Core Stability Separation Drill

Important Note to the Viewer

LESSONS: 5 VIDEOS

Step 1 - Core Stability Glide

Sure, we’ve all done this before and all we’re really doing is adding a fancy name to a streamline glide. The reason for this is simple... A streamline isn’t just a streamline, it’s the engagement of the entire body to create a rigid unit that pierces the water. The more rigid it is, the further it travels and the faster it’s potential speed. All you have to do on this exercise is to push off the wall in a streamline position, staying pointed from fingertips to toes. Then have the entire body reach the surface at the same time. You’ll notice this great streamline, but the hands and shoulders reach the surface before the hips and legs. Here it is again but done better. This core stability is one of the most important aspects of swimming and should be practiced daily until completely owned by the athletes. Once the body surfaces, have the swimmer hold that line for a couple of seconds to experience how stiffening or engaging the core impacts the overall line integrity of the swimmer.

Step 2 - Core Stability Pull

The idea of this step is to isolate the pulling action. We want to help the athlete focus on making sure the pull, independent of anything else, is aiding in moving them forward. Push off in streamline as in Step 1, and after the swimmer has reached the surface, have them perform a single breaststroke pull. In practicing this drill, IF the swimmer pops up during the pull, they may be pushing DOWN on the initiation of the catch. Teaching developing swimmers to limit pushing the body up, and focus on pushing the body forward, can help them understand one of the most important aspects of swimming fast. Many swimmers pop up because, on this drill, they’re pulling too far back. A simple fix is to get them to lay on the deck with their armpits over the gutter. Have them do some wall pull until they get a good feel for the path and depth of the hands. Then have them hop back in the water and try again.

Step 3 - Core Stability Pull and Kick

This is the beginning of a full separation drill. This progression puts increased emphasis on core stability (hence the names of the steps), before focusing on the timing of the stroke. Have the swimmer push on with core stability as in Step 1. Then add the pull while maintaining a stable body line. Then after the swimmer is back in line, have them add a single kick. Encourage them to isolate the pull, and then isolate the kick. Moving to this step, we did notice that the additional thought of adding the kick, our swimmer reverted a bit to a non-isolated pull, and the body started to pop up again. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because as the stroke builds, it will lead to the natural movement into the next step, but if they can continue to stay stable, that’s better.

Step 4 - Core Stability Pull Breathe and Kick

This moves the drill forward to a standard Separation Drill. One of the most important things about this step is to make sure the head stays down as the hands begin their out sweep. Have the swimmer start with core stability glide. Then add the outsweep to the pull with a breath back to the line. Then add the kick. To clean things up, encourage the swimmer NOT to move the legs during the pull and breath. This is where you’ll see instinct come back in and the legs start their recovery, or a small dolphin kick. Keep the legs as straight as possible, and make sure there is a pause, or separation between each step. Glide - Pull Breath back to line - Kick back to line.

Step 5 - Merge

Start with the whole process, having the swimmers start with a few lengths of full separation drill. Then encourage them to make the separations between the steps shorter. While it may seem awkward to them initially, you may start to see some beautiful strokes starting to happen. Watch how the outsweep of the hands leads to the breath with the legs still long. How the draw of the hips into the breath brings the feet up behind the hips. Watch how the hands are at full extension and the head is back in line prior to the initiation of the kick. This drives the body forward. This method of teaching Separation Drill simply places more emphasis on core stability. We hope that by teaching with this progression, it becomes simpler for us to continue stressing the importance of “the line” in every practice to every swimmer.