Charlie Hall, a junior at high school, has recently uncovered his passion for swimming. As the son of Gary Hall Jr., a 10-time Olympic medalist, and the grandson of renowned coach Gary Hall Sr., Charlie is brimming with potential.

Olympian Dylan Carter, a formidable sprinter in the highly competitive 50-meter Butterfly and Freestyle events, collaborates with esteemed Coach Gary Hall Sr for an in-depth analysis of his swimming technique. As a world-class athlete aiming for perfection, Dylan sought to refine minor aspects of his stroke that could significantly enhance his speed. Coach Gary, utilizing advanced Smart Paddle technology, meticulously examined Dylan’s pulling motion in both the Butterfly and Freestyle strokes. This cutting-edge technology provides detailed insights into the biomechanics of swimming, allowing for precise adjustments.

Olympian Dylan Carter takes a deep dive into his Velocity Meter Studies alongside Race Club head coach Gary Hall Sr. This collaboration is part of Dylan’s meticulous preparation for the Paris Olympics, where every millisecond counts. In his quest to perfect his start, Dylan visited us with the aim of refining this critical phase of his race.

Hybrid freestyle is a swimming technique that stands out due to its asymmetrical stroke cycle, where one hand remains extended in front longer than the other. This method is favored by some of the fastest swimmers globally, particularly in the 100 and 200 freestyle events.

There’s no better chance to enhance your swimming speed than by mastering fast flip turns. After all, swimmers often make mistakes under the flags. At the Race Club, we employ a series of progressive drills to refine the flip turn technique.

At The Race Club, we specialize in teaching a unique swim technique called the spin turn. While many coaches rely on the traditional ‘elbow your brother, call your mother’ approach, our spin turn technique offers a dynamic alternative that harnesses the power of inertia.

In anticipation of the Olympic Games in Paris, Dylan Carter visited us to enhance his starting technique. Dylan ranks among the swiftest globally in the 50-meter butterfly and freestyle events.

At the Race Club we dedicate each session to a specific swimming stroke. The three most important aspects to a fast backstroke are stroke rate, stroke rate and stroke rate. However we want to ensure swimmers have a good technique that includes good rotation, the correct head position and pulling motion before working on stroke rate.

Brad Tandy transformed the swimming start technique, prompting the swimming world to reconsider the optimal use of the head, arms, and legs for a faster start. We had the privilege of collaborating with and learning directly from the man himself, and have been teaching his start technique ever since.

Understanding the importance of dolphin kicking in swimming can significantly impact your performance. While elite swimmers can execute a dolphin kick to 15 meters with incredible speed, it doesn’t necessarily mean this approach is suitable for everyone.

At the Race Club, we employ a variety of swim drills to develop an effective butterfly stroke technique. The butterfly stroke demands significant strength and endurance to achieve speed. It’s crucial for a swimmer to have a technique that conserves energy efficiently. To excel in the 100 and 200-meter butterfly events, a swimmer needs to breathe while maintaining an optimal technique, which involves a strong kick, a powerful arm recovery, and utilizing the neck’s full range of motion.

We conclude our Sprint Freestyle series working on the most important aspect, stroke rate.  It takes a lot of work and determination to be able to hold this stroke rate with good technique.  We use a test set of 25’s all out freestyle in order to determine a swimmer’s optimal stroke rate. 

In our third and final progression for our sprint freestyle technique we add two strokes to the 6 Kick One Stroke Drill.  As we build closer towards full stroke we want the swimmers to maintain a a quick and powerful core rotation coupled with an aggressive arm throw for each stroke. 

In the next progression of our Sprint Freestyle swim drills we are adding one stroke to the 6 Kick Body Rotation drill.   Once the swimmers learn how to rotate quickly adding one stroke allows them to feel the added propulsion from their powerful rotation. 

Sprint freestyle technique is different than other events.  In order to maximize speed for a 50 freestyle the swimmer is required to expend more energy leaving nothing in the tank. The swimmers are now ready to begin the 1st of 3 progression drills to learn how to set up a high octane recovery.    

Underwater freestyle is a great way to learn the importance of coupling motions.  In this challenge set the campers count their strokes for each timed 25.  Each progressive repetition they are to subtract 1 stroke and try to get faster.

At the Race Club we teach different swim techniques for specific events.  Sprint freestyle is unique because the swimmer should minimize oxygen intake as well as maximize propulsion.   In order to maximize velocity the recovering hand should be above the elbow.  We call this technique high octane freestyle. 

Olympian Matt Fallon visited us this past year to improve his breaststroke swimming technique.  One of the main reasons was to improve his breaststroke pullout.   There are 4 propulsive motions of the pullout and Coach Gary worked on each of them in order to get his breaststroke pullout faster. 

Leading up to the Olympic Trials Matt Fallon visited us at the Race Club.  We worked on some technique changes including his kick.  We’ve been working with Matt over the years and noticed from previous studies that Matt draws his feet too far forward during the breaststroke kick.  During his recent session with us, Coach Gary worked on a faster kick cycle time.  To achieve this Matt needs to kick back sooner than he is used.  We believe that Matt’s slow kick cycle time was contributing to a lack of coupling energy in his velocity.  Using Rebecca Soni’s favorite swim drill, the Piston Kick Matt learns how to release his kick quicker.  Although this may decrease propulsion in his kick, this increases velocity because it is timed with the strike phase of the pull.  

Coach Gary reviews the Smart Paddle and Velocity Meter studies with Olympian Matt Fallon and University of Penn head coach Mike Schnur.  In our  most recent session with Matt we worked on a few things that we believed would help him swim faster.  Matt was tested using our Smart Paddle and Velocity Meter technology.  In these tests we compared the changes we made in his swim technique to his old technique.  Coach Gary sits down with Matt and his coach Mike Schnur to review the results of the tests.  We believe these changes in his technique contributed to his amazing performance and American record at the Olympic Trials.

Matt Fallon is headed to Paris with a new American Record (2:06.54) at Olympic Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.   We’ve been working with Matt since he was a teenager and are so proud of his American Record and Olympic berth. 

In the 50 freestyle all elite swimmers use a stroke rate between 115 and 140 strokes per minute.  For most swimmers, they aren’t able to sustain this stroke rate without compromising their technique.  Dolphin kick freestyle is a great way to learn how to swim with a high stroke rate and maintain efficiency for high octane freestyle. 

After finishing our progression drills for low octane freestyle the campers swim full stroke for a set of 4 x 25’s. 

At the Race Club we use a series of progression drills to learn a low octane freestyle. 

World class Breaststroker Nick Mahabir has risen fast in the world rankings leading up to the Paris Olympics.

Matt Fallon recently visited the Race Club to work on his breaststroke swim technique. 

Setting goals is so important whether in swimming, school, business or in life in general.  At the Race Club we set goals for our swimmers by creating the perfect race. 

Gary Hall Sr sits down to interview 4 time Olympian Kasia Wilk Wasick to discuss her career in swimming.  We recently finished our video series featuring Kasia where we taught her the Brad Tandy start.  We made a tremendous amount of progress in our session and were proud to see Kasia in the lead at the first 25 in the 50 free last week at the World Championships in Doha.  She clocked her best time of a 23.94 to capture the Bronze medal behind American Kate Douglas (silver) and Sarah Sjostrom (gold)!   Kasia discusses her goals for the games in Paris and possibly 6th Olympic games in LA 28′.

We use dryland boxing in our strength training program that helps swimmers achieve their goals.  When we set goals at the Race Club we have a range of parameters that will achieve the ‘perfect’ race.  This includes stroke rate, swim technique, breathing pattern and splits.  Once we have the perfect race mapped out we practice on dryland.  Using the boxing gloves allows contact that will enhance the strength training aspect of this exercise.  It can also be done without gloves and contact.  This is a great exercise because it not only informs the swimmer physically but how to achieve their respective goal mentally.  

In our final video with 4 time Olympian Kasia Wilk Wasick we worked on the leg kick and putting the start all together. As with our previous exercises Kasia showed that she is a quick learner and demonstrates some great starts at the end of our session. 

In our first session with 4 time Olympian Kasia Wilk Wasick we worked on positioning on the blocks and the arms swing in the swimming start. Every swimmer progresses a little differently in learning the Brad Tandy start and it’s important to focus on one technique at a time. Find out how Kasia does with her hip lift as we get closer to putting it all together for a fast swimming start.

The fastest breaststrokers in the World are swimming at a stroke rate of 60 in the 100 meter breaststroke.  In order to swim at this high of a stroke rate one must have lightning fast breaststroke kick.  We gave Nick a breaststroke kick set designed to help him become more comfortable at a faster kick rate.    

