SwimSwam thanks SwimmersBest for sponsoring “Drill of the Month.” This is a SwimSwam recurring feature that brings drills and idea submissions from various creative and innovative coaches all over the world.
July’s SwimmersBest Drill of the Month comes to us from Tyler Shepherd, a head assistant coach at Raleigh Swimming Association in North Carolina.
Coach Tyler swam for TYDE and STAR Aquatics. He earned his undergraduate degree in Exercise Science with minors in Biology and Psychology from Appalachian State University in 2012 (Go Mountaineers!). While at Appalachian, Coach Tyler spent his summers as the Head Coach of the Midway Summer Swim Team.
With swimmers starting to get back into the water after quarantine, drills are as important as ever. Coach Shepherd shared a favorite drill of his on the RSA Twitter account. The “spoon drill” is meant to help swimmers stop themselves from lifting their head on freestyle breathing. The basic principle of the drill is to tuck a plastic spoon into the back of the swimmer’s cap with the handle running down their neck. That way if the swimmer lifts their head to breathe, the swimmer will notice the spoon poking them.
FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE VIDEO TO WORK ON YOUR FREESTYLE HEAD POSITION:
Need to work on your alignment and head position? Try sticking a posture trainer (aka spoon) in your cap. It'll let you know every time you pick your head up yo breathe.#usaswimming #ncswimming #agegroupswimming pic.twitter.com/NKRqRG1mAW
— swimRSA (@swim_RSA) August 3, 2020
ABOUT SWIMMERSBEST
SwimmersBest is leading the way for the future of swim training equipment. The company offers a broad range of solutions for improving stroke technique, kick technique, and breathing technique. They provide swimmers, coaches, and teams with the tools they need to balance technique training with conditioning training. By combining the best drills with the best tools, the SwimmersBest products give swimmers instant tactile feedback so they can adjust their technique efficiently. The old way of having coaches constantly remind swimmers of their individual problems has proven to offer very little improvement in technique. All SwimmersBest products are designed to constantly ‘talk to the swimmers’ so they can feel the problems and make corrections. This unique approach means the swimmers are given negative feedback for incorrect stroke technique, which compels the swimmers to quickly correct the problem on their own. With a constant flow of new innovative product designs, SwimmersBest is a company that will continue to deliver solutions you need.
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I like this drill for two reasons: It’s low tech and it may make a swimmer aware for the first time of poor freestyle head alignment. Yes, a coach can tell a swimmer to stop lifting her head but until she actually feels it (or sees it on video) will she best be in a position to correct it.
I still think a coach needs to suggest to a swimmer changes to her technique once a swimmer is aware of the spoon poking. There is another part of the body that is out of alignment that just keeping the head still will not correct.