 THE DOLPHIN KICK Step #9 THE BREAKOUT Start the first arm stroke while still under water but near the surface (6-10 inches.) Right before your face breaks the surface, begin the second pull. This pull assists in bringing your face and the first stroke out of the water aggressively.

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42 Step #1 THE APPROACH OPEN TURNS Approach the wall with your arms fully extended and your eyes focused straight down on the bottom of the pool. Use the T to determine the distance to the wall and time it so that you make contact with the wall just as the propulsive phase of the kick is ending. Step #2 THE TOUCH and FREEZE Touch the wall as you would for a turn with both hands and the arms extended and high and your head in a neutral position. Freeze in this position for 5 seconds and look at the bottom of the pool.

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45 Step #3 THE TUCK and FREEZE Starting in the touch and freeze position, keep your head in the water and bring both your knees up straight and fast. Put both feet on the wall, toes pointed up and close together. Step #4 THE ELBOW, TUCK and FREEZE Starting in the touch and freeze position, start the tuck and release the turning hand. Pull back the turning elbow quickly and forcefully, getting the hand off the wall as fast as possible. Pull the elbow through the water right next to the ribs, with karate like speed, and behind the body. This action will turn the shoulders, but not the head, as the face remains in the water looking at the knees as the feet are placed on the wall.

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48 Step #5 THE ROLL Starting in the touch and freeze position, begin the tuck and elbow sequence. Then: Before your feet touch the wall, release the wall hand While keeping your elbow in the water, bend at the elbow and direct the thumb side of that hand toward and behind the same ear Your elbow comes out of the water when the hand approaches the ear Roll straight back in a tight ball, not to the side, and keep your head straight with the chin near the wall shoulder

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51 Step #5 THE ROLL (continued) As you bring the turning elbow back by the hip, your shoulders will be oblique to the wall you will be entering the water on your side. The turning hand that ended up at your hip and underwater, turns palm up and springs into action by pressing upward to help the head and shoulder drop straight back into the water. Have your hands meet behind the head and match up hand over hand in preparation for a streamline, with your body on its side. Freeze in this position for a few seconds. You are in the UNDERWATER READY POSITION.

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54 Step #6 THE PUSH Starting in the touch and freeze position, begin the tuck, elbow and roll sequence and then freeze in the underwater ready position. Make sure your feet are planted firmly (on the balls of your feet) and see if you are lined up (feet, hips, shoulder, and head) for a direct and powerful push-off. Then, extend your arms (into a streamline) and the legs simultaneously, and push off in a tight streamline on your back.

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57 Step #7 WITHOUT PAUSING Still starting in the touch and freeze position, practice the turn without pausing at any position. First, practice pushing off on your back into a tight streamline. Next, practice pushing off on your side and slowly rotating to your front. Step #8 SWIMMING into the WALL Practice swimming into the wall (remembering to keep the eyes down and the body long and extended on contact) and do a complete non-stop turn. Remember, the feet and the hands are never on the wall at the same time.

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60 WHAT TO WATCH FOR WITH TWO HAND OPEN TURNS (Includes Fly, Breast, Fly to Back, Breast to Free) Acceleration to the wall Approach the wall on stroke Know when to use 2 long vs. 3 shorter strokes Eyes looking at bottom of pool Knees fast to head (a small ball spins faster) Use momentum to help spin speed Head stays neutral/some may tuck Elbow the robber and call the police Feet pointed to the side corner gutter (ready position) Late breath or none at all Back of the head in first (try knee to head backspin) Find streamline before leaving the wall

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62 BREASTSTROKE BREAKOUT The pull part of the pull-down should angle the body slightly to the surface. The approach should start with the hands recovering tight (against the body.) The kick should be fast and late as the hands are shooting into the streamline. Bringing the heels up early causes the body to slow down. Magic Words: Keep looking in the mirrors through all 3 ZOOMS. The kick gives the 3 rd Zoom. Stay in the water when you press out.

63 BUTTERFLY BREAKOUT Build the kick speed to the surface. Kids often slow the kick rate down as they approach the surface. Try to get them to build their kick speed into an aggressive kick on the breakout stroke. Magic Words: Keep looking in the mirror when you start to swim. Feel like your face is on a skateboard when you start to swim. Start first pull before your back comes out of the water. Keep holding your breath.