We worked with 4 time Olympian Kasia Wilk Wasick on her swimming start.  In our first video, we performed a series of dryland exercises and flexibility tests.   In this video we begin our pool session with Kasia first showing us her ‘old’ start.  Coach Gary videos and then reviews each start with Kasia progressively working on techniques that can be improved.  Initially Kasia’s first dives she has her weight forward that doesn’t allow for a coupling motion with the arm swing. 

Performing the Brad Tandy start requires explosive movement in the lower back, hamstring and shoulders.  Before teaching our athletes this start we use a series of dryland exercises to warm up those muscle groups.

In our final progression of the freestyle flip turn the swimmers put it all together.  Coach Gary leads the campers through their final progression by having them approach and breakout into a mid pool flip with no fins.  We break it down into two progressions; the approach and the breakout.  This allows the swimmer to focus on each element rather than trying to learn it all at once. 

Kasia Wilk Wasick is the fastest female Polish swimmer in history and is going for her 5th Olympic Games in Paris 2024.  She recently swam her lifetime best in the 50 freestyle and is looking to medal at the Olympic Games in Paris next year.  She has a great chance of doing so and came to us recently to work on her swimming start. 

the swimmers will swim into the wall perform a flip turn, push off, three dolphin kicks, three strokes into another mid pool flip. The coach times from when the feet leave the wall to when the swimmer flips with the goal of being under 3.25 seconds. This requires not only an aggressive breakout but also good timing and positioning on the flip turn.

18 year old Nick Mahabir is one of the fastest breaststrokers in the world. He has incredible anatomical tools that allows him to get maximal propulsion from his kick. At the Race Club we use a series of dryland flexibility exercises to test these anatomical tools.

In this second progression they learn how to breakout. One of the key swim techniques to a good breakout is initiating the dolphin quick immediately. Many swimmers are taught to glide off the wall that results in a slow breakout. Coach Gary leads the campers through a fun competition where the campers are timed from the time their feet leave the wall until they complete 3 dolphin kicks, 3 strokes and a mid pool flip.

In this final round of the flip turn approach progression the swimmers put it all together. In the first three rounds we isolate different parts of a fast approach to the flip turn. Once the swimmers have mastered each round they are ready to put it all together in round 4.

Using our velocity meter and smart paddle technology we tested Nick’s breaststroke. The first tests we did were to find out his optimal kick rate for breaststroke.  Using a kickboard, tempo trainer and snorkel we tested 3 kick rates.  This is key to finding the optimal stroke rate in breaststroke and Nick showed us some interesting results.  Learn how Nick did in our test of 3 key kick rates in breaststroke.

In our next sequence of swim drills for Flip Turns we practice the flip while being completely submerged. This drill forces the swimmer to engage the core throughout the entire flip. Many swimmers let gravity do the work for them by allowing their core to relax once they initiate the flip.

At the Race Club we use a progression of swim drills to teach the freestyle flip turn.  There are many facets to a fast flip turn that requires breaking down the turn with the approach, the flip, the push off and the breakout. 

Breaststroke Dolphin Kick is a great way to learn the coupling motions of breaststroke.  Using fins and dolphin kick allows the swimmer to make a quick and aggressive movement of the head surging forward.  This is a critical technique in fast breaststroke that is often under utilized.

Breaststroke is the only ‘stop and go’ stroke. That means for a brief period of time the swimmer comes to a complete stop before entering the propulsive phase. That is why breaststroke requires precise coupling motions and streamline. Most swimmers know the 2 Kick 1 Pull but at the Race Club we use this drill to improve the streamline on both ends.

Most swimmers have a faster backstroke dolphin kick than butterfly. Maggie MacNeil’s best stroke is butterfly however her dolphin kick is so fast that she is the 50 Short Course Meters Backstroke world record holder.

Pointing the toes at the end of the breaststroke kick is critical in order to maximize propulsion in breaststroke technique. We see so many swimmers that let their feet hang after finishing their kick that creates a ton of drag. Since breaststroke is a stop and go stroke it’s so important to maintain your speed as much as possible.

At the Race Club we use this set of kicking to assess our swimmers breaststroke technique.  There are 4 components we measure in breaststroke; kick propulsion, kick cycle time, how well you hold speed and pull propulsion.

To race well, swimmers need to practice close to race pace. In this Race Club video, you will see one of the test set we use for butterfly, preparing our swimmers for the 100 meter butterfly. Doing repeat short swims with short rest, holding the target stroke rate and speed, while maintaining good technique is the key to a successful test set. Some of the swimmers do well in the set and others struggle during the set, which is an indicator of the need for more aerobic fitness. Use test sets like this butterfly set to help you know where you stand and to get ready for your fastest race of the season!

Mikita Tsmyh competed in the 2016 and 2021 Olympics for Belarus and has an outstanding backstroke swim technique. We had the opportunity to work with Mikita using our Smart Paddle and Velocity Meter technology.  While Mikita has a very good coupling motions, stroke rate, head and body position in his backstroke swim technique we found room for improvement in his pulling motion.

To improve your technique in swimming butterfly, learn to utilize two important coupling motions: the head snapping down after the breath and the arms swinging forward aggressively during the recovery. In this video we highlight these two techniques using the freestyle kick butterfly drill with fins on, a drill we often use in our swimming camps.

One of our favorite swim drills for Butterfly is the Left Right Front drill. At the Race Club we use this drill to correct several common mistakes that swimmers make during butterfly technique.

Getting dolphin kick right is tricky, yet it is so important. Today, we consider dolphin kick to be the fifth stroke because it is used in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle and is extremely important on starts and turns.

Coach Gary Hall Sr reviews Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist Maggie MacNeil’s Smart Paddle study performed at the Race Club in Coronado, CA. Although famous for her Butterfly, Maggie recently broke the World Record in the 50 Short Course Meter Backstroke. With arguably one of the fastest underwater dolphin kick in the world, Maggie still has room for improvement in the Backstroke pulling technique. Maggie and her coach at Louisana State University Rick Bishop review the results of the Smart Paddle technology that measures vertical, lateral and propulsive forces in the hand throughout the pull. This technology combined with our Velocity Meter gives coaches the ultimate insight into the fastest technique in swimming.

Maggie MacNeil recently broke the world record in the 50 Short Course Meter Backstroke. While known for her Fly she has the capacity to be a Champion in backstroke as well. She is arguably the fastest dolphin kicker that makes for an outstanding advantage in Short Course. However she does have room for improvement on the pulling motion. Coach Gary analyzes Maggie using our Smart Paddle and Velocity Meter technology to find out exactly how much Maggie’s mistakes in the pull are costing her.

In this video Coach Gary goes over the results of Maggie MacNeil’s velocity and smart paddle test.  Maggie and her coach Rick Bishop join Gary Sr on a Skype and discuss the details of Maggie’s butterfly technique.  Using the Smart Paddles and Velocity Meter technology there is a lot to go over in each study especially when it is the World Record holder and Gold Medalist!  Learn the details of these studies and how Coach Gary believes Maggie can improve her already outstanding butterfly.

Maggie MacNeil is the Olympic and World Champion in the 100 meter butterfly.  We already know what an amazing dolphin kick she has from our recent analysis video. In this video Coach Gary analyzes Maggie’s Butterfly technique using our Smart Paddle and Velocity Meter technology.  For the first time we are able to see propulsion forces and how they relate to overall velocity.  Find out how Maggie’s butterfly technique is truly exemplary. 

In this video we compare two world class breaststroke swimmers Mike Alexandrov and Nikola Obravac. Coach Gary analyzes both swimmers using our velocity meter technology and found an astounding difference between the two swimmers.  Once the legs and arms are extended this is the most critical time during the breaststroke cycle.  Using Velocity Meter technology Coach Gary finds an astounding difference in these two swimmers.

In this video on the swimming turn technique,  Coach Gary Sr tests Olympic Gold Medalist Maggie MacNeil’s push off the wall to determine when to initiate the dolphin kick.  Coach Gary discusses using a glide-off-the-wall on turns versus no-glide-off-walls with Head Swimming Coach at LSU Rick Bishop and Olympic Games Champion Maggie MacNeil in detail. Like many coaches and swimmers, Rick and Maggie thought that the glide enabled swimmers to hold on to their speed better than taking an early dolphin kick.  Learn why this is not the case.

In teaching freestyle swimming technique at The Race Club, we often see swimmers gliding off the walls on their turns. The glide-off-turn technique is what many swimming coaches teach their swimmers to do. It is not the fastest way to do a freestyle, backstroke or butterfly turn. At our swim camps, we no longer teach swimmers to glide off walls. Instead, we have them start to kick right away.

