FREESTYLE TECHNIQUE - August 16

Cultivating good habits for high-level freestyle swimming should begin as soon as you learn the stroke. Even if you started swimming later in life, it’s never too late to practice techniques that will drastically improve your efficiency, power, and times. In today’s session, you will work on techniques to strengthen your bodyline, catch, kick, pull, and breathing pattern.

• BODYLINE: A freestyle race is going to be fastest with the proper bodyline. Even the slightest adjustment of the chin, neck, and/or back can make a huge difference. As swimmers mature in the sport and grow physically, their body position shifts and often bad habits are created. Participants will learn and practice proper posture and engagement of their core to have a strong foundation for better technique - creating a full-body connection for more hydrodynamic and efficient strokes.
• ROTATION: Freestyle is fastest and most efficient when a swimmer’s body is “rotating” around their spine with each stroke. This part of swimming freestyle has a big effect on maintaining a proper bodyline. Participants will practice activating their core muscles to form a powerful connection from head to toe with every stroke.
• KICKING: A swimmer’s kick is the motor behind their freestyle! There are obviously proper and improper ways to kick which we will review at the camp. Just as important, however, is practicing the complexities of how and when swimmers need to “shift gears” in their legs to become stronger and faster racers.
• PULL: The pull in freestyle keeps a swimmer balanced and accelerating forward. This is a skill that needs cultivation throughout all swimmers’ careers. Having an early vertical forearm “catch” enables a swimmer to put immediate pressure back on the water. Properly completing the stroke keeps the swimmer moving forward efficiently. The later the “catch” or not “finishing” the stroke has a negative impact on a swimmer’s bodyline and speed.

Since much of the stroke occurs underwater, it's crucial to see what’s happening beneath the surface. Small adjustments to your stroke can lead to significant improvements! This is your chance to capture high-quality footage of your stroke, receive expert analysis, and review it with your coach for further insights. Your video will be analyzed by elite swim coach, Todd Schmitz!

• YOUR ELITE STROKE ANALYZER: Olympic Coach Todd Schmitz has honed his expertise in providing meticulous feedback and detailed video analysis of strokes and races. Now, he's bringing that same level of precision and personalized guidance to you. Get ready for a transformative experience as Todd Schmitz elevates your performance with individualized stroke analysis and insightful feedback, just as he has done for the nation's top swimmers.
• ANALYSIS: Our Fitter and Faster expert will use a video analysis application to record their comments on your technique. They will use slow motion, pause the video at specific points, and draw on the swimmer's video all while explaining where opportunities for improvement are. Each stroke will have approximately 3 to 5 minutes of expert commentary that you can review with your coaches at home!
• DRILL RECOMMENDATIONS: You will receive recommendations for drills to correct the technique of each swimmer.
• SIGN UP: Select to have one stroke filmed. Or, SAVE by choosing to have all four strokes filmed. The "multi-stroke options" are for individual swimmers and cannot be split.
• ARRIVING AT THE POOL (Retain your order number): You will receive an e-mail approximately one week before the filming session with the specific time for your swimmer to check in, warm up, and be filmed. Please retain your order number - this is how swimmers will be identified on that schedule. When you arrive at the pool, you will be greeted by Fitter & Faster staff who will provide you instructions on the filming process.
• WARM UP: Participants will have an opportunity to warm up before filming.
• FILMING: Our camera operator will have you swim two 25s at a strong pace of each stroke purchased (1 stroke or all 4 strokes). The filming of each stroke will take about three minutes. The video will capture a side angle and a front angle below the water to get an accurate view of your technique.
• SESSION LEGNTH: Depending on the number of strokes you are getting recorded, your session time will run between 5 and 15 minutes.
• TIMELINE: All videos will be analyzed and returned within 14 days of the camp. The analyzed videos along with the original video will be sent via email for you to keep!