Featured Drill: Silent Swim

It's been awhile since I have used this drill, but it worked quite well with a group of our UNC Swim Campers yesterday.

I call it "Silent Swim." The idea is to have the group swim a distance (100m works well) without making any noise. To accomplish this, the swimmers can create no splash from either their stroke or kick. There is also one additional requirement - everyone in the group must be slower than a certain time (2:00 in this instance), or the silent swim must be performed again by the entire group.

By doing this drill, swimmers are forced to stop thinking about creating more power or exerting more force on the water, but rather to notice how their bodies interact with the water. An awareness of how one's body moves water out of the way can aid the swimmer's proprioception. The time limit is crucial - pick a time that will cause everyone in the group to really swim slowly.

This set is not hard, at least not in the traditional sense, so it may not seem like doing it again is very strong negative reinforcement. The solution: Use silent swim as a warm-down. If they do it right - they're done. If not? Again!