David Marsh's Next Wave Technique: Turns

with David Marsh,
Cal Berkeley Men's Assistant Coach;
Team Elite Aquatics (San Diego) Head Coach;
Israel Swimming Association Professional Adviser;
UCSD Head Coach from 2017 to 2019;
2016 USA Women's Olympic Team Head Coach;
14 Marsh-coached athletes competed in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympians Games;
Head Coach, SwimMAC Carolina from 2007 to 2017 (3 consecutive USA Swimming Club Excellence Championships);
Auburn Head Men's and Women's Coach - 1990 through 2007;
12x NCAA Team Championships - 7x for the Men's program, 5x for the Women's program;
including Men's/Women's sweeps in 2003 (1st time in NCAA history to have a Men's/Women's coach sweep Championships) , 2004, 2006 and 2007 ;
8x NCAA Coach of the Year;
3x USA Men's Olympic Team Assistant ('12, 00, '96);
has coached 49 Olympians from 19 different countries;
2000 & 2003 National Collegiate and Scholastic Swimming Trophy;
North Carolina Swimming Hall of Fame - 2016;
Auburn Swimming Hall of Fame - 2015;
competed at Auburn (5x All-American; backstroke)

A great turn helps you take your momentum into the wall and carry speed and power off of it. Three-time Olympic coach David Marsh demonstrates the skills and drills he uses to help swimmers of all levels maximize their turns. Using on-deck analysis and footage above and below the water, he breaks down the components of fast, efficient turns and transitions, and then puts them back together.

Long Axis Turns
Coach Marsh starts with a drill progression for teaching the tight, fast spin needed for effective turns. He provides long-axis, turn progression drills for freestyle and backstroke. The progression starts with the approach, progresses through the turn and into the breakout. This progressions builds low, narrow, tight turns that take advantage of the swimmer's speed into the wall. It also enables the swimmer to use their core body strength to get off the wall and into the ideal body line as quickly as possible and with minimal energy.

Short Axis Turns
Peter Verheof, a former world-class butterflyer and recent U.S. Olympic assistant coach, joins Coach Marsh as they show how to build short-axis (butterfly and breaststroke) turns. They teach the turn from the three-stroke approach all the way through the breakout. As in the free and back turns, the result is a tight, fast turn that uses core body strength and a quick return to the ideal body line for the fastest, most efficient turn possible.

IM Turns
Finally, Coach Marsh covers IM turns, emphasizing the backstroke to breaststroke transition. He describes the balance of safety and speed he looks for from swimmers of different experience levels. He describes how elite swimmers use the challenging back-to-breast crossover turn, breaking it down with drills and a variety of camera angles. He also addresses how coaches can help younger swimmers build toward that turn.

Order now and start using the skills and drills from this presentation to turn walls into a competitive advantage.

37 minutes. 2014.