In this featured video, Olympic champion Maggie MacNeil becomes the seventh swimmer we have tested at The Race Club using Velocity Meter technology, comparing a glide-off-wall with no-glide swimming techniques. All seven swimmers have achieved nearly identical results.

In this video, you will see unique side-by-side comparitive videos of Maggie using both techniques, with and without the VM technology. You will come to understand why the no-glide technique is the fastest way to leave the wall in swimming.

Maggie MacNeil is the fastest dolphin kicker that we have ever tested. She is the best in 11 of 17 parameters we use to test the dolphin kick. Coach Gary highlights 5 key swim techniques that makes her kick so extraordinary. Kick cycle time, knee bend, range of motion and hip flexion are the parameters that coach Gary reveals in this video.

There are 17 parameters we use to measure the Dolphin Kick. Olympic Gold Medalist Maggie MacNeil has the best results we’ve seen in 11 of those parameters. Coach Gary Hall Sr analyzes Maggie’s velocity meter data with Louisiana State University head coach Rick Bishop and Maggie. Even though Maggie has the fastest dolphin kick in the world Coach Gary finds a few areas to improve on.

Coach Gary Hall analyzes Maggie MacNeil’s swimming starts with LSU head coach Rick Bishop.  We tested Maggie’s start using her normal weight forward technique vs a weight back start.  We believe the true test of a start should be the time to 12 meters however this doesn’t mean the quickest off the block will be the fastest.  With the weight back start you sacrifice a bit of reaction time but if done efficiently can yield much higher velocity speed as the swimmer leaves the block and ultimately faster at 12 meters.  Most elite women use a weight forward start while the elite men typically use a weight back start.  Find out the difference in these two swimming starts with LSU head coach Rick Bishop, Maggie and Coach Gary Hall. 

We recently tested Olympic Gold Medalist Maggie MacNeil’s swimming start using our Velocity Meter technology. Maggie won the Gold Medal in the women’s 100 m butterfly at the Tokyo Olympic Games and most recently at the Commonwealth Games. She is known for coming home faster than any other swimmer in history. Maggie does have a good swimming start, but could use improvement. Like most elite female competitors, she uses a weight forward start. This requires more weight to the front foot and the center of mass to be positioned directly over the hands. The advantage of this start is typically a quicker reaction time off the blocks. We believe that the measure of a good start is not the reaction time, but the swimmer’s time to 12 meters. When done properly, a weight back start often is faster. We tested Maggie’s weight forward vs weight back start in this video.

Olympic Gold medalist Maggie MacNeil sits down with Coach Gary Hall Sr for the second part of our interview series. Maggie is the 100-fly favorite going into NCAA’s and the 2020 Olympics when NCAA’s is canceled. Recalling a speech that was given by University of Michigan Head Coach Mike Bottom that encouraged her that she could turn something so upsetting and unexpected into something good, Maggie was optimistic about the changes. After returning home to Canada in fear of border closures, Maggie learned that the 2020 Olympics has been postponed. Maggie challenged herself in the face of adversity and found a way to better herself. Through dryland training and swimming in her “13-meter kidney bean-shaped pool” Maggie never gave up.

The following year Maggie returned to the University of Michigan and continued to train under her coach Rick Bishop. Maggie was provisionally nominated for the Olympics allowing her to stay at Michigan and compete at NCAA’s.  Going into the Tokyo Olympic 100 fly finals Maggie was seeded sixth and walked home with the Olympic gold medal after defeating Sarah Sjostrom and becoming an Olympic champion! Maggie returned this year to win gold at the commonwealth games and moved to train at LSU. She will train under Rick Bishop and compete in her last year of eligibility. Maggie is setting herself up for the best by focusing on her swimming career while also preparing for what is to come in life after swimming.

Interview Part 1 of 2: https://theraceclub.com/video/maggie-macneil-i…view-part-1-of-2/

Olympic Gold Medalist Maggie MacNeil sits down with Gary Hall Sr to discuss her swimming career.  Maggie began swimming as a child in London Ontario and visited the The Race Club a few times between the ages of 13 and 15.  Coach Gary immediately recognized a unique talent in Maggie and she excelled rapidly placing 6th in the 100 Fly at the Canadian Olympic Trials in 2016.  Maggie began her collegiate career at the University of Michigan led by Head Coach Mike Bottom.  Maggie trained under Rick Bishop and continued to excel winning NCAA’s and shocking the World at the 2019 World Championships in defeating Sarah Sjostrom for the gold medal.   In this part 1 of 2 interview Coach Gary and Maggie discuss her path from an early age in Canada to the World Championships.

After working on dolphin kick and sculling drills with Max, we are ready to practice full stroke breaststroke for the 200 Individual Medley or a 46 Stroke Rate.  At the Race Club we spend a lot of time on stroke rate using tools such as the tempo trainer and stroke rate stop watches.  Once we figure out what the swimmer’s optimal stroke rate will be, we practice those rates repeatedly.  Generally speaking, 46 strokes per minute is the ideal stroke rate and is what the goal is for Max during this leg of the IM. Previously Max has been in the high 30’s for his stroke rate so it will be quite a bit faster.  We see so many swimmers going out with too fast or too slow of a tempo so we continually practice sets tuning up our stroke rate count.   This will ultimately lead the swimmer to setup the perfect race.

Coach Gary and Olympic hopeful Max Seidel continue working on Breaststroke with Max’s own scull drill.  At the Race Club we like to ask our swimmers what are some of their favorite swim drills.  After working on the dolphin kick breaststroke drill Max describes a similar scull  drill that emphasizes a wide catch and powerful ‘shoot’ forward.   Coach Gary adds the Race Club twist by adding more emphasis to the height and power of the head recovery.  We like this drill so much that we’ve been using it with great success in swimmers that aren’t comfortable with these coupling motions.

For many Individual Medley swimmers Breaststroke is their weakest leg.  Swiss Olympic hopeful Max Seidel needs to improve his breaststroke and backstroke legs in order to have a shot at Paris 2024.  Coach Gary’s preliminary analysis of Max’s strokes was too slow of a stroke rate and not enough coupling motion with his head.  A great way to teach swimmers to improve both of these problems is using the breaststroke with dolphin kick drill.  Many swimmers, like Max don’t use their head as a weapon by simply laying it down as they enter the recovery phase.  In order to learn how much energy you can actually put into this motion, Coach Gary uses fins with this drill that allows Max to both get higher and feel the power of his newly learned coupling motion. 

Swiss Olympic hopeful in the 200 Individual Medley, Max Seidel needs to improve his backstroke more than any other leg. We spent a lot of time working on swim drills that teach bending the elbow more for the pull and finally stroke rate. In this set of 4 x 25 Max improves on each one using the same stroke rate. This means each 25 he uses the coupling motions he learned (rotation and recovery) in a more effective way that shows in the amount of rotation and elbow bend he creates. If Max can swim like he does on the last 25 of this set, he’s got a great chance for Paris!

In our previous videos with Max learned the pulling motion and body rotation in backstroke.  Now it’s time to learn stroke rate with the 6 Kick 3 Stroke drill. As we initially discovered, Max’s main problems in backstroke are a slow stroke rate and wide pull. Now that he knows the proper mechanics of the pull we slowly introduce stroke rate using this swim drill. Coach Gary then teaches Max the dolphin kick backstroke drill that forces the swimmer into a faster stroke rate.   These two drills in sequence are a great way to teach someone that is struggling to improve their stroke rate in backstroke.

Coach Gary continues the Backstroke session with Max working on the backstroke pull.  In our previous video, Max learned the body rotation drill using only his core to rotate from side to side.  Now that Max understands how much more he has to rotate his core Coach Gary uses a series of 2 swim drills to incorporate the arms.  In the first drill or the backstroke extension drill, we rotate the arm as high as possible.   While this drill focus is on the arm recovery, doing it correctly it forces the opposite arm into an ideal vertical position for the backstroke pull.  Following this drill, Max does a sculling one arm drill that focuses on ‘breaking the arm’ or keeping the hand close to the body during the pull while the opposite arm continues to lift up and backwards through the recovery.

Swiss Olympic hopeful Max Seidel needs to improve his backstroke in order to have a chance at the Olympic games in Paris.  The backstroke is his weakest leg.  Watching Max’s race videos from the past Coach Gary immediately recognized too slow of a stroke rate and not enough rotation.  Like Max, many swimmers have this same problem in backstroke.  One of the best swim drills to solve both of these problems is the body rotation drill.  In this swim drill the arms are taken out of the equation.  The swimmer is to rely solely  on his rotation and kick to propel through the water.   Once a swimmer can recognize the key abdominal muscles utilized to increase rotational speed, you will not only have more rotation but also a faster stroke rate.  This is one of the most important swim drills for a fast backstroke and freestyle.

