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Paolo's
Favorite Session: "The Sunday Shaper"
 The
next time you're feeling a little flat and not really "holding
the water" as well as you would hope, try this great little
session which will have you feeling like a super-fish in no time!
The
idea behind this session came about when I was training as a triathlete
at the University of Bath in the UK. Every week we would "hit
it hard" on the Monday morning with a long endurance swim.
If you weren't "feeling the water" for this session,
it would be a real struggle, believe me! So every Sunday afternoon
I would sneak off by myself and do a little preparation set which
became known affectionately as "the Sunday Shaper".
It
is essentially a very simple and short session of drills combined
with short efforts at about race pace, trying to maintain your
technique and form when swimming at a relatively fast pace. Anyone
can do this session, which also acts as a bit of an "ice
breaker" in squad sessions between the fast and the not-so-fast
swimmers who can all enjoy it at the same time! Make sure you
take time to really "feel' these drills without rushing them.
Here we go:
Warm-up:
- 200
free-style nice and easy
- 100
back-stroke or even the Leisure-stroke exercise which I talk
about in the DVD to help loosen off your shoulders.
Main Set:
20
x 50m, split up as 2 x (10 x 50m), the first set with fins, the
second set without. Perform all 50s as Drill on the odd numbers;
a portion of the 50m 'fast' with good form on the even numbers.
For example:
- Set
1 = 10 x 50m as drill going up, 50m free-style coming back.
Take 20 seconds rest between each 50m. Effectively
you have 5 drill 50s to complete and 5 free-style 50s at pace
to complete. As you will use the
fins on this first set, concentrate on drills, which aid your
efficiency in the water - e.g. body-roll and recovery drills.
So you might do 1) 6/1/6; 2) 6/3/6; 3) Popov; 4) 25 left -
25 right Unco; 5) Corkscrew Kick. Come back with 50m at just
above race pace, but maintaining good form, feeling really
fluid in the water.
- Set
2 = 10 x 50m as 25m drill - into - 25m free-style going up,
25m fast - into - 25m easy coming back. Again 20 seconds rest
between each. As you are not using fins this time, concentrate
on drills which will aid your propulsion through the water
- e.g. catch and pull through drills. So you might do 1) Scull
1; 2) Scull 2; 3) Scull 3; 4) Doggy Paddle; 5) Fists Clenched.
When you go from 25m of these drills into 25m free-style,
really try to "feel" the water and try to sense
being very strong in the water. Come back with 25m at just
above race pace - into - 25m easy, again maintaining good
form, feeling really strong in the water.
Cool
Down:
- 100
free-style nice and easy
- 100
Leisure-stroke
And
there you have it! 1500m of pure feel-good swimming vibes. Don't
be tempted to do anymore than this, simply walk away from the
pool on cloud-nine ready for your next 'big' swim session!
NB.
All of the drills detailed above can be viewed on the Swim Smooth:
Clean-Up Your Stroke DVD Disc #1, available for purchase from
the Swim Shop
page!
Download your
copy of this session now!
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