Freestyle is the stroke every competitive swimmer must master. Ohio State Coaches Bill Wadley and Bill Dorenkott show you drills to develop the elements of fast freestyle in all of your swimmers, and then add the styles and techniques individual swimmers need to master swimming for every athlete, at every distance.
This presentation begins with a detailed demonstration of how to attain the proper body position for successful freestyle. The common theme that both Coach Wadley and Coach Dorenkott profess is that of finding ways to increase propulsion and decrease drag. Attaining a long position that is stabilized with the core will assist greatly in drag reduction.
To enhance the swimmers feel for attaining an ideal body position while moving in the water, a series of 12 kicking drills are demonstrated to maximize pull in the power zone. Drills for sprint and distance freestylers build core power for every stage of the stroke cycle
The drill progression builds on the kicking and core body series, adding strength and timing in the pull, from catch to recovery. The coaches discuss characteristics of a great freestyler, and adaptations coaches must make for differences in swimmers. Drills develop optimum hand placement, catch, pull, and recovery. An "open arm pit" drill series follows that is designed to train a "full arm full or water" catch position with an open arm pit. This high elbow catch with hip rotation style keeps the pull in the power zone - an out-front, open-armpit pull. This is an essential skill, particularly for sprint freestylers, for establishing an ideal catch position.
Dorenkott and Wadley then follow with an additional 25 propulsion drills that combine to train proper body position while training the catch, pull, finish and recovery. Emphasis is placed on front quadrant (asymmetrical) freestyle with good length and line-up - especially for your mid to long distance freestylers. Included in these drills is a "hip slide" sequence that a hip dominated swimmer can implement to enhance his or her natural stroke tendencies.
In all, nearly 40 drills, skills, and innovations are packed into this presentation that combine to create a highly efficient stroke that enhances propulsion while continuously decreasing drag. The benefit of having two DI head coaches and exceptional demonstrators make this product unique. Underwater footage enhances the instruction.
As a swim coach, I am always interested to find the most up-to-date principles in how to swim the four competitive strokes as efficiently as possible. Coach Wadley and Coach Dorenkotts' Freestyle DVD not only did a terrific job of explaining the techniques used in the freestyle stroke but also they provided excellent freestyle drills to reinforced these concepts. I will be getting the whole set of instructional DVDs, which will be all I need.
- Coach Bod, Houston, Texas
67 minutes. 2013.
MD-04330B: featuring Bill Wadley, Ohio State Head Men's Swimming Coach; 2010 Big 10 Coach of the Year, and Bill Dorenkott, Ohio State Head Women's Swimming Coach; combined they have won 13 Big Ten Championships and have coached 118 NCAA Champions
Developing the right backstroke kick and body position enables your pull to maximize time and acceleration in the power zone. Ohio State Swim Coach Bill Wadley and Bill Dorenkott share their philosophy and techniques for breaking down and constructing high caliber backstroke - from the kick up.
On-Deck Instruction
Learn how to set up the proper body position and posture for the backstroke. The components of this proper positioning include swimming with a long and neutral neck and a flat back position that is accomplished by engaging the muscles of the core. You will see a series of five body position kicking drills that teach the swimmer to carry proper body position with propulsion from the kick.
Backstroke Drills
In the Backstroke Drills segment, Wadley and Dorenkott present an additional 24 drills:
- Free-to-Back Connection Drill Series - Enables the swimmer to feel the connection of freestyle and backstroke.
- Catch and Recovery Series - Trains the swimmer to maintain speed and power from the recovery into a quick catch position and body rotation.
- Tempo Drills
- Weighted Drills - Enhance foot speed and core stability.
Underwater Technique
Coach Dorenkott teaches four undulation drills that emphasize driving the undulation from the back and chest, rather than just the knees and feet. Dorenkott presents a series of five underwater drills that include breakout drills that teach how to transition from dolphin kick into the flutter kick and how to attain an ideal body position beginning with the first stroke.
Full Backstroke Swimming
Dorenkott and Wadley pull together all aspects of the stroke and demonstrate stroke technique and tempo for the 200, 100, and 50 meter races.
Excellent demonstrations and underwater footage enhance the instruction in this comprehensive presentation. This video not only teaches the main stroke segments but also shows how various unique drills can be used to train the small nuances of the stroke.
82 minutes. 2013.
