MANHATTAN MARLINS

Missouri Valley Swimming
Level 2

Week 1 Drill of the Week: Mike Bottom Freestyle

Reid Carlson

Hello Swim Families!

 

  1. Right-Right
  2. Left-Left
  3. Right-Left
  4. Left-Right
  5. Right-Left-Right
  6. Right-Left-Left

 

What all this means is:

 

  1. Round 1 = Right Paddle + Right Fin
  2. Round 2 = Left Paddle + Left Fin
  3. Round 3 = Right Paddle + Left Fin
  4. Round 4 = Left Paddle + Right Fin
  5. Round 5 = Both Paddles + Right Fin
  6. Round 6 = Both Paddles + Left Fin

 

So now you may be asking yourself… why?

Because swimming is all about balance. We are all either right-side or left-side dominant, and it is easy to subconsciously favor and be slightly stronger on one side than the other. For most of us, that is the right side.

This, however, does not lead to perfect balance in the water.

Rounds 1 and 2 force a swimmer to recognize that, because of the equipment, they are stronger on one side of their body than the other. Therefore, they must pull and kick and rotate with more force from the side without the gear to find balance.

Rounds 3 and 4 encourage cross-body connection, meaning swimmers must transfer power from the opposite hip to the opposite shoulder, engaging the core and the hips and, in essence, the entire body, in the stroke.

Rounds 5 and 6 challenge a swimmer to feel out the “beats” of their kick and kick harder with one leg than the other. This is especially useful if a swimmer is inclined towards the distance freestyle events.

We call this drill progression Mike Bottom Freestyle because it was invented by the legendary Olympic coach Mike Bottom, who built the University of Michigan into a Big Ten dynasty and brought the 2013 Men's NCAA Division I team title back to Ann Arbor.

Bottom has been called the “mad scientist” of swimming and is therefore one of Coach Reid’s idols (his favorite restaurant in Ann Arbor is the Blue Tractor, a 5-Star barbecue restaurant… if you know you know).

The Marlins utilizes this drill progression in a set that is typically structured in six rounds, as shown above. The specifics might be, whether short course or long course:

  • 6 x
    • 4 x 25 / 2 x 50 Single-Arm – Preference to the Arm with the Paddle
    • 4 x 25 / 2 x 50 Swim – Balance Your Stroke! / Cross-Body Connection! / Balance Your Kick!

This is a foundational drill progression for the Marlins, especially for the Platinum and Blue groups.

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s installment of Drill of the Week!

 

-Coach Reid