自転車旅に６コース 千葉県、レベル別に設定

環境や健康への意識の高まりを受け、千葉県が「サイクルツーリズム」の普及に取り組んでいる。今月１日から専用の休憩場を設けたモデルコースを６カ所設定し、自転車愛好者の呼び込みに本腰を入れ始めた。房総はなだらかな道が多く、サイクリングには絶好の土地柄。観光の活性化にもつなげようとの試みだ。

Source: 自転車旅に６コース　千葉県、レベル別に設定

Sculling - Back Scull

Sculling is all about awakening the hands, and building an awareness of how any little movement can help you go forward.

When you do a sculling drill, don't worry too much about how -- or where -- the sculling move will come into play in your stroke. When you do a sculling drill, just think about USING your hands -- that's all. Think about how you are using your hands to move forward. You just have to trust that at some point... in some stroke... your hands will need to move in a particular way. So the more sculling drills you learn to do, the smarter your hands will be.

Source: Sculling - Back Scull

Butterfly - Extra-Kick Fly - DRILL

Here's a simple butterfly drill that incorporates a few wonderful aspects... relaxation and the opportunity to work on timing.

The drill is simple. Swim butterfly, but after the hands land in front, throw in a couple of extra kicks.

When you're planning on staying under longer (which is sometimes necessary for masters swimmers, to slow down their stroke rate), you'll automatically dive a bit deeper on your entry. The longer path you'll discover can be more comfortable for longer butterfly swims.

Try to get your head down and in line with your body during the underwater portion.

Source; Butterfly - Extra-Kick Fly

Freestyle - Doggie Dig with Two-Beat Kick

In fact, many swimmers don't even know how many kicks they take per stroke cycle, let alone know how many kicks are ideal, or where they should be placed. Here's a drill that builds your awareness for what's happening "back there" and how it affects your stroke.

Source: Freestyle - Doggie Dig with Two-Beat Kick

Freestyle - Timing the Kick

Knowing when to kick on freestyle is certainly a skill that's important to understand and accomplish in order to reach a certain level of proficiency in swimming.

If the question is WHY focus on WHEN to initiate, or kick, in flutter kick, the answer is simple. The better you time your kick, the more power it has, and the more it impact it has on body rotation and the next pull.

Source: Freestyle - Timing the Kick

Freestyle - Bent-Arm Extension

Bent-arm extension is meant for swimmers who have reached a point in their life where the shoulders simply aren't as flexible as they used to be, and who find it difficult to reach full extension in freestyle.

The most important aspect of freestyle is a good catch. If a swimmer has poor shoulder flexibility and focuses too much on extension, he or she may end up with a poor catch. In this drill, the focus is not on extension, but on keeping the elbow bent as the arm enters the water. With a bent-arm entry, the swimmer can focus on getting immediately into a bent-arm pull.

Source: Freestyle - Bent-Arm Extension

Freestyle - High-Elbow Catch

Catch-catch-catch... seems as if all we talk about is a high-elbow catch. For good reason. Nothing will move you through the water more effectively than an early, high-elbow catch in freestyle.

Speed and/or efficiency... take your pick. With a high-elbow catch, both will increase. Without a high-elbow catch, both will decrease. It's that simple.

Source: Freestyle - High-Elbow Catch

Freestyle - Exhale Slowly

While balance, good rotation, and correct timing are all important to taking in a good breath, air exchange is also a key aspect of faster and more comfortable swimming.

Having a more relaxed approach to exhaling rather than blasting air out will help you avoid going into oxygen debt during your swims.

Source: Freestyle - Exhale Slowly

Butterfly - Perp Drill

If you've ever seen any TV police drama, there will be a scene where the suspect is placed against the wall, hands high, and pressed forward so the police can search him. This position just happens to be a great example of the press on butterfly.

perp
noun Police slang
the perpetrator of a crime

Source: Butterfly - Perp Drill

In breaststroke, timing is everything.

In breaststroke, timing is everything, and knowing when to initiate the kick is a critical element in that timing. The later you initiate your kick in breaststroke, the less likely you are to create unnecessary resistance with the recovery of the kick.

Source: Breaststroke - Separation Drill