MD-04330C: featuring Bill Wadley, Ohio State Head Men's Swimming Coach; 2010 Big 10 Coach of the Year, and Bill Dorenkott, Ohio State Head Women's Swimming Coach; combined they have won 13 Big Ten Championships and have coached 118 NCAA Champions
More than any other stroke, the secret to great breaststroke is to maximize propulsion and minimize drag. Coaches need to analyze every aspect of each swimmer's stroke to look for ways to achieve these goals.
Ohio State Swim Coaches Bill Wadley and Bill Dorenkott take high-level, high-performing breaststrokers through a series of drills designed to build a championship breaststroke. They address the three critical means of maximizing propulsion and reducing resistance:
- Reduce drag with great body position by lining up the four Hs (hands, head, hips, heels).
- Maximize acceleration by shortening the time spent outside the streamline position.
- Use a strong kick and excellent body position to stay in the power zone during the pull
The Kick
Starting with the kick, Coaches Wadley and Dorenkott present 14 drills that create a narrow, fast kick that reduces resistance. The progression begins with the technical aspects of the kick and continues through breaststroke-specific body positioning with an efficient kick.
These drills assist with:
- Developing hip flexibility, which is essential for a great kick
- Creating an explosive finish kick
- Maintaining a high center of gravity with a flat back, long neck and weightless arms out front
- Timing the kick to master the rhythm of the stroke: pull, breathe and then kick
- Developing foot speed in the kick and feet-together recovery
Included in this section are advanced skills for the finish of the kick that allow the feet to drop into an ideal glide position following the accelerated finish of the kick.
The Pull
Discover 13 drills -designed to strengthen the pull phase of the stroke. Included are sculling drills to enhance the feel for each phase of the pull, small pull drills that train the catch, and out-sweep, and full pull drills that train swimmers to properly wrap the corner and accelerate into an ideal glide position. Also included are pulling drills for teaching the timing of the stroke including underwater drills that teach a swimmer to decrease resistance in all phases of the stroke.
The Pullout
Coach Wadley presents a five-phase pullout sequence that begins with how to attain the most efficient push-off, and then adds the arm movement, the dolphin kick phase, arm recovery, and kick into breakout. Putting the sequence together ends with a fast, powerful, and effective pullout and breakout. Demonstrations of the full stroke include tempo for the 200, 100, and 50-meter distances.
The more than 35 skills and drills presented here offer invaluable insights into successful breaststroke swimming from two highly successful coaches. Underwater footage and expert demonstrations greatly enhance the instruction. Order now!
68 minutes. 2013.
MD-04330D: featuring Bill Wadley, Ohio State Head Men's Swimming Coach; 2010 Big 10 Coach of the Year, and Bill Dorenkott, Ohio State Head Women's Swimming Coach; combined they have won 13 Big Ten Championships and have coached 118 NCAA Champions
Stop fearing the butterfly! Ohio State Swim Coaches Bill Wadley and Bill Dorenkott show how combining technique, precise drilling and repetition will help swimmers learn to love the power, finesse and rhythm of the stroke.
Coaches Wadley and Dorenkott believe in developing a butterfly stroke that balances finesse, power and rhythm with the goal of creating a more effortless stroke . Constructing such a stroke begins with establishing a body position that will reduce drag, making it easier for a swimmer to maintain an efficient stroke over a longer period of time.
With the body position established, Coach Dorenkott demonstrates posture cues to help athletes feel the right body line. He proceeds with a series of undulation drills that will create a full body kicking action to help balance the chest press and lift, and the upward and downward sweep of the kick for an even power transfer from core to feet. Focusing first on amplitude and then on frequency, he shows how to build a balanced and powerful basis for full stroke. Introduction of the arm action follows with Coach Wadley presenting a series of single-arm drills that allow the swimmer to focus on recovery and pull in the stroke. Coach Wadley teaches a low "close to the water" recovery that keeps the stroke flatter and more forward focused on the landing. Drills are designed to:
- Develop a kick powerful enough to be heard by the swimmer.
- Create acceleration through the pull
- Develop a quick recovery that does not sacrifice kick power or amplitude
The timing of the breath is crucial to the efficiency of the stroke. Late breathing, a habit that many younger swimmers develop, can be challenging to correct. Coach Dorenkott gives two drills that are specifically designed to train or, in some cases, re-train a swimmer to breathe at the proper time. Drills done on land and in the water develop breathing in the power zone of the stroke and a steady, two-kicks-per-cycle rhythm. Tempo is driven by the speed of the kick first, ensuring athletes keep the body connection.
