YCUTS (You CAN Use That in Swimming) Series…Part 2.

One day, while describing early vertical forearm principles to a group of swimmers on deck, it occurred to me that though it was very simple to demonstrate on deck, it was difficult, spatially, for the swimmers to translate my standing version to their horizontal version. However, it occurred to me while doing the standing up version, that perhaps I could have them achieve the same effect by having straight backs and working the EVF directly in front of themselves where they could see it. A quick glance around the pool deck allowed me to discover a bin of playground balls that were used by some local kids during rec swim time. Perfect…

So after some trial and error, I found that by sitting on a ball with a straight back, and performing the EVF with both arms simultaneously, a swimmer could achieve an excellent extension to EVF transition while stroking down the pool. After a specific distance, say 35 yards, they could then translate it into regular swimming simply by falling forward and letting the ball pop out or as we call it “laying the egg”.

So I went on ebay and spent a whole 18 dollars on 15 Voit, 8″ playground balls (various colors) and the Buddha Drill was born. It can be done with or without paddles but always at some point, you want the swimmer to lay the egg and swim for a bit to emulate the EVF motion making sure that they extension is there and the high elbow anchor and follow through. It’s a fun drill and my swimmers like it…I often sometimes wonder if they like it more because it involves colorful 8″ playground balls or because they get to sit up and swim and be stared at by everyone else in the pool. Regardless, its of one of the more effective drills I have found and its actually hard work too which the swimmers don’t really notice.