Using the right butterfly swim technique in the individual medley is critical. Many swimmers will use too slow of stroke rate without breathing enough. This not only leads to not getting out fast enough but also not having the aerobic capacity to finish strong. In this video, Coach Gary works with Swiss Olympic hopeful Max Seidel on his best butterfly swim. In order for Max to be in the race after the butterfly leg, he needs to get his stroke rate up, increase coupling motion and breath more.

The freestyle kick butterfly drill is a great way to work on the ‘head throw’ in Butterfly. Most swimmers don’t emphasize this critical technique in Butterfly (and Breaststroke) resulting in not only a slower stroke rate but a less powerful pull and kick. Using a freestyle kick during butterfly allows the swimmer to feel the ‘surge’ one gets from ‘throwing the head down’ as hard as a Martial Artist breaks a board with their head. Timing this head throw will ultimately lead to more efficient and faster swim.

In this session Coach Gary and Max work on the butterfly leg of a 200 Individual Medley. Analyzing Max’s stroke Coach Gary identified two swim techniques to work on. First Max’s stroke rate is too slow and second his entry is too wide. Using these swim drills with an emphasis on coupling motions of butterfly Max learns what exactly he needs to work on.

Sprint Freestyle has less variation in technique than any other race because it’s the shortest distance. We do see different head positions in this event. From Pernile Blume with her head down to Caeleb Dressel with his head slightly tilted forward each swimmer has to find their sweet spot. There is no better way to measure this using Velocity Meter technology. In this session we work with Brad and Payton on getting them comfortable with the range of head positions. Stay tuned as we will test what the difference in velocity exactly was in their sprint freestyle head positions.

We have broken down 5 of the dryland exercises included in this Race Club Circuit so now it’s time to give the entire sequence a go! Each station is 1:00 minute on and :30 seconds off and you can customize the workout with any variety/modification of dryland exercises. Since we began in 2003, we have seen a tremendous impact on swimmers who utilize a similar type of Circuit in their training schedule in the pool and just as important a new found and fresh enthusiasm for the sport.

Learn the movements for the warmup exercise for the strength training for swimmers routine that Coach Coley Stickels of Indiana University Men’s and Women’s swim team uses for their specific dryland training needs. This is the first in a series of the progression of different strength training exercises that Coach Coley implements exclusively in Lanes 3 and 4.

Swiss Olympic hopeful Max Seidel is ready to try out his new individual medley freestyle technique.  After a series of drills Max has shown that he can achieve greater coupling motion focusing on an elevated core, high octane recovery and extended recovery technique.  In this set of 4 x 25’s Coach Gary challenges Max to achieve a 90 stroke rate using these swim techniques.  For the individual medley we believe it is optimal for Max to use a hybrid freestyle at 90 strokes per minute.  He is used to swimming around 80 strokes a minute with a low/medium octane.  His freestyle leg has been his weakest leg in his IM.  Find out how Max does with his new technique.

Swim coaches and swimmers often overlook how to hold your core while swimming even though it can make a huge difference in your speed.  At the Race Club we believe a swimmer should tuck their belly in by engaging the lower lumbar while swimming.  This can be achieved by laying on the flat ground and ‘pressing’ your lower flat to the ground.  In Yoga and Pilates this ‘core’ concept is key to the movement and exercises taught and for good reason.  We love core balance exercises that Coach Coley Stickels has taught us in our previous dryland series.  In this video Coach Gary and Max teach each other some core balance exercises that are done in the pool with a kickboard and pull buoy that teaches the swimmer how to hold the core in swimming.

Swiss Olympic hopeful Max Seidel is learning a new extended recovery technique for his freestyle. When using this technique swimming slow we call it the Stop and Pop drill. In our previous episode with Max, he practiced the 6 Kick 1 Stroke drill focusing on the extended recovery. Before we try swimming this technique at fast speeds Coach Gary teaches Max the Stop and Pop drill that requires slow or warmup speed swimming. This allows the swimmer to keep focus on the critical moment when the hand starts to drive forward and up during the recovery.

David Popovicci has shown the world how effective an extended recovery in freestyle can be.  Instead of driving the hand into the water, Popovicci holds his hand above the water for as long as possible before entering.  This creates a quick and powerful shoulder rotation that leads to a faster pull and kick.  In this video Coach Gary teaches the extended recovery to Swiss Olympic hopeful Max Seidel.  Using the 6 kick 1 Stroke swim drill Max gets comfortable with this technique before moving on to full stroke.

In our first session with Max, Coach Gary identified the problems with each of his 4 strokes for the Individual Medley. In freestyle and backstroke his lack of rotation and stroke rate is causing the biggest weakness in his Individual Medley.  Once Max is warmed up with a kicking set, we begin right away with a test set of underwater freestyle.   This set is a great way demonstrate how powerful this ‘coupling motion’ in freestyle and backstroke is.  Find out how Max improves on this classic test set. 

Sculling swim drills can be a great way to improve your swim technique. In our introduction to Max Seidel coach Gary identified the problems to work on for their private sessions. When working in a private session we like to have the swimmer show us some of their favorite swim drills. This not only helps us learn new drills but we often modify or alter the drill to work towards our goals. Like many world class swimmers and coaches, Max’s favorites were sculling drills. These drills are great for any age/level of swimmer. They allow the swimmer to slow down and feel the water. Through practice these drills will make you a much faster swimmer.

Max Seidel is taking a year off from school at Princeton to train with renowned coach David Marsh at Team Elite in San Diego.  Max is competing for Switzerland and is focused on the 200 Individual Medley , hoping to qualify for the Olympic Team in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.    After watching Max train and seeing some of his race videos, Coach Gary put together a series of swim drills for each stroke that emphasize the technique we want Max to use.  Follow along our Individual Medley series with Max as we explore swim drills for each stroke that will help Max achieve his goals!

In our first video we introduce Max and analyze his strokes before our session began.  Coach Gary identifies the ‘problems’ he sees in his technique and prioritizes those for the upcoming sessions.

There are many facets to a great swimming start. One of the most important being the hip lift just before entry. Timing the ‘hip lift’ is quite nuanced and can make the difference between a poor, or great start. We have found running dives to be the best and fastest way to learn the hip lift. We worked with 5 different athletes that each made common mistakes in the running dive. This allows the athlete to understand what they need to work on in order to improve their swimming start. We are fortunate to practice at a pool that allows us to perform running dives safely so please follow your pool rules and practice safely.

We advocate a ‘core lift’ while swimming freestyle.  Using our drag pressure meter, Coach Gary measured the difference between a relaxed core and a lifted core.  This core lift is often taught in Yoga where the lower lumbar is flattened to the floor while laying on your back.  Naturally the lower lumbar is lifted in this position and takes work in order to get comfortable with a flat back.  In this video we demonstrate core lift exercises that will allow you to understand and improve this critical movement.  Gary then analyzes Olympic Sprint Freestyler Brad Tandy using a velocity meter analysis.  Find out what the difference between a ‘relaxed core’ and a ‘lifted core’ is!

In our final Breaststroke video with Noah Snyder Coach Gary helps Noah find his ‘sweet spot’ for his breaststroke stroke rate.  We see the fastest 100 meter  breaststrokers on both the men’s and women’s side with stroke rates near 60.  This is a technique that requires an incredible amount of kick speed and lower lumbar flexibility and strength.  In Noah’s case he is able to find higher stroke rates that are efficient using the late breath breaststroke.  Whether you use a late breath breaststroke or not, finding your optimal stroke rate should be a key part of your training program throughout the season.  

In this video on the breaststroke pullout Gary Sr teaches the late breath technique for the pullout. Combining this technique with the hyper streamline on the breakout can be much more efficient than using a normal breakout. Once you learn the nuance of a late breath breaststroke in this series, you can apply this technique to the pullout for maximum efficiency during the most critical part of a breaststroke race.

Noah is now ready for the Main Set during his Late Breath Breaststroke session with Coach Gary.  After learning dryland exercises and swim drills it’s time to put Noah to the test with this aerobic breaststroke set designed by outstanding swimmer and coach Jeremy Lin.  Jeremy was on the 96 Olympic 4×100 medley relay Gold medal team along with Gary Hall Jr!  This set is designed to improve leg speed and stroke cycle time that is a lot easier said than done.  Find out what this set entails and how Noah’s first go at this set is like!

