Increase Your Push-off Power for Faster Turns
Maximize your push strength for faster times
When you push off the wall, that’s the fastest you’ll ever move in swimming. Learning to capitalize on this for a strong push-off is a key way to post faster times in any event you’re racing.
This set of drills, called the push-off power progression, can help you do just that by teaching you to:
- Maximize your thrust.
- Improve your streamline.
- Develop a great angle for pushing off the wall so that your breakout stroke brings you to the surface in rhythm to swim fast.
The progression consists of dry jumps, rocket launchers, and push-off and turn practice.
Dry Jumps
Dry jumps should be part of every dryland training session you do, as these can help you find the right knee bend for maximum efficiency on your push off. To do this, simply stand with your arms extended above your head in streamline, and bend your knees. Then jump straight up as though you’re pushing off the wall.
Play with how deeply you bend your knees while executing these jumps, and you’ll likely discover.
- A shallow knee bend gives you great reaction time but not enough thrust. You’ll need to bend more to get the maximum effect.
- A moderate knee bend gives you a good reaction time and good thrust. This is ideal.
But, if you bend your knees too much, it takes too long to unwind, and you lose any power advantage you might gain from that. You’ll need to work on a shallower knee bend to find that just-right sweet spot for maximum thrust.
Rocket Launchers
Rocket launchers take dry jumps into the water to let you practice your streamline by pushing off the bottom.
To do this drill:
- Stand in chest-deep water.
- With your arms clasped above your head in streamline, bend your knees and push off while keeping your hands together and your biceps behind your ears.
- Get the maximum thrust as you push, so the calves and quads both explode, like you’re a rocket launching off the bottom and into space.
- Make sure your heels come down enough to let your calves get a full extension, and then point your toes for maximum streamline as you leave the bottom of the pool.
Push-Off Turn Practice
Push-off and turn practice uses the exact same idea as rocket launchers, but it progresses to the wall.
To do this drill:
- Plant your feet on the wall.
- Bend your knees to the right depts.
- Push off, extending your calves for pointed toes so that you'll be streamlined to as you leave the wall.
- Look down at the lane stripe and watch how quickly it goes by.
- Take your breakout stroke as soon as you have slowed down to your swimming speed.
Practice pushing off the wall hard every time you leave the wall. The idea is to develop the habit of always getting maximum thrust when you leave.
Once you practice your push-offs, add a turn to it with the same emphasis. As you plant your feet on the wall, make sure you have a stable base with the right calf angle. Thrust off the wall hard, immediately, without adjusting your foot position. Get your kick going, and when you slow down to your swimming speed, take your breakout stroke.
Practice the push-off progression with dry jumps, rocket launchers, and push-offs and turns over and over again. You'll be amazed how quickly your times will drop.
