has coached National Age Group record holders and Olympic Trials finalists
Over time, drills have a tendency to be repetitive and mundane and eventually lose their effectiveness. All swimmers need consistent work on their technique and continue to learn about all aspects of their stroke.
In the Megs Drills series, 14-time All-American Coley Stickels provides new and creative twists on techniques and drills for the intermediate and advanced swimmers like you've never seen before.
In freestyle, establishing a great catch, with proper body position and a strong kick are the keys to success. In this video, Coley and his athletes demonstrate 20 innovate and creative drills/variations. His main teaching points focus on:
High elbow catch - In all freestyle events, the swimmer has a tendency to enter with an early vertical forearm, with the emphasis being getting the elbow as far out front as possible. Coley Stickels walks you through four sculling drills to set up a high elbow catch. The Tap drill and Retraction drill are examples of freestyle stroke drills that require the fingertips pointing down, emphasizing a high elbow catch. A high elbow catch allows for a transfer of energy forward.
Thumb in toward your bellybutton during the pull - During the pulling phase of freestyle, by bringing the thumb toward your belly button, the swimmer can accelerate the torso past the arm. It starts with a high elbow catch, keeping the fingers down and drawing the thumb toward the bellybutton.
Long high neck with a flat back - Establishing a long high neck allows the swimmer to move on a horizontal plane, keeping the body in balance. By pulling the bellybutton in towards the spine, the swimmer creates a pelvic tilt, creating a hydroplane across the water.
Fast kick - a fast kick is important in freestyle because it keeps the hips high and keeps the athlete moving in the forward direction. Nearly every drill in Freestyle Mega Drills forces the swimmer to execute a fast kick.
Stickels' drills have variety, adaptability, and are easy to work into an existing program. Swimmers looking to gain a better understanding of freestyle and coaches looking to introduce some fun into their workouts without compromising a strict conditioning regimen will love this video.
42 minutes (plus 17 minutes of Individual Medley technique). 2013.
MD-04390B: with Coley Stickels, 14x NCAA All American with University of Arizona;
has coached National Age Group record holders and Olympic Trials finalists
Fast hands, a high elbow catch and a flat back are the keys becoming a successful backstroker. Fourteen time All American Coley Stickels describes numerous backstroke drills that not only breaks the stroke down into these three segments, but he also intermixes them helping the athlete to focus on improving more than one segment at the same time.
The uniqueness of Stickle's drills all work is that the drills are designed to train aspects of the stroke that tend to be the most difficult for swimmers to get a feel for. Stickels clearly explains the purpose of the each drill, lists common mistakes swimmers make, and points out very subtle corrections that each of his demonstrators could make, leading to increased understanding for viewers of every level. Stickels presents 17 different backstroke drills that are designed to enhance the following three areas of focus for the stroke:
Leading high elbow catch - Hand entry is done with a "heavy" hand while anchoring the elbow in a high position that allows leveraging the catch to throw the body past their arm. The pull through drill is an example of a drill you will see that exaggerates the high elbow catch and enhances the drive of the torso and the shoulder forcing the hand to get a good feel of the catch position. The high elbow drills help to establish a catch and accelerate the torso past the arm.
Quick Hands through the end phase of the pull - Attach the initial entry with heavy hands and sweep out as quickly as possible. The Whip it Drills and the Tap Tap Scissor drill are designed to keep the hands from getting stuck at the bottom of the stroke and works on the coordinating of the timing between pulls.
Flat Back - Rotating from 35-45 degrees with little to no little to no movement from the shoulders and back and forth swaying in the hips. The 6-6 drills help to keep the hips in line with the spine as the athlete alternates from six dolphin kick to six backstroke strokes working on the transition from fly to flat back while the pivot drill takes the catch and adds the "flat back" aspect of the stroke one step further. These drills will also keep your swimmer from bouncing during backstroke swimming and will allow the athlete to develop a high hand speed.
Coley Stickels provides new and creative twists on techniques and drills for the intermediate and advanced swimmers like you've never seen before. The variety of drills and their originality will keep your interest at all times and help you create even more drills than are demonstrated.
33 minutes (plus 17 minutes of Individual Medley technique). 2013.
MD-04390C: with Coley Stickels, 14x NCAA All American with University of Arizona;
has coached National Age Group record holders and Olympic Trials finalists
Coley Stickels presents 27 drills and variations that focus on hand speed, proper body position and timing of the stroke.
Competitive swimmers from low through high-level swimmers whose breaststroke needs training or merely `tweaking' will find a number of drills tailor-made to fit every swimmer in their program. Stickels' main focus points include:
- Having quick heels on kick
- Keeping hips high
- Looking for an exposed lower back as hands come forward
- Moving hands forward quickly
- Keeping body low over water (45-degree angle)
Quick heels and high hips on kick
This drill area will train your swimmers to coil and uncoil as quickly as possible, snapping the feet together and pointing the toes at the end of the kick. Nearly all world-class breaststrokers finish their kick with high hips.