Coach Gary Hall Sr worked with breaststroker Noah Snyder on improving his late breath breaststroke. In our previous videos we taught Noah some dryland exercises and swimming drills that help emphasize the late breath. We then tested Noah with his new and improved technique and in this video Coach Gary breaks down his Velocity Meter analysis.

Noah is progressing through a series of swim drills to help him improve his late breath breaststroke.  In our last video, Noah did a series of 25’s dolphin drill where he kept improving on his late breath technique.  Now he is ready for the 2 Kick Down drill.  In this classic swim drill, the emphasis is on a quick kick and a longer time in the breaststroke streamline.  After this drill coach Gary Sr. breaks down our newest technology the smart paddle of Noah’s breaststroke.  

After dryland exercises and sculling drills Coach Gary teaches Noah the late breath breaststroke using the dolphin drill.  Because this technique requires a high velocity of the up and down movement  we begin with a normal technique and progress to a late breath technique.  It’s important to develop this skill slowly in order to maintain efficiency.  Holding the head underwater reduces frontal drag by a significant amount so in theory a late breath breaststroke will be faster than an early breath however being comfortable with this technique requires a lot of flexibility and timing.  Most swimmers know the dolphin drill but coaching this in a way that emphasizes a fast up and down movement creates a whole new dimension to it.

One of the key components to a fast late breath breaststroke is keeping the head under water for as long as possible. At first this will feel counter intuitive so we designed swim drills to help with this technique. Noah Snyder first learns the delayed timing of the head lift on deck before getting in the pool. Once he’s warmed up we introduce scull drills to help keep the head down while the hands engage the pull.

Internal rotation of the hip is one of the most important aspects of a fast breaststroker.  At the Race Club, we like to measure the distance between the breaststroker’s bum and the ground in what is referred to as the ‘W’ sit.  If you are able to get your bum 1″ or less to the ground you  have the tools to be a fast breaststroker.  This is a unique attribute to a breaststrokers because most freestyle, backstroke and butterfliers have poor internal hip rotation.  We recommend a yoga block between your bum and the ground for these ‘mortal’ swimmers.  Once we measure the distance we have the swimmer go through a 10-10-10 stretch where each set of 10 is from a slightly different position.  After performing this static stretch you should see considerable improvement!  The key is to take the time and be consistent with this stretch. 

We recently worked with 20 year old breaststroker Noah Snyder.  Noah uses a late breath technique that we will highlight throughout this video series.  In order to use this technique effectively one must use a powerful and timely kick.  One of the keys to a fast kick is ankle pronation.  Ankle pronation involves the ability to dorsi flex or pull the toes towards the head.  Eversion or the ability to flex the foot to the side.  And abduction or the ability to lift the edge of the foot.  Of these three elements, dorsi flexion and eversion have the greatest impact on technique.  Learn key stretches for these two critical muscle groups in the foot that will allow you to swim a faster breaststroke.

Belarus Olympian Artyom Machenkin has been working with Coach Gary Hall Sr on his freestyle pull. One thing Coach Gary noticed is that Artyom had a slight outsweep with one of his pulling hands. In this smart paddle and velocity meter analysis Coach Gary goes over the consequences for this small but critical mistake.

The 100 freestyle is one of the most challenging events on the swimming schedule. To swim well, it requires speed, power and endurance.   Olympian freestyler Artyom Machekin has worked with Coach Gary through a series of dryland exercises, swim drills and sets to setup his analysis study.  Artyom showcases a 100 freestyle swim technique with  not only a fast stroke rate but also an efficient swimming pull.  Coach Gary  providing an analysis using Velocity Meter and Smart Paddle technology breaks down the difference between dorsi flexing the finish of the pull vs an early release pull. 

Now that Artyom has learned how to finish the pull using a series of dryland exercises and swim drills, Coach Gary puts him to the test. Artyom learns quickly that it is not easy to maintain a high stroke rate with this technique. Find out how he does practicing his 50 freestyle swim technique.

Coach Gary Hall Sr analyzes Olympian Artyom Machekin’s 50 Freestyle swim technique. This new and exciting technology measures the force from the pulling hand in three different directions. Combining this technology with the Velocity Meter we are able to further our understanding of the most effective pulling motion.

In this video we go back to the “lab” to test backstroke arm pull strength. Does using a bent arm provide a stronger pulling motion than a straight arm? Although we at The Race Club feel confident a bent arm pulling motion is stronger, we asked Israeli backstroker David Gamburg to help us prove it.

After testing both David’s straight and bent backstroke arm pull, we can confirm our original theory. The bent arm showed stronger results in all three of our measures when compared to the straight arm pull. David’s average velocity increased by three percent and his stroke rate by eight percent. Not only that, but his average peak acceleration increased by an impressive 43 percent! 

For us, it makes perfect sense. Bending the elbow early allows swimmers to push water backwards for a long period of time. Using a straight arm pulling motion cuts down the amount of time water is being pushed back dramatically. Using this type of backstroke arm pull isn’t easy. It requires great shoulder rotation and most importantly, lots of practice.

Coach Gary gives an aerobic swim set designed for the freestyle pulling motion to Olympian Arty Machenkin.  Earlier, Arty practiced the freestyle pulling motion on dryland first and has learned an important sculling drill to help him pull more efficiently. In this video Arty is put to the test with a grueling set of 10×50’s freestyle at 100 freestyle pace with a surprise twist!  

As we continue the freestyle pull session with Artyom Machekin, Coach Gary teaches a swim progression using the FINIS ISO paddles. This progression is designed to get the most out of each phase of the underwater pull. Although these drills are technical, they allow the swimmer to realize the maximal efficiency for each phase of the underwater pull. Recently Coach Gary discovered emphasizing the back end of the pull can result in total velocity even though it may decrease stroke rate.  Artyom learned this technique using dryland exercises.  After his warmup, Artyom is now learning how to pull in the pool using this swim progression.

After performing some dryland exercises Artyom warmups with Coach Gary. Whenever we approach a workout it’s a good idea to implement drills and exercises that incorporate that technique. In our first video, Coach Gary discusses how to finish the pull by dorsee flexing the wrist through the back end of the pull cycle. Learn how we continue this ‘freestyle pull series’ as we warmup.

We recently worked with Belarus Olympian Artyom Machekin on the freestyle pulling motion.  Artyom competed for Belarus in the Tokyo Olympics clocking a personal best in the 100 free 48.6.   Since working with Olympian Brad Tandy, Coach Gary discusses his new findings on the Freestyle pulling motion and how to achieve the most out of the pull.  Before we enter the pool Artyom does some freestyle simulation and dryland exercises on deck in order to understand this swim technique. 

At the Race Club we see a lot of swimmers that have an out sweep in freestyle. This swim technique mistake is more common than an in sweep but we do see a lot of both problems. We have found the FINIS Iso Paddle to be a great tool to correct the out sweep. The design of this product creates resistance in either an out sweep or in sweep pulling motion that allows the athlete to understand how to pull correctly. Check out how Gary Sr works with the Race Club Campers that all had a problem ‘out sweeping’ in their freestyle swim technique.

In this final installment of our Breaststroke Pullout video series, Sam and Chloe put it all together.  Throughout the series we’ve learned the timing of a proper pullout, dryland exercises and swim drills to improve key elements in the pullout.  Becasue there are so many moving parts to a good pullout, we’ve found this to be the best approach to teaching this technique.  Coach Gary Sr. finishes this session with Sam and Chloe by practicing the full breaststroke pullout.  Thanks for watching!  

Sam and Chloe need some fine tuning before we practice our full pullouts.  We use a variety of swim drills that are specific to each of the 4 parts of a pulldown.  First we find the right amount of undulation in the dolphin kick.  This is also helpful for all of the other strokes!  A lot of swimmers believe they undulate enough but using this swim drill will help them realize they may not.  And lastly we have some fun with the long belt slider.  This will emphasize how important hunched shoulders are after the pulldown. 

Sam and Chloe have learned on dry land how to do a perfect breaststroke pullout.  Using dryland drills to improve the mechanics and timing of the breaststroke pullout, Sam and Chloe are now ready to practice in the pool.  We begin this pullout workout with a warmup using double pullouts on every other wall.  Once they are warmed up Coach Gary teaches Sam and Chloe some of the nuances to a powerful breaststroke kick that they both need help improving.