64 TUCK and BACK and SPIN DRILL Step #1 MID-POOL FLOAT Step #2 KNEES UP to the CHEST, SMALL BALL and CHIN DOWN and HANDS to the KNEES Step #3 KEEP ROLLING AROUND Step #4 ALTERNATE the SPIN DRILL with an OPEN TURN

65 BACK-TO-BREAST TURN #1 (Open) Step #1 THE APPROACH and TOUCH Step #2 THE TOUCH and READY POSITION Step #3 THE READY POSITION and GO! Step #4 WITHOUT PAUSING Step #5 THE OTHER HAND

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67 WHAT TO WATCH FOR IN THE BACK-TO-BREAST OPEN TURN (For More Advanced Swimmers) Swimmer maintains speed on approach (stroke count and flag angles) No peeking for the wall on approach use the now game to see if they know where the wall is Treat the approach as a backstroke finish, except turn palm down for hand touch Legs stay on surface during the approach Use momentum to help spin speed bring knees to chest and keep legs shallow to spin fast

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69 Keep head position in-line but use the spot points for turn (shoulder-to-shoulder) Trailing hand scoops to bring body underwater Wall hand leaves from Ready Position calls police and returns to streamline Hands are in streamline when feet leave the wall

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72 BACK-to-BREAST #2: SOMERSAULT Step #1 MID-POOL APPROACH Step #2 APPROACH and TOUCH Step #3 MID-POOL SOMERSAULT Step #4 THE SOMERSAULT at the WALL Step #5 THE OTHER HAND

73 BACK-to-BREAST #3: SPIN Step #1 THE TOUCH Step #2 THE SPIN Step #3 ANSWER the PHONE Step #4 APPROACH and SPIN and TURN Step #5 USE the OTHER HAND

74 BACK-to-BREAST #4: CROSS-OVER Step #1 MID-POOL TOUCH Step #2 MID-POOL ROLL Step #3 KICK into the WALL, TOUCH and FLIP Step #4 THE HANDS Step #5 SWIMMING APPROACH and TURN Step #6 TURN on EACH HAND

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80 1.4 slow 1.2 ok 1.1 good ADVANCED DRILLS 1. TIMED TURNS from where the hands touch to when the toes leave the wall, for fly-to-fly, fly-to-back, back-to-breast, breast-to-breast and breast-to-free. 1.0 very good < 1.0 excellent

81 2. ROPE at 12.5 YARDS 3. UNDERWATER READY POSITION FREEZE 4. HIGH SPEED TURNS 5. SUPER SHORT COURSE 6. MID-POOL TURNS 7. BLIND APPROACH TURNS 8. TIMED STREAMLINE and BREAKOUT DISTANCES

82 MIRRORS, VISUAL AID and TOOLS MIRRORS: acrylic mirrors placed on the bottom of the pool (from just beyond the T to under the flags) are excellent for teaching and refining streamlines and breakouts MIRRORS: acrylic mirrors placed right up against the turning wall STYROFOAM DISPLAY HEADS: coaches can make great use of Styrofoam heads as visual aids to demonstrate to their swimmers proper head position and technique during the turns

83 PLASTIC MANNEQUIN HANDS: use to emphasize the precise movement of the hands during the turn CUT NOODLES: an effective tool for helping swimmer s keep track of their hands during flip turns BUOYS and CUT BOARDS TENNIS BALLS: have the swimmer place the ball under their chin and keep it in place throughout the turn

84 DRY LAND DRILLS 1. STANDING POSTURE 2. STANDING STREAMLINE POSTURE 3. STREAMLINE POSTURE on the back on a mat 4. STREAMLINE POSTURE face down on a mat 5. STREAMLINE LOG ROLL from the back to the side on a mat 6. STREAMLINE LOG ROLL from the back, to the side, to the front on a mat 7. On the BACK ROLL and TOE THROW on a mat 8. On the BACK ROLL and TOE THROW with HAND PRESS, STREAMLINE and LEG EXTENSION on a mat

