Lesson Three: Tapping Effortless Power From Your Kinetic Chain

The first two lessons have taught you balance and slippery body positions. In Lesson Three, you’ll learn to use rotation of your balanced and slippery core body to generate effortless power for propulsion. Lesson Three also introduces you to the first of our three Switch drill sequences. These will be the most dynamic and powerful movements you have yet practiced.

DRILL 5: UNDERSKATE

Why We Do It: You learned the most valuable form of balance in the Skating Position. That position becomes the basis for other ways of practicing balance that bring a different dynamic to your balance practice. This drill is also a rehearsal for Drill 6: UnderSwitch. Finally, it reinforces the key skills of staying on your side as you swim and of breathing by rolling a balanced, aligned, slippery body to the air.

Follow This Sequence

1. Begin as in Drill 4, moving patiently through all four positions or movements practiced previously, kicking silently and gently as you do: Balance on your back; then rotate slightly to Sweet Spot, showing an arm, then sneak your other arm to full extension; and finally arrive in the Skating Position.

2. After you look down, pause and check: Are you looking down with your head hidden and aligned? Is your extended hand below your head? Do you feel great balance—even a downhill gliding sensation?

3. If so, then sneak the trailing hand forward under water (wipe it across your belly and past your jaw) until you see the hand right under your nose. Check that you’re still on your side with your shoulders stacked, then slide the hand back to your side. Finish by rolling your needle shape past your Sweet Spot.

4. Take at least three yoga breaths, then repeat the sequence. You’ll probably fit in three cycles in each 25 yards. Switch sides on the next length.

THE UNDERSKATE POSITION ALSO ILLUSTRATES SWITCH-TIMING FOR ALL UNDERSWITCH DRILLS.

How to Practice: Your key focal points are the same as for Drill 4, but with added emphasis on remaining on your side as you bring your hand to your face and on slipping through the smallest hole in the water as you do it. Practice UnderSkate by itself, alternating sides. Or practice it in a series with Lesson Two drills: 50 yards each (25 right, 25 left) of Drills 2, 3, 4, and 5. Some athletes can master this drill after no more than ten minutes of practice. If you feel you’ve got it, move on. If not, spend as much time as you need because the skills learned in Under-Skate are key to every drill that follows.

DRILL 6: UNDERSWITCH

Why We Do It: This is the first drill to tap the power of the kinetic chain by teaching you how to link an armstroke to core-body rotation for effortless propulsion. It also simplifies the learning process for learning the front-quadrant stroke timing that keeps your body line long, by giving you a visual cue for when to make the switch.

Follow This Sequence

1. After the movements of UnderSkate seem natural (almost a “nobrainer”), move to the full drill. Start as in Drill 5, but when you see your hand under your nose, keep moving it forward to full extension as you roll (switch) past Sweet Spot on the other side.

2. Take at least three yoga breaths (relax, normalize your breathing, and get your bearings) as you check your balance and make sure that you are in Sweet Spot again. Then, swivel to the Skating Position (nose down and shoulders stacked) … pause … and repeat in the other direction.

3. The basic movements are simple, but the opportunities for refinement are many. Practice these focal points, one at a time:

• Be patient. Don’t switch until you see your hand under your nose.

• Switch by using the extended hand to “hold on to your place in the water,” as you roll past it.

• Finish the switch by rolling past your Sweet Spot.

• Another way to reinforce this is to switch as if you were planning to breathe with your belly button. After you see your hand, take your belly button to the air; your head just goes along for the ride.

• Stay connected as you switch: When you see your hand, move arm, head, and torso as a unit.

• Stay slippery: Switch through the smallest possible hole in the water.

• Focus on doing the drill as quietly as possible. This will help you do any drill more fluently and economically.

• Final step: Pause your kick at the moment you see your hand and switch. Resume gentle kicking once you’re back in Sweet Spot.

DRILL 7: DOUBLE UNDERSWITCH

Why We Do It: Switch drills teach powerful, coordinated, effortless movement of the core body. Multiswitch (two or more switches) drills introduce swimming rhythms (steady, rhythmic core-body rotation) to these movements but retain pauses in Sweet Spot, to allow time to regroup, evaluate your practice, and make fine adjustments.

Follow This Sequence

1. Start as in Drill 6 but you’ll do two switches before pausing in Sweet Spot again.

2. After you roll to the Skating Position, pause to check your balance. Lean in to feel the support of the water, then sneak your hand forward.

3. Wait to see your hand before both switches. Keep your head “hidden” and look directly at the bottom through both switches.