Sam and Chloe begun their swimming lesson with a warmup and kick set and now begin working on the ‘late lift’.  The late lift should be used both in swimming and during the breakout of the breaststroke pullout.  No one demonstrates this technique better than South African Gold Medalist Tatiana Shoemaker in the 200 meter breaststroke.  We believe that initiating the pull while the head remains down will reduce frontal drag and maximize the most propulsive phase of the breaststroke pull.  In this video Coach Gary Sr teaches Sam and Chloe the dolphin kick breaststroke drill, also known as cobra breaststroke.  This is a great drill that teaches many valuable lessons for a fast breaststroke.

In this video world class swimmers Aaron Greenberg and Artyom Machekin do their final kick set for their training session at the Race Club. So far they have completed a variety of kicking challenges and at this point are pretty tired but they must put on drag socks that makes kicking extremely difficult for the last set…

In this Velocity Meter study we examine 10 year old Stone Miller from Hawaii who demonstrates 2 different types of streamlines. Find out exactly how much of a difference a good streamline can make!

After the push-off, the pulldown is usually the most propulsive part of the breaststroke pullout. However, there are crucial mistakes swimmers make that either cause them to lose propulsion or increase their drag. Coach Gary Hall Sr takes swimmers Sam and Chloe through some of these common mistakes in the video above.

The first mistake we see most swimmers doing is pulling too wide during the pulldown. Most swimmers imagine the pulldown as a breaststroke pulling motion, when instead it should resemble a butterfly pulling motion. This should include minimal out sweep while focusing on pushing the hands straight back.

Another mistake in the breaststroke pullout we see is how swimmers finish their pullout. What we typically see is the hands and arms finishing alongside the body with the shoulders flat. Instead, we advise swimmers to finish with the hands on top of their thighs with their shoulders hunched. This offers a body position that causes less frontal drag.

The third most common mistake we see is when swimmers draw their hands back up after the pulldown. Too many times we see them bringing their hands back up away from the bodyline, causing excessive drag. The hands and arms should be brought back up close to the body and following the bodyline as closely as possible. When the arms straighten, most will be tempted to finish in a superman position. Since we know the hyperstreamline position is the best one we can be in during the push-off, why not finish the breaststroke pullout also in hyperstreamline? We recommend this to all swimmers and hope you make the same change to your pullout.

Coach Gary Hall Sr explains the right amount of undulation, knee bend and hip flexion in the breaststroke pullout. We see a lot of mistakes being made during the dolphin kick. Over bending the knees is a common mistake we see. We’ve designed some simple dryland exercises that will allow the swimmer to understand the right amount of knee bend in the dolphin kick.

The push off during the Breaststroke pullout is arguably the most important piece of a good pullout.  In our introduction video Coach Gary Sr goes over the 4 elements of a breaststroke pullout; the push off, the dolphin kick, the pull down and the kick out.  In this video Coach Thomas teaches Sam and Chloe some dryland exercises to improve the breaststroke pullout. Coach Gary teaches them a proper hyper streamline that is optimal for the push off.

Your baseline speed is a good indication of how much you need to work on your kicking. Find out what your freestyle baseline speed is and how to improve it using this simple kick set.

The Breaststroke Pullout is a major part of every breaststroke race. We see so many swimmers doing things wrong and not getting the most out of the breaststroke pullout. There are 4 key components to a good pullout. The pushoff. The dolphin kick. The pull down. And the kick out. In this introduction video, high school swimmers Sam and Chloe learn the Race Club way on how to do a breaststroke pullout. Before they practice, Coach Gary Hall Sr goes over the perfect pullout and some mistakes to avoid. Sam and Chloe then practice the timing of a perfect pullout on deck.

In this velocity meter study coach Gary Hall Sr. analyzes Olympian Brad Tandy’s sprint freestyle technique.  Brad typically uses a deep pull and we wanted to find out what happened to his velocity when he used a slightly less deep pull.  While using a deeper pull creates more frontal drag, the sprint freestyle allows the athlete to make this compromise for a limited duration of time.  Since no one (world class) is swimming sprint freestyle with a high elbow pull the question is, how deep should the pull be?  

The swimming stroke rates for backstroke and freestyle are very similar. So are their fundamentals. For the 200 backstroke, the longest official distance of that stroke, we recommend using the 86 stroke rate.

Almost all the great swimmers use a similar pulling technique and stroke rate in swimming.  In order to achieve a higher stroke rate swimmers often recover the arm quicker by releasing the hand early.  Some coaches emphasize the ‘back end’ of the stroke or finishing the pull all the way through with the hand. The consequence can often lead to a more efficient stroke, but with a  stroke rate that is not fast enough. We tested Olympian Brad Tandy with an early release phase pull and an extended release phase pull to learn what the difference in stroke rate, velocity and acceleration that made some interesting results….

The fastest swimming technique in the Individual Medley swimming race is to use the backstroke to breaststroke crossover transition. At The Race Club, we have developed an excellent way for swimmers of all ages to learn this fast but tricky at first technique. Learn the five steps we take our Swim Campers through that makes this seemingly difficult turn, easy!

If you’re familiar with The Race Club, you know how much we preach the importance of high octane freestyle and a fast stroke rate for a 50 freestyle. It may not be the most efficient way to swim freestyle, but we believe it’s the fastest. However, sometimes just hearing something isn’t enough. That’s why we like to put these things to the test. With the help of elite sprinter Payton Sorenson, we were able to show that a high stroke rate combined with a high octane recovery is the best 50 freestyle technique.

The Tokyo 2021 Olympics proved that there are a variety of freestyle techniques used in different races.  The 100 freestyle showcased a wide variety of different freestyle techniques.  The 50 freestyle however remains dominated by a high octane freestyle technique.   We also call this a ‘vertical recovery’ in freestyle.  Recently Payton Sorensen who competed at the US Olympic Trials came to train with us for a few days.  We noticed that he had a medium/high octane with one arm and a medium octane with the other in his sprint freestyle technique.  While this technique contains many advantages for longer distances (100 and up) we wanted to see if this was the fastest technique for Payton in the 50.  In this video we teach Payton a high octane freestyle technique.  Next we will put Payton to the test with our Velocity Meter.  Stay tuned as we investigate the difference in these two freestyle techniques….

2021 Tokyo Olympian Brad Tandy recently visited the Race Club in San Diego to improve his freestyle swimming technique.  Coach Gary and Brad discussed how to breath in the 50 freestyle.  In our previous video on Breathing in Freestyle, Coach Gary Sr tested the drag difference between blowing bubbles during a hyper streamline and holding the air in.   The results of our drag study showed a 9.1% reduction when the bubbles were being exhaled.  In this video Coach Gary furthers his investigation into this technique using the Velocity Meter technology with Brad.  We also learn how the Emperor Penguins and Cruise Ships use this technique in their respective environments.  Find out if this swimming technique can make a difference and it may help you decide how to breath in your own race! 

Sprint freestyle technique vary greatly depending on the swimmer and which distance they are swimming. At The Race Club, we teach both a high elbow pull and a deeper pulling motion. We teach both because they both have their advantages and disadvantages. For mid to long-distance freestyle, we recommend using a high elbow pull. Although this is a weaker pull, it reduces frontal drag, making it more efficient and therefore suitable for longer distances. For sprint freestyle, a deeper pull should be used. While it isn’t as sustainable, it results in a stronger pull, giving swimmers maximum propulsion. Watch as Coach Gary takes Olympian Brad Tandy and elite sprinter Payton Sorenson through essential sprint freestyle pulling motion drills to improve their technique.

The Race Club has been busy working on a project we’re excited to share with our members. Just a couple of weeks before the Olympic Trials, we received a visit from two exceptional swimmers. One of those swimmers is South African Olympian and Race Club legend Brad Tandy.

There is so much we can teach swimmers about backstroke techniques before they even put a foot in the water. Not only can we teach them good form outside of the water, but we actually think it’s easier to do so before getting in. In this video, masters swimmers Rich and Laura go through a set of dryland exercises to learn the proper backstroke pulling motion.

In this final installment of our freestyle octane series, we demonstrate the how to get the most coupling energy out of the freestyle recovery with the high octane recovery. The length and speed of the straight recovering arm adds significant power to the pulling arm and kick for a fast sprint stroke to be used in the 50 freestyle…

Did you catch Torri Huske’s American record-breaking 55.66 win in the 100-meter butterfly at the US Olympic Swimming Trials? One aspect of her race, in particular, caught our attention; her breathing pattern. Torri swims the first 50 meters using a one up, one down breathing pattern. This breathing pattern is perhaps the most common pattern we see swimmers use for the 100 butterfly, but does that mean everyone should be using it? 