Exposed lower back to surface with quick hands coming forward
In this section, Coley teaches drills to initiate this is by pulling the belly in towards the spine, getting the hands out in front as quickly as possible and getting the head looking down. Getting the hands back in front and into the catch phase eliminates a dead zone spot in the stroke.
Proper body position
You'll get drills that will train your swimmers to be in a 45-degree relation to the surface of the water allows for a quicker hand speed and quicker hip action in the stroke.
Coley has a unique way of simplifying one of the most difficult swimming strokes. He breaks the stroke down into small pieces so the athlete can focus on specific segments of the stroke while providing the athlete with different feels of the water. The use of equipment and having the drills done at different speeds reemphasizes the need for proper body position and hand speed.
54 minutes (plus 17 minutes of Individual Medley technique). 2013.
MD-04390D: with Coley Stickels, 14x NCAA All American with University of Arizona;
has coached National Age Group record holders and Olympic Trials finalists
In Mega Drills for Butterfly, Coach Stickles presents over 20 efficient yet unique drills for training the butterfly. These drills focus on critical phases of the stroke including proper body position, kick timing, the catch, the pull phase, exit and recovery. The overall combined goal of the drills is that of increasing stroke efficiency and assist in conditioning for the butterfly stroke.
Create a minimal outsweep
In the butterfly pull, it is important to create a downward motion with the hands after entry, keeping the elbows as high as you can throughout the duration of the pull, ending in a triangle hand position at the end of the pull. Press back, out and around on the pull in get the hands through the recovery position and back into the catch phase of the stroke.
Maintain a low chin position during a breath
During the breathing phase of the pull, having proper body position can is established by skimming the chin on the surface of the water and stick the neck out. Fixate the eyes on the surface of the water, so the head enters the water slightly before the hands. Dolphin Dive drill works on fast hands, staying flat in relation to the surface and proper breathing technique.
Double Kick/Dolphin kicking
The first kick sets up the propulsive phase of butterfly or the pulling phase. The second kick sets up the recovery phase of the stroke. In the "5 dolphin kicks, 2 pulls" Coley demonstrates a drill that focus on the timing of the kicks AND the timing of the transition from underwater fly kick to a breakout.
Mixed in with many new unique and creative drills are several modified versions of drills that many swimmers and coaches will already be familiar with. Stickels clearly explains the purpose of the drill, lists common mistakes swimmers make, and points out very subtle corrections that each of his demonstrators could make, leading to increased understanding for you of every level.
55 minutes (plus 17 minutes of Individual Medley technique). 2013.
MD-04390E: with Coley Stickels, 14x NCAA All American with University of Arizona;
has coached National Age Group record holders and Olympic Trials finalists
Mega Drills for Dryland Training is a refreshing mix of new and unique exercises mixed in with traditional exercises that include a challenging spin. In this series, Coley describes and demonstrates exercises with compound movements that are swimming specific. This concept gives the athlete a positive swimming focus for the exercises.
Much like in swimming, several body parts are moving at the same helping to develop overall body strength and develop explosive power in the swimmer. With an emphasis on core stability and increasing swimming strength Mega Dryland Drills takes a unique approach to not only increasing strength but also increasing athleticism for the advanced swimmer.
Warm Up:
Coley demonstrates several dynamic exercise series. These exercises are done in low repetitions and are mostly swimming specific. They include push-ups, somersaults, squats and core development exercises.
Dynamic Exercises:
In this segment, the emphasis is on push-ups and upper body strength. Coley describes over 50 different exercises that require low reps. These exercises are designed for the athlete to be quick, reactive and explosive with their entire body.
- Push Up series - 8 different advanced ways to do push ups. Core stabilization, quick and light hands and explosiveness are the emphasis.
- Pull up series - 16 different ways to do advanced pull ups. This series is an advanced way to do pull ups and has a plyometric focus on the lats, forearm and core strength, providing good muscle variation.
- Jungle Gym dryland strap series - With nearly 15 multi dimensional exercises, Coley incorporates different exercises from rehab based to multiple compound plyometric exercises. Many of the exercises with the straps mimic swimming in the water, requiring stabilization, balance and multiple muscle groups working together. A stronger swimmer is a faster swimmer.
- Cord Series - 9 with Multi-planer compound movements. Not the traditional swimming exercises for stretch cords. Incorporates MMA style exercises
- Plyometric and Agility Series - 3 Key is to keeping it elastic to allow the athlete to jump high. Lastly Coley takes many of the exercises previously demonstrated and puts them together in an agility series. By using 12 different exercises, Coley has created a total body circuit consistent with his vision of compound movements for increased total body strength and power.
61 minutes. 2013.