85 8. On the BACK ROLL and TOE THROW with HAND PRESS, STREAMLINE and LEG EXTENSION on a mat 9. FROM BACK to SITTING L and BOW face toward knees 10. ON BACK PUSH-OFF from a WALL on a mat 11. STANDING BROAD JUMP 12. VERTICAL LEAPS

86 COMMON MISTAKES and HOW to CORRECT THEM FREESTYLE TURNS 1. STRAIGHT LEGS UP (The Archie) THE FIX : The swimmer should be instructed to tuck the legs right after they leave the water. The feet should be moving back toward the wall and not DOWN. The swimmer should also be instructed to initially bring the face close to the knees, as they begin the bow into the turn. They should think of reducing the axis of rotation and keeping the knees in the water, as the feet move toward the wall.

87 2. THROWING THE LEGS TOO FAST THE FIX: The speed of the spin and rotation is created by the roll, not by throwing the feet. The swimmer should not RUSH the LEGS. They need to let the spin unroll naturally. 3. THE PILL BUG THE FIX: With this problem the swimmer needs to keep his legs straight, as the upper body bows down and the eyes come close to the knees.

88 4. LIFTING THE HEAD into the TURN THE FIX: The swimmer needs to learn how to submerge into the wall on the last stroke. Then, learn the T on the bottom of the pool, or sight the edge of the pool where the bottom meets the turning wall. At the very most, while submerging use a little alligator eyes to sight the lowest third of the wall target.

89 5. AIRPLANE ARMS THE FIX: This problem is often caused because the hands are not in the correct position before the swimmer begins the turn. The swimmer needs to finish both arms to his sides before initiating the flip. Then, the palms must be turned down so the swimmer can feel and hold the water as the feet travel over the surface. The elbows will flex and the hands will perform a quick push the hat back type motion.

90 6. TURNING the BODY on the WALL to PUSH-OFF on the STOMACH THE FIX: The best medicine for this common turn flaw is for the swimmer to first practice doing straight over flips and pushing off immediately on the back. Next, swimmer should be instructed to land on the wall with the feet just slightly angled to one side. Immediately push off slightly on their side and still legal for backstroke.

91 BACKSTROKE TURN OVER ROTATION THE FIX: The swimmer needs to stop the rotation of the body by spotting the underside of the top of the water as he flips around.

92 OPEN TURNS 1. THE JACK-in-the-BOX THE FIX: The swimmer should be instructed to let the arm absorb the wall like a shock absorber. As the knees start to come under the body (the face is still in the water,) then the body rolls back with the head and shoulders close to the surface. An excellent drill to fix this problem is the TUCK and BACK SPIN DRILL

93 2. PUSHING OFF ON THE STOMACH THE FIX: The main reason swimmers make this mistake is because they believe they are supposed to push off on their stomach. If they are instructed to plant their feet to the side and to push off (without turning the knees and feet down) they will push off on their side. 3. PUSHING OFF TOO SHALLOW THE FIX: Swimmers need to get their arms off the wall faster. The wall hand is usually the one that is holding on too long. It needs to get off the wall and back into the water before the feet touch the wall.

94 4. LIFTING the HEAD THE FIX: The swimmer needs to be instructed to keep their eyes down on the touch, and to begin the tuck of the knees while the face is still in the water. An excellent tool to correct this problem is the use of under water mirror (placed right up against the wall.)

95 5. TAKING a SHORT STOKE into the WALL 6. PULLING into the WALL (let the arm absorb the wall like a shock absorber) 7. TURNING the HEAD to the SIDE or FRONT 8. BIG ARMS OVER the TOP 9. CIRCLE SWIMMING TURN, legs flair out

96 SUMMARY If the competitive turn is done correctly, and the swimmer is positioned for an explosive and powerful push-off, the speed in which a swimmer leaves the wall is the second fastest segment of the race. The outcome of many competitive races will be determined by the underwater portion of the race.

97 Coaches should introduce the fundamentals of all good turns (push-off, streamline and underwater kicking) early in a young swimmer s career. Coaches must also emphasize legality for all turns during workout. Two hand touches, backstroke approaches and push-offs. And breaststroke pull downs and breakouts.