Kevin Zacher 5-Pack

with Kevin Zacher,
Santa Clara Swim Club (SCSC) Head Coach;
Scottsdale Aquatic Club (SAC) Head Coach & CEO from 2007 to 2021;
American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Level 5 certified coach;
3x American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Arizona Age Group Coach of the Year (2007, 2014 and 2016 );
under Zacher's leadership, SAC was named a USA Swimming Gold Medal Club in 2013, won the 2014 Junior National title and in 2016 the Junior National overall team title;
Zacher-coached swimmers have: broken National Age Group Records, won Individual National Championships, attained National Top 10 rankings in respective age groups, earned Junior/Senior National Qualifying times, qualified for the Olympic Trials and won Olympic Medals

Underwater dolphin kicking is a critical skill every top swimmer needs to master. However, many coaches struggle with how to successfully incorporate the underwater kick into warm-up, drill and training sets.

In this video, Coach Kevin Zacher shares his strategy for helping each swimmer find the right size and tempo of kick for their current abilities. He introduces drills and training sets that build speed, endurance, and power for swimmers of every age group, including warm-up routines his world-class swimmers use on race day to be sure their underwater swimming provides them with the best possible competitive edge.

Warm-up Routine for Underwater Kicking

Coach Zacher addresses the importance of including underwater kicking in warm-ups. This helps activate the core and prepare breathing stamina safely. He addresses the difficulty some swimmers have with breath control, encouraging swimmers to learn how proper breath control feels.

Establishing an underwater warm-up routine during daily practice also gives his swimmers an edge on race day. Swimmers who are aware of small daily variations in their underwater kick are better prepared to sense how their kick feels in race warm-ups and make adjustments to emerge at the right mark with optimum explosive speed.

Underwater Kicking Drills

Zacher shares drills designed to help athletes find their ideal mix of amplitude and tempo of kick for their body type and fitness level. He uses resistance drills to help swimmers feel the water and eliminate dead spots for consistent rhythmic power throughout each kick cycle. Other drills help swimmers hold their ideal body line by challenging their core so that they can engage their entire body in the underwater stroke. Kicking drills work the stroke in both directions, so that the up kick is as powerful and propulsive as the down kick.

Equipment Work

Underwater kicking benefits from the use of equipment that either assists or resists the swimmer's efforts. Adding resistance helps the swimmer feel weak spots in their kick to build consistently rhythmic and powerful strokes. Coach Zacher shows you how to add:

• Nets or kicking socks to build water feel in the feet, to encourage proper angles for maximum propulsion.
• Drag with parachutes to help your swimmers feel that more power is generated from manipulating the movement than from simply kicking harder, creating more effortless speed.
• Assistance, such as with fins, allows swimmers to swim at race speed longer, building familiarity with pace without fatigue that could break down technique.

Training Sets

By creating physically and mentally challenging underwater kick training sets, Zacher establishes the importance of underwater kicking and helps swimmers understand the intensity he looks for in training and in races. Kick speed sets break down world class kick speed into small segments that athletes can master and then build on by increasing duration or reducing rest between sets. Drill/Training combination sets like Cobra Drills help swimmers carry underwater speed through their breakout and into their strokes. Turn sets teach swimmers to treat the approach/turn/pause/underwater and breakout into a cohesive attack on the turns for maximum speed.

Bonus: Question & Answer Session

Coach Zacher engages world-class underwater kicker Ryan Hoffer in a discussion of some of the frequently asked questions he has received when training the fifth stroke. This segment makes it clear that the best underwater swimmers pay attention to detail in training every day so that they can come to recognize natural variations in their stroke. The swimmer describes how training loads may cause "heavy legs" that feel sluggish, and how using fins may help him train on those days. Conversely, he sometimes has "light legs" - when his feet don't feel like they are holding enough water and he turns to nets or training socks to get his water feel back.

Rhythmic and powerful underwater dolphin kicking is not just beautiful to watch - it's increasingly essential for competitive swimming at all levels. Coach Zacher helps age group coaches incorporate underwater kick training in every aspect of swimming, from warm-ups to racing. Improve your swimmers' underwater technique today!

52 minutes. 2017.

with Kevin Zacher,
Santa Clara Swim Club (SCSC) Head Coach;
Scottsdale Aquatic Club (SAC) Head Coach & CEO from 2007 to 2021;
American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Level 5 certified coach;
3x American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Arizona Age Group Coach of the Year (2007, 2014 and 2016 );
under Zacher's leadership, SAC was named a USA Swimming Gold Medal Club in 2013, won the 2014 Junior National title and in 2016 the Junior National overall team title;
Zacher-coached swimmers have: broken National Age Group Records, won Individual National Championships, attained National Top 10 rankings in respective age groups, earned Junior/Senior National Qualifying times, qualified for the Olympic Trials and won Olympic Medals

While biomechanical principles exist to inform coaches about effective technique, it becomes challenging to adapt these principles to each swimmer. Kevin Zacher guides you through the technical building blocks to success in the freestyle stroke, which has resulted in him coaching a national age group record holder and an Olympic medalist.