Breaststroke requires a unique set of tools in order to be fast.  The hips, ankles and lower lumbar need to be flexible in different ways than for freestyle, backstroke and butterfly.  The external and internal rotation of the hips, the pronation of the ankles and a flexible lower back are necessary.  Learn some of the static stretches and dynamic exercises we use to increase flexibility in these key areas.  Marc Clayton is not a breaststroker and currently has average to above average flexibility in those three areas.  Whether you are more or less flexible than Marc, you can modify each of these exercises to fit your ability level. 

So many swimmers know that they need to get better in kicking in order to improve their speed but they just don’t spend the time to stretch and exercise the joints and muscles necessary for a fast freestyle kick. In this video, Marc is a former footballer and has recently begun swimming competitively in Masters. His current goal is 24 seconds in the 50 Free. Right now, the only thing getting in the way of that is his poor kicking technique. Learn some tools that will help you increase flexibility and strength for the freestyle kick.

One of the often discussed controversies in freestyle concerns the pull. Where is the pull in freestyle the strongest? Is it in the front quadrant, ahead of the swimmer’s shoulder? Is it in the back quadrant, behind the swimmer’s shoulder? Or is the pull strongest right at the swimmer’s shoulder, as he or she moves the hand backward? In this week’s video, we feature two elite freestylers, Zane Grothe and Margo Geer. Zane is a distance freestyler and uses a higher elbow pulling motion, reducing frontal drag. Margo is a sprinter and uses a deeper pulling motion, opting for more power and drag. The testing we do in this video using the Pressure Meter confirms that Margo is able to generate more force with her deeper pull than Zane does with a higher elbow pulling motion. The video also shows a correlation between Margo’s faster body rotation and her greater pulling force. This video will help you determine the type of pulling biomechanics you should use for each freestyle race. It will also illustrate how important your body rotation is in developing a faster swim.

In this dryland session with Marc practices a series of resistance exercises. Marc’s limited mobility makes it a challenge to gain improvement without the use of resistance. Coach Gary teaches Marc a series of stretches that include a partner.  The partner puts additional resistance to the stretch allowing for quicker results.   Using the Stretch Chordz with Green Paddles  and FINIS Slide Trainer Cord, Coach Gary shares some of his favorite resistance exercises for the pulling motion and recovery for butterfly and freestyle.  

Swimmers often overlook shoulder stretches and don’t take the time or proper technique to perform these exercises efficiently.  Swimming is unlike any other sport in that you hyper extend the shoulder joint and therefore displace it.  In order to swim fast, one must have a good range of mobility in the shoulder joints.  Marc is a Lane 4 client and has been working with Gary Sr to achieve his goal of 24 seconds in the 50 free.  As a former soccer player, Marc is strong but lacks flexibility in the joints that are critical for fast swimming.  In this first video we will explore a pre workout shoulder stretches sequence that will not only help build muscle but also prevent injury.

In Marc Clayton’s next session Coach Gary continues to work on freestyle kicking technique.  Through working with Marc we discovered three main problems with his freestyle swim technique; his pulling motion, body rotation and kicking technique.  In the following sessions with Marc, while his pulling motion and body rotation improved tremendously he reverted to his old ’50 yard field goal’ kicking technique that has near a 90 degree bend in the knee.  Coach Gary emphasized to Marc that this will be a longer lasting challenge and focused their last session sole on freestyle kicking technique.  Find out what swim drills and training equipment Coach Gary used to help Marc understand the fastest way to kick.

At the Race Club we believe the three most important swim techniques in Backstroke are stroke rate, stroke rate and stroke rate.  No matter how good your swim technique is, if you don’t have a high backstroke rate, your not going to win. 

Head Coach Gary Hall Sr worked with American Olympic hopeful Amy Bilquist on finding her optimal stroke rate.  Amy is tall and therefore has to work a little harder to maintain her peak stroke rate.  In the final video of this Backstroke Stroke Rate series with Amy we put her to the test with a set designed to challenge maintaining a stroke rate of 105.  In our previous videos, we gave Amy a series of swim drills to get her comfortable and understand what it takes to get to a 105 stroke rate.  It’s one thing to be able to get to this stroke rate for a 25, find out how she does throughout this test set!

Coach Gary Hall Sr. directs Marc in this session, and by using a Tempo Trainer, takes his freestyle stroke rate from what is appropriate for 100 yards or meters, up to the highest stroke rate Marc is able to achieve- more directed for the 50 sprint. What Marc learns, however, is that going with a faster stroke rate does not always lead to a faster swim. In this session, by going too fast with his arms, or spinning, Marc loses valuable coupling energy and distance per stroke. That leads to a slower test swim than when he slows his stroke rate down slightly, yet uses much better technique.

Marc Clayton Body Position

A swimmer’s strength does not always correlate with the strength that he or she has on land. When a swimmer learns to use his or her body and recovering arms

Age group swimmer Marissa demonstrates three freestyle kick techniques using our Velocity Meter technology. We see many swimmers that bend the knee too much and some too little. Getting the right amount of knee bend in your freestyle kick is critically important as over or under bending the knee creates a huge difference in your efficiency. Find out which technique is fastest and how much knee bend is optimal.

Marc Clayton is a talented athlete who just started swimming when COVID broke out. We began our coaching with Marc through a video analysis. Coach Gary and Marc identified 3 key areas to work on in their upcoming sessions. The first being the pulling motion, the kick and lastly fast body rotation.
Marc’s background as a soccer player is apparent in our first session. He bends the knee waaay too much on the up kick. Coach Gary calls this poor, but common kicking technique the 50 yard field goal. While much power is created and may ‘feel’ good to Marc it causing more drag than it’s worth.
We use a series of kick swim drills and equipment in order for Marc understand what is an efficient kicking technique.

Dr. Ben Pearl discusses with Gary Hall foot conditions that have influenced his swim and coaching career.

Last week Masters swimmer Marc Clayton went over his video analysis with coach Gary. We narrowed down 3 key issues in freestyle that we continue to work on with Marc via Lane 4 consultation. The most important being his out sweep in freestyle. This is a common problem for all swimmers, especially beginners or newcomers to the sport. Now that we have identified Marc’s out sweep mistake he is ready to learn how to pull properly. We use a series of 3 swim drills that help Marc understand how to pull properly.

Marc Clayton is a 37 year old Masters Swimmer from South Africa living in Texas. He was a footballer (soccer player) in his youth and had never swam competitively. Since COVID began Marc decided to take up competitive swimming and found our videos to be huge help ; ) He decided to sign up for our Masters camp and video analysis. Since Marc’s experience at the camp was so valuable he is now a Lane 4 client and we continue working towards his goal of :24 seconds in the 50 free! Marc has a great natural feel for the water although we have a long ways to go to get to his goal…. follow this series with Marc as we begin with a video analysis performed before he began working with us.

16 year old Bora Hurst and his teammates recently came to the Race Club in Islamorada for a swim camp. Bora’s goal this year is to break 1:00 in the 100 yard breaststroke. After watching Bora swim the Race Club coaches worked on some changes to Bora’s Breaststroke and tested different swim techniques using our velocity meter technology. After analyzing the results, Coach Gary Sr had a video conference with Bora to go over the results. Find out some of the changes Bora made during the swim camp and get insight into what a Velocity Meter or Lane 4 session is like with a Race Club coach!

At The Race Club we see swimmers of all ages and ability levels. In this backstroke start video Race Club head coach Devin Murphy teaches 11 year old swimmer Layne use the backstroke bar.
Layne begins her backstroke start like a lot of young swimmers using the gutter. This is often taught to younger swimmers who don’t yet have the strength to pull themselves up. One of Layne’s goals was to learn to utilize the backstroke bar. Coach Devin teaches Layne how to place her feet properly on the backstroke wedge. Layne also learns how to engage the ready position.
We often allow our younger swimmers to pull in slightly closer to the block until they develop upper body strength. Layne like most beginners had difficulty using her leg strength to push up and off of the wall. In order to build her confidence we practiced a dryland drill that helped Layne with the athletic movement necessary for a good backstroke start.
We also like to use a swim drill for the backstroke start that is demonstrated by Olympic hopeful Amy Bilquist. She has her feet high in the water utilizing the backstroke wedge and is able to get an amazing arch in her spine. As Amy leaves the blocks she throws the head and hands back and clears the surface of the water and enters cleanly.
We hope you enjoyed this 3 part video series on the backstroke start that features most every level of Athlete. We take a slightly different approach with each Athlete.