4. Finish in Sweet Spot and breathe three times before rolling to nose-down again.

5. Start the next length on your other side: Look down … see your hand … Switch … glide a moment … see your hand … Switch … Breathe in your Sweet Spot.

6. Practice on both right and left sides until you feel yourself gliding effortlessly in balance … and until your Switch timing is consistent.

DRILL 8: TRIPLE UNDERSWITCH

Why We Do It: This drill will give you even more space to make yourself more Fishlike and learn the feel of a swimming rhythm.

Follow This Sequence

Just add one switch to the previous drill. Use the extra rhythm time to feel all of the following:

Let Go of Your Kick:
How to Make It Economical and Relaxed

Most adult swimmers kick too much, not because they want to but because they feel their legs sinking. This kicking is not only nonpropulsive and energy-wasting, it also wrecks your rhythm and any chance of achieving fluency. The ideal kick for most people is one that is nonovert and nearly effortless. Your drills are the perfect device for helping you replace an energy-wasting kick with an economical kick, called a two-beat kick (for two kicks in each stroke cycle).

The only overt kicking that should happen as you drill is a gentle kick in Sweet Spot to maintain momentum between drill cycles. But when your body rotation is providing momentum, let your legs take a rest. You can train them for this by using Switch drills to learn the timing of the two-beat kick. This kick does a wonderfully efficient job of helping the body roll from side to side, which generates ample power for propulsion. You can swim with this kick virtually all day without tiring.

The learning process is fairly simple. Whenever you do any of the Switch drills, stop kicking as you make the switch. Try to glide in balance without a kick for a few moments in Sweet Spot, then resume gentle, steady kicking. Keep kicking easily as you swivel to the nose-down position, but as your hand slices forward to initiate the switch, pause your kick again and let your body glide forward on the momentum from your weight shift and body rotation. After you rebalance in Sweet Spot, pick up the kick again.

It’s the same with the multiswitch drills. As in the single-switch drills, maintain a gentle kick while in Sweet Spot and when you swivel to the Skating Position, but once your hand slices in on the first switch, let your legs pause. They won’t actually remain motionless. Instead, one leg should beat down as each hand enters the water. As your right hand enters, your left leg kicks; as your left hand enters, your right leg kicks.

Don’t use too many brain cells trying to coordinate this. Instead, focus on letting the legs do what comes naturally when you just pause the steady kick you’d been using prior to the switch. Your arms and legs already are well acquainted with moving in a counterbalancing fashion. Running or walking, they do the same: Right arm and left leg swing forward together, then left arm and right leg.

• Keep your head hidden. Water should flow over the back of your head during all three switches.

• Keep your timing consistent. Switch at the exact moment you see your hand under your nose.

• Extend both hands fully, front and back, then glide just a moment before recovering for the next switch.

• During your glide, feel yourself just lying there supported by the water. That’s the feeling of great balance.

• Maintain a focus on piercing the water, particularly while sneaking your arm and switching.

• When all of that begins to feel somewhat natural, see if you can pause your kick during the three switches…. Pick it up again in Sweet Spot.

• Finally, reduce the glide between switches. Roll your body a bit less during the three switches, to increase rhythm.

Lesson Three Practice Plan

The movements and coordination were relatively simple in the first two lessons. Lesson Three involves more complex movements, though we’ve presented them in a way designed to ease your learning curve. More complexity brings more opportunity for confusion. Simplify by doing two things: (1) Allow more practice time for Lesson Three before advancing to Lesson Four; and (2) spend a bit more time on focused practice of each of the Lesson Three drills by themselves before combining them in the sequences suggested below.

Here are some suggested sequences (always warm up with at least ten minutes refresher practice of Drills 2, 3, and 4).

200-YARD REPEATS

• 50 yards each (25 right, 25 left) of Drills 2, 3, 4, and 5.

100-YARD REPEATS

• 25 UnderSkate on your right side, 25 UnderSwitch, 25 Under-Skate left, 25 UnderSwitch.

150-YARD REPEATS

• 50 UnderSkate (25 right, 25 left), 50 UnderSwitch, 50 Double UnderSwitch (25 balance on right, 25 on left).

• 25 UnderSkate right, 25 UnderSwitch, 25 Double Under-Switch right, 25 UnderSkate left, 25 UnderSwitch, 25 Double UnderSwitch left.

Until you have put in a cumulative total of several hours practice in Lesson Three drills, rest for at least three yoga breaths after each length. Similarly, take three yoga breaths in your Sweet Spot between cycles of each drill.