With the assistance of two young national level swimmers, Coach Zacher demonstrates his unique approach to individualizing the stroke. Because each swimmer is different, they must apply different approaches to technique to find what works best for them. With the use of various tools and drills, they'll help you get a feel for the water to help transfer power efficiently.

Freestyle Stroke Progression

Go through a series of drills that helps the swimmer connect the body with the stroke. The focus is on all aspects of the stroke: establishing a low resistance body position, developing a propulsive kick, having a clean entry and catch, engaging in an effective and strong pull, and having a smooth exit and recovery. You'll see drills to enforce each of these elements of the stroke, including:

• Muscle Activation Series
• Kicking Drills
• Body Connection Drills

Coach Zacher explains each drill and its appropriateness for a specific movement. The biggest benefit is seeing the drills performed by two world class athletes. These two swimmers have achieved their success with different techniques. This can help you better understand how to adapt basic freestyle skills to individual differences.

Freestyle Starts, Turns and Finishes

This video gives more than technique drills for swimming; it takes time to give great detail on starts, turns, and finishes. For the forward start, the objective is to get into the water with as much speed as possible and carry that speed into the full stroke. The swimmer goes through the full setup of the body position when they're on the block, the take off, the entry, and transitioning to the breakout. Zacher demonstrates how to take advantage of each swimmers' strengths.

For the freestyle turn segment, Zacher gives verbal cues to use when teaching/coaching the turn. He emphasizes the importance of generating speed into the turn in order to carry that speed into the underwater portion that transitions to the breakout. The progression includes the approach, rotation, acceleration off of the wall, underwater kicks, and breakout.

The finish is an important part of the race, and Zacher delivers a laser-focused message on what to say to your swimmers to motivate them to finish correctly. He explains the importance of maintaining the speed and the body line all the way into the wall; things like: keeping the head still, rotating the body to the side to take advantage of the long reach, and being able to touch the wall in the middle to make sure the touch pad is hit properly.

Coach Zacher gives you an excellent supply of tools to improve your coaching for improved freestyle swimming performance. With over 50 different drills variations, you'll have many options to improve freestyle technique, starting, turning, and finishing performance.

100 minutes. 2017.

with Kevin Zacher,
Santa Clara Swim Club (SCSC) Head Coach;
Scottsdale Aquatic Club (SAC) Head Coach & CEO from 2007 to 2021;
American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Level 5 certified coach;
3x American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Arizona Age Group Coach of the Year (2007, 2014 and 2016 );
under Zacher's leadership, SAC was named a USA Swimming Gold Medal Club in 2013, won the 2014 Junior National title and in 2016 the Junior National overall team title;
Zacher-coached swimmers have: broken National Age Group Records, won Individual National Championships, attained National Top 10 rankings in respective age groups, earned Junior/Senior National Qualifying times, qualified for the Olympic Trials and won Olympic Medals

Kevin Zacher guides you through the technical building blocks for success in the butterfly stroke. With in-water demonstrations performed by two Senior Level swimmers, you'll see efficient, well-designed progressions that reflect a fast and powerful butterfly.

For many, the butterfly is thought of as a power stroke that requires a lot of muscle to be able to swim well. But in reality, it's a rhythm stroke that requires a good body line with slight undulation that connects the catch of the arms to allow the energy to flow out the feet. It's swimming's most beautiful stroke!

Butterfly Stroke Progression

Using a multitude of drills, Coach Zacher puts the emphasis on staying low and driving forward. He encourages swimmers to eliminate any action that doesn't contribute to creating energy for forward movement. Zacher continually emphasizes the importance of focusing on driving the body forward, not up or down.

You will see the demonstrators go through progressions of each piece of the stroke using creative ways to emphasize good technique, such as:

• 1 Pull 4 Kicks: For feeling the rhythm of the kick and lengthening the stroke into an efficient body line.
• Butterfly Pull w/ Flutter Kick: Focuses on a flatter stroke and sending energy forward.
• The use of stretch cords on deck to get the feel of the catch, then transition to the water to transfer the feeling to the water.
• Underwater body undulations at different speeds and amplitudes to help the swimmer discover which is most efficient for their personal stroke.
• Transitioning from underwater kicks to a fast and powerful breakout.

Starts and Turns

For the butterfly start, the objective is to get into the water with as much speed as possible, carry that speed into the underwater kicks, and transfer to the breakout. Coach Zacher explains the set-up position and the take off from the block.

For the turn segment, Zacher emphasizes the importance of getting to the wall after completing a full stroke so the body is in full extension and at maximum speed in order to perform the quickest turn. He includes a complete progression that will benefit all swimmers.

Coach Zacher uses his skills as a masterful communicator in explaining each drill/skill and their purpose. During this video, you'll hear him speak to the swimmers in order to get their feedback, providing a comprehensive perspective of what the swimmer experiences as well.