At The Race Club we often have age group swimmers, high school swimmers and masters swimmers all in the same camp. This unique swim camp experience allows our athletes not only to learn from our Race Club coaches, but from each other as well.
In this video Head Race Club Coach Devin Murphy works with high school breaststroke specialist Bora Hurst. Bora had little experience with the backstroke start.
While watching Bora’s start you’ll learn some common mistakes that swimmers make in the backstroke start. These include having the feet too wide on the wall, and looking back with the head in the “take your mark” position. You’ll also see first-hand what happens if the head stays back too long on a backstroke starts. We see many campers that make the same mistakes that Bora initially does.
Then coach Devin works with world class masters swimmer Mike Boosin. Like many swimmers, Mike had his feet too close together in the ready position. He also makes the common mistake of exiting the arched position too early. Mike is an experienced backstroke specialist and we found a couple easy fixes that made his start much faster.
The backstroke start requires a lot of nuance, and we’re happy to share what makes a great backstroke start over the next few weeks from our incredible swim camp in the Florida Keys!

Jenna and Ciera Fujiwara visited us from Hawaii to work with coach Gary in San Diego. Ciera has incredible shoulder flexibility allowing her to recover her arms straight above her head. Coupled with a late breath this technique can be the fastest way to swim butterfly with the likes of Joseph Schooling and Rikako Ikee. This technique isn’t for everyone as Ciera’s sister Jenna has better success with a wider/lower arm recovery. Find out what makes Ciera a perfect candidate for this technique and how we use swim drills to improve!

At the Race Club we work with athletes of all ages and abilities. Often times they require different training methods or swim techniques. In this Backstroke Starts video series we worked with a variety of age group swimmers and Masters that each required different approaches to their respective start. Of course there is a technique that we strive for and that we were fortunate to have superstar age group swimmer Josh Zuchowski perform. Josh is a soon to be collegiate swimmer that swims all 4 strokes extremely well but his specialty is backstroke. We were excited to help Josh get a little better with his backstroke start! The ideal start is not for everyone as we will learn in the series but there is a good reason why most of the best backstroke starters in the world use a very similar backstroke start technique. We believe it’s important to understand what that technique entails no matter what age you are.

Head Race Club Coach Devin Murphy leads this session with the campers where they continue to work on the hand entry in freestyle. We like to use a mono snorkel and fins when working on the hand entry that allows the swimmer to focus on the swim technique. We are seeing the best swimmers in the enter the water with the fingers and hand squeezed together and then separated slightly for the initiation of the pull phase. Some swimmers have a natural tendency to do this technique but it’s definitely worth noting and working on if you are like most swimmers that enter the water with relaxed hands.

A lot of swimmers don’t think about how they are breathing but it can make a huge difference in your freestyle swim technique. Even at the highest level there are common mistakes in breathing. Nathan Adrian is perhaps the best ‘breather’ in the world when it comes to how he takes his breath in a race. He uses his neck muscles to force the head back down quickly to minimize the amount of drag caused by the head out of alignment. In this video Race Club coaches teach swim drills to help the campers learn the proper way to breath, like Nathan Adrian!

The swimming technique of how to hold the hand at entry in freestyle is not often discussed. Yet it is extremely important. An improper positioning of the hand and wrist at entry can lead to big increases in frontal drag during this early part of the pulling cycle. Many swimmers are taught to relax their hands at entry which is a huge mistake. Doing so leads to the water flowing and opening the fingers and thumb or turning the wrist either to the outside (flaring) or upwards. The increase in drag from the poor hand technique at race speed can range from a 3% to 12% increase, depending on the position of the hand.

We have found that by turning the pinky down and holding the hand vertically after the breath stroke in hip-driven and hybrid-freestyle can further reduce the drag from the hand in front. Rising swimming superstar Josh Zuchowski demonstrates in this video how he rotates his hand with the little pinky down after the breath stroke in freestyle to glide through the water with less resistance. This technique has been used by some of the world’s greatest hip and hybrid freestylers, including Michael Phelps, Sun Yang and Mykail Romanchuk of Ukraine.

Hip Driven Freestyle is the most efficient stroke and requires a different skill set than Hybrid and Shoulder driven. We often use the same swim drill in different ways depending on which technique we are focusing on. Head coach Devin teaches the campers the 6 Kick 1 Stroke drill with an emphasis on a hip driven technique. We also use this drill to teach shoulder driven technique that has a different emphasis on the timing of the kick and pull.

In our previous videos the campers learned the fundamentals of a shoulder driven freestyle through a series of swim drills. They have all made remarkable progress and are comfortable with shoulder driven technique. Now head coach Gary Sr helps each swimmer find their optimal tempo for the 50 freestyle. Using a test set with the Finis Tempo Trainer each swimmer is challenged by increasing the tempo throughout the set. This set is a great way to find out where a swimmer is getting diminishing returns as the tempo increases. There is a fine line between spinning your wheels and holding water when it comes to the fastest race in swimming so be sure to find the ‘sweet spot’!

Sometimes we overexaggerate a swim technique in order to improve on it. Coach Gary Hall Sr teaches the Over the Wave Under the Wave swim drill to our campers. Some of the campers are just beginning to learn this stroke made famous by Michael Phelps. This technique, also known as a galloping stroke requires a strong kick and a different cadence for the left and right arm pull. Even though this overexaggerated swim technique is not something you would use in a race, we consider it this ‘drill’ a great way to learn the benefits of using this stroke. This is a great drill not only for beginners to learn but also those that want to use hybrid freestyle in a race.

In our previous video, Mike and Cinde learned the high octane sprint freestyle technique. Each of them had some minor adjustments they made and are on the right track however maintaining this high energy stroke is difficult. In this final part of the Arm Recovery series Mike and Cinde learn how they will be able to maintain this high octane, energy deficient stroke. These swimmers share many of the same problems we see with our campers whether they are age group, masters or elite swimmers. Let us know if you can relate and how you improve this sprint freestyle technique?

There is a good reason every fast 50 freestyler in the world swims with a high octane stroke. This 2 part series Coach Gary Sr explores strength training, swim drills and swim technique that enable swimmers to maintain the fastest freestyle swim possible. Coach Gary Sr works with Masters swimmers Cinde and Mike Boosin. Cinde was a professional volleyball player who was recently turned on to Masters swimming through her husband Mike. Mike is a world class Masters swimmer and is looking to get even faster. Obtaining a proper sprint freestyle swim technique is not easy to maintain for very long. This video explores the proper high octane technique as well as swim drills.

Of all three freestyle techniques, Shoulder-Driven Freestyle is by far the most common one used. Shoulder-Driven Freestyle is the only technique a swimmer should use for sprinting and for women, it is the most common technique used in all Freestyle races. In this video, we continue working with rising superstar Josh Zuchowski and his two Race Club teammates, Corley and Rachel, with the Six Kick Three Stroke swim drill to help their Shoulder-Driven Freestyle techniques. This important swim drill will helps them learn the correct freestyle recovery technique, harnessing the energy from a fast shoulder rotation and arm entry to increase the power of the pull and kick. Being powerful in the water is not just about how strong the arms and legs are. It has a lot to do with how well a swimmer uses the body motions to increase power. Fast shoulder rotation and aggressive hand and arm entries help our swimmers become faster freestylers.

In this final installment of our Swimming Starts series with Paralympian Lizzi Smith, she finally begins seeing some great results. Once Lizzi learned the dryland progression she then took to the blocks to try out the Brad Tandy swimming start. At first she was having difficulty with the head lift. Lizzi then practiced running starts in order to make her more comfortable with this head lift motion. Once Lizzi started getting the head lift She moved on to the arm swing using a Rocking Chair swim drill. Maybe the most difficult to achieve, the leg kick proved to be challenging but Lizzi started to get it! As with most of our campers when learning this swimming start we find that getting one or two of the coupling motions is common but not all three. We take the swimmer back to the drills that pertain to each coupling motions and eventually they get it. Once you master this start, we recommend doing 100 practice starts before performing in a race. Thanks for watching this series!!!

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In this video we use swim training equipment to focus on one of the most important parts of the breaststroke kick with legs elevated and toes pointed. Both a mono snorkel and a FINIS Alignment board allow the swimmer to focus on the timing of finishing the kick with knees held narrow and tight. Using this combination of equipment we find swimmers figure out these key aspects to a great breaststroke swim technique.

In our previous videos, Paralympian Lizzi Smith learned the 3 coupling motions of a great swimming start on dry land. It is critical to know how to perform the head lift, arm swing and leg kick before we get in the water and Lizzi was able to master each of these motions separately. In this video Lizzi gets on the blocks and begins practicing the complete swimming start. As with most Campers learning this start technique for the first time, applying these 3 coupling motions takes time and practice. As this swimming start progression video continues we break down the coupling motions individually and in a way that helps the swimmer understand how to perform each one before putting them all together.