Coach Dorenkott also presents a unique series of combination drills that enable a swimmer focus on specific critical stroke components-one component at a time-before combining them with full stroke swimming. Demonstrations include both male and female swimmers.
These butterfly drills will help swimmers use power, finesse and rhythm to make their butterfly easier to execute and more successful!
64 minutes. 2013.
MD-04330E: featuring Bill Wadley, Ohio State Head Men's Swimming Coach; 2010 Big 10 Coach of the Year, and Bill Dorenkott, Ohio State Head Women's Swimming Coach; combined they have won 13 Big Ten Championships and have coached 118 NCAA Champions
The biggest improvement gain a swimmer can make could learning how to execute a better start.
Ohio State Coaches Bill Wadley and Bill Dorenkott share effective strategies and efficient techniques that provide stability and reaction readiness for the forward start.
Coach Wadley breaks down the set up for a successful beginning with the pre-block routine. He demonstrates how to get the best possible grip on the block .
Block set-up is then presented with a detailed explanation of foot position, ideal leg angles, hand position for grabbing the block and instruction on hip height and core stability. The "take your mark" position is discussed prior to demonstrations of full-forward starts.
A variety of swimmers demonstrate multiple forward starts. Also offered are detailed instructions and explanations of how best to carry the speed from the dive into the breakout and how to quickly establish race stroke tempo.
The back start segment includes proper block set-up along with strategies to assist younger swimmers in learning the skill more quickly. A four-step progression is presented that assists the swimmer in getting the hips over the water for a clean powerful back start. Coach Dorenokott details strategies on how to best carry start speed into the dolphin kick and transition into the flutter kick along with how to attain the ideal body position for the breakout. The teaching cues that he gives make it easy for both coach and swimmer to understand how to perform in ideal breakout.
In the relay exchange segment, the coaches discuss the importance of the finishing swimmer coming into the wall in a full extension that will give the takeoff swimmer the best opportunity to have a fast, efficient and legal exchange. Free relay and medley relay take-offs are demonstrated at both moderate and race speed.
50 minutes. 2013.
MD-04330F: featuring Bill Wadley, Ohio State Head Men's Swimming Coach; 2010 Big 10 Coach of the Year, and Bill Dorenkott, Ohio State Head Women's Swimming Coach; combined they have won 13 Big Ten Championships and have coached 118 NCAA Champions
Teach swimmers how to properly approach the wall for a turn set-up regardless of stroke.
Ohio State Swim Coaches Bill Wadley and Bill Dorenkott share long axis and short axis turn drill progressions for each of the four competitive strokes. Their presentation begins with freestyle turn instruction including two unique flip turn drill progressions that each of the coaches use with his respective team. These progressions contain over 10 drills to train a swimmer on every aspect of the turn, approach, execution, wall set-up, and push off. Also included are strategies for getting off of the wall with maximum speed and power, and the all important breakout with the timing of the first stroke as well as how to align the body for a seamless transition into the breakout stroke and establishing race tempo. The technical aspects of the flip turn apply to the backstroke turn.
In the back turn segment, the coaches focus on getting the swimmer from his or her back to the front using a fast, connected rotation and transition into the somersault. Also discussed are strategies in body angle for an ideal push off and an underwater travel segment before adding the flutter kick and establishing race tempo.
Similar to the long axis turn segment, the short axis turn instruction for fly and breast include effective drill progressions from each coach. Dividing the turn into front- and back-halves, Coach Dorenkott presents a unique progression for each phase before pulling the entire turn together.
Coach Wadley presents an away-from-the wall sequence that focuses on executing a "reverse tumble" to generate a tight rotation, something he believes is essential to a fast turn. Both sequences are clearly explained and demonstrated along with a full-turn demonstration of each.
In the IM Turn segment, the major focus is on:
- Back to Breast Crossover Turn - The secret to teaching the crossover turn
- Fly to Back - Preparing to maximize the underwater dolphin
- Breast to Free - How to carry your speed through the turn
Teach your swimmers the fundamentals of the turn through effective drill progressions and attention to detail that will lead to championship results.
72 minutes. 2013.