48 minutes. 2018.

with Kevin Zacher,
Santa Clara Swim Club (SCSC) Head Coach;
Scottsdale Aquatic Club (SAC) Head Coach & CEO from 2007 to 2021;
American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Level 5 certified coach;
3x American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Arizona Age Group Coach of the Year (2007, 2014 and 2016 );
under Zacher's leadership, SAC was named a USA Swimming Gold Medal Club in 2013, won the 2014 Junior National title and in 2016 the Junior National overall team title;
Zacher-coached swimmers have: broken National Age Group Records, won Individual National Championships, attained National Top 10 rankings in respective age groups, earned Junior/Senior National Qualifying times, qualified for the Olympic Trials and won Olympic Medals

In this video, Kevin Zacher explains the importance of body alignment and kick to encourage forward motion in the breaststroke. He then gives several breaststroke kick progressions that will not only allow swimmers to practice their technique, but also allow coaches to see and address any inconsistencies that swimmers may be facing.

Advanced Breaststroke Progression

Coach Zacher provides drills that will strengthen a swimmer's breaststroke pull and help them maintain good timing and rhythm. The "Moose Drill" encourages swimmers to focus on feeling for the appropriate timing between the breaststroke kick and glide.

Other progressions include:

• 1 Pull, 2 Kicks: For feeling the power of the kick and getting into an efficient body line.
• Breaststroke Arms w/ Flutter Kick: To develop fast hands.
• 3 Sculls/3 Pulls: Helps find the ideal catch point.
• Eggbeater Kick: For fast heel speed.

Starts, Pullouts, and Turns

The objective of the breaststroke start is to get into the water with as much speed as possible, carry that speed into the pullout, and transfer to the breakout. Zacher finishes by explaining the body position needed for a great breaststroke pullout and start. He also gives a simple progression for the breaststroke turn that will help any new swimmer properly execute his/her turn.

Nothing has been left out of this video - building the stroke from the kick up, developing upon each step of the turn, and the importance of staying tight and straight on the start. By layering his breaststroke drills progressively, Kevin Zacher has created an easy-to-follow guide that will help coaches find better ways to instruct their swimmers, regardless of skill level.

60 minutes. 2018.

with Kevin Zacher,
Santa Clara Swim Club (SCSC) Head Coach;
Scottsdale Aquatic Club (SAC) Head Coach & CEO from 2007 to 2021;
American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Level 5 certified coach;
3x American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Arizona Age Group Coach of the Year (2007, 2014 and 2016 );
under Zacher's leadership, SAC was named a USA Swimming Gold Medal Club in 2013, won the 2014 Junior National title and in 2016 the Junior National overall team title;
Zacher-coached swimmers have: broken National Age Group Records, won Individual National Championships, attained National Top 10 rankings in respective age groups, earned Junior/Senior National Qualifying times, qualified for the Olympic Trials and won Olympic Medals

Most backstroke instruction focuses on drills performed at a high tempo without addressing how swimmers can make that tempo achievable and sustainable. In this video, Kevin Zacher will help you teach your swimmers the essentials required to swim their best backstroke.

This is not just a collection of drills - it is a complete backstroke program! Coach Zacher's exercises are presented in a logical order for teaching the backstroke. You'll also see how to order Zacher's drills and change their focus to build a great backstroke from the beginner to the elite level.

Kick Progression and Perfecting the Catch

Coach Zacher shows how you can develop the backstroke kick - the engine of the stroke - through a progression that ties the kick to the core for power and a drag-reducing body line at the water's surface.

Next, you'll learn how to help every swimmer find the right place to catch for a clean entry that minimizes transition time from recovery to pull. Zacher shows how to use drills to help even your most advanced swimmers hold more power through the mid-point of the pull, where many swimmers lose core connection. You will also learn pull patterns that end at the thigh near the surface of the water for a fast recovery that improves tempo.

Additionally, Coach Zacher teaches drills and includes sample practice sets to build hand and forearm strength as well as water feel. You'll discover easy-to-find or to-create tools that will help your swimmers boost their endurance, strength, water feel or body awareness.

Developing Starts and Turns

Zacher explains what to watch for as your swimmers set up their backstroke starts, with or without a backstroke start ledge. He includes how to drill your backstroke starts to drive the hips high and create an optimal entry angle. You'll learn how to get your swimmers to speed up their turns with instructions and drills specifically designed to help them turn strongly at the right time and rotate quickly.

Program Application for an Elite Swimmer

In the final segment, Coach Zacher interviews one of his athletes, NCAA Championship backstroker Amy Bilquist, as she describes how she uses these drills and practice sets to improve every aspect of her backstroke as she prepares for 2020 Olympic Trials. Coaches and swimmers who watch this segment may be surprised to learn how much top swimmers rely on basic drills done with focus and precision to create an elite backstroke.

Coach Zacher has created a backstroke teaching and training system that you can use to create a sustainable, high-tempo backstroke at any level!

54 minutes. 2020.