The Shark Fin Drill and Fingertip Drag Drill
Freestyle Drills that Teach a Relaxed Recovery Arm
When improving your freestyle efficiency, don't ignore the phase of your stroke when your arms are not pulling. The proper recovery technique should use as little energy as possible, not tire you out more than the pull itself. If your shoulders are sore at the end of every workout, then you might be wasting too much energy with a stiff recovery arm. The shark fin and fingertip drills will make you a fearsome competitor by teaching you to swim on your side so that you can have a recovery arm as loose as a rag doll.
Shark Fin Drill: What It's For
The shark fin drill teaches you to recover with a high elbow without “windmilling” your arms. Keeping a recovery arm stiff like a windmill is counterproductive because it wastes energy on something that isn’t propelling you across the pool any faster. The shark fin drill also teaches you how to swim on your side.
How to Do the Shark Fin Drill
- Push off the wall in the Superman position as you would with the sidekick drill.
- Your top arm should be resting at your side with your hand below your hip. Slowly draw your hand along your side as if you were unzipping a zipper along your hip. Your elbow should go high into the air, perpendicular to the surface as your hand slides higher.
- Pause when your hand reaches the bottom of your rib cage. Now your elbow is sticking in the air at an acute angle like a shark fin. Take a moment to enjoy how scary you probably look before “zipping” back down, sliding your hand back to your hip.
- When your hand reaches your hip, turn your head and take a breath as you do in a sidekick drill.
- When you have finished breathing, look back to the bottom of the pool and repeat the “unzipping” motion as you exhale.
- When you reach the end of the pool, return doing the drill on the opposite side (you’ll be facing the same wall as before).
Tips
- When breathing, the only thing that should move is your head. Your belly button should be facing the wall at all times, not the ceiling or the bottom of the pool.
- While doing the drill, keep looking beyond your armpit at the bottom of the pool.
Fingertip Drag Drill: What It's For
The fingertip drag–like the shark fin drill–teaches your arm to recover with a high elbow without “windmilling” your arms. The fingertip drag also incorporates elements like body roll, putting several freestyle elements together. The shark fin drill and fingertip drag are good to do in progression.
How to Do the Fingertip Drag
- Push off in the streamlined position and perform your first pull as you normally would.
- As you draw your arm out of the water, stop when the tips of your fingers are still in the water.
- Drag your fingertips along the water either right along the side of your body or an inch or two in front of your body. Your other arm should begin stroking during this time.
- Continue to swim at a slow cadence, dragging your fingertips along the surface of the water and keeping your elbows high. Your recovery arm should feel “floppy” and relaxed.
Tips
- You will naturally find it easier to keep your elbow high if you roll onto your side. Voilà! There’s your body roll.
- Your fingers should be dragging very close to your body. If you find that your arm is swinging out, far from your side, then you are probably swimming on your stomach. Think about keeping your belly button facing the wall and looking past your armpit at the bottom of the pool. As you drag your fingers, think about zipping a zipper that goes from just below your hip to your armpit.
- If you have trouble with the coordination of this drill, begin by doing it as a catch-up style drill, beginning each stroke only when the opposite hand has returned to the “anchor” position. When this is comfortable, begin doing the drill as a ¾ catch-up.
Freestyle Drills
Why are freestyle drills important?
Learn to swim on your side with the sidekick and 3-3-3 drills.
The recovering hand hangs limply from the elbow.
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