Freestyle Swimming 6-3-6 Drill Technique

Описание: Today’s focus is a Freestyle drill called 6-3-6. The numbers represent 6 kicks on your side, followed by 3 strokes, then another 6 kicks paused on the opposite side. This is one of the first drills we teach to new swimmers. It promotes reach and extension, Supports good body rotation, and encourages thought and patience. Its important to make sure swimmers are pausing on both sides to build a balanced stroke.

This drill can be done in Freestyle or backstroke. In either stroke, the body position on the pause should be perfect with shoulders back, eyes down (or up), and a good steady kick on the pausing AND the swimming. Along with catch up, its a great drill to get kids thinking about a steady kick and what a 6 beat kick means. Reminders are generally required to see the steady kick appear in the swim portion of the drill.

Swimmers WILL rush this drill without reminders and guidance. Left on their own, you’ll barely see a pause. Patience. Patience Patience. Tell them to Take their time!! and for that reason, there are variations to the basic 6-3-6 that can help drill certain aspects of it. You can change up the number of kicks during the pause phase and the number of strokes in between. Each variation can have a slightly different purpose, and stringing together a combination of them makes a great progression in practice from longer kick pauses in the beginning transitioning through steps to a full regular swim.
For example, 10-1-10 or 10-3-10 will help make sure you see the pause on each side lengthening by the kick phase.

Reducing the number of strokes from 3 to 1, Also really helps to promote patience and perfect body position. Pausing on every single strokes forces more focus on the body position.

To change things up and make it a little more fun, you can add a shark fin to the pause phase of the drill. Putting a hand on the hips, and pointing the elbow perfectly up at the ceiling requires focus, and practice. No saggy limp shark fins allowed.