Coaching the Developing Freestyler

Make your practices more efficient by incorporating this proven method of weaving great freestyle technique into a group setting.

With over 40 years of coaching swimming, Bill Thompson is one of the country's most experienced and successful swimming coaches. His range of experience includes everything from teaching novice swimmers to coaching Olympians and every level in between.

In this in-depth swimming DVD, Coach Thompson breaks down the technical aspects of coaching the freestyler from an individual standpoint, as well as showing how to incorporate the individual technique into a group workout setting with incredible results.

STROKE
Coach Thompson uses 30 of his favorite drills to teach the four segments of his stroke - Pull Pattern, Balance, Breathing and Kicking.

• Pull Pattern Drills: :Focus here is on the anchor and vault concept. Thompson's drills are specifically designed to give the swimmer visual benchmarks for personal feedback.
• Balance Drills: See seven drills to develop and maintain a proper balance position for the stroke.
• Breathing Drills: These drills improve head position and mouth placement for the breath and breathing proficiency on both sides.
• Kicking Drills: Learn Thompson's group drills that not only trains the kick, but also trains kicking accountability in your swimmers. As your kick improves, your times will drop.

TURNS
Thompson begins with narrated demonstrations showing the most common turning errors for developing freestylers. He demonstrates 13 drills, including a flip turn progression, that address those challenges. You will see how to train a swimmer to turn comfortably with whichever arm initiates the final stroke into the wall, to fix arms that are out of control during the somersault, and proper foot placement and push-off techniques. Thompson's drills show you how teach turn competitiveness and how to train a swimmer to develop the sense of urgency to get the feet to the wall as fast as possible.

STARTS
Thompson presents a total overview of the start that includes establishing balance on the block, foot positioning, hand placement, head placement and reaction. Thompson shows you eight drills that train all aspects of proper start mechanics, including several advanced drills that teach proper leg drive off of the blocks. You will learn several tricks that Thompson has developed to help swimmers to focus on a pathway for the arms for a cleaner streamlined entry. You will also see drills that train start competitiveness within a team. In addition, Thompson shares a complete start rehearsal that begins with behind the block strategies through the start and breakout.

To conclude the DVD, Thompson details his strategy of breaking each race into strategic segments for optimal performance.

Tap into the coaching excellence of Bill Thompson for a complete look into all aspects of freestyle competition.

2 DVDs (165 minutes). 2010.