The Float and Paddle - Statue of Liberty "Continuum"

There are two basic pulling drills used in this program, the “Float & Paddle” (F&P) and the “Statue of Liberty” (SoL) (see section IV: Drills and Activities).  Basically, the F&P resembles a “windmill” style of pulling, and the SoL resembles more of a “catch-up” form of pulling.  Clearly, the freestyle forms suggested by the float and paddle drill and the Statue of Liberty drills are quite different.  The F&P style is characterized by “opposition” – the arms are always pointing in opposite directions, and “low frequency kicking” such as a 2-beat kick.  The SoL style is a “high-frequency kick” based form, which lends itself to either opposition or “catch-up” styles of pulling.  One can see these two forms as being on either end of a “continuum” in terms of both arms and legs.  While there are great examples of athletes who inhabit the extremes: Janet Evans with her 2-beat kick and purely opposition pulling style, Ian Thorpe with his powerful 6-beat kick and “half catch-up” style of pulling, most athletes fall somewhere in this continuum.  The combinations are virtually endless, there are 4-beat kickers, 6-beat kickers with opposition type arms, and athletes who use some pulse kicking forms in competition.  The true rarity is the combination of a 2-beat kick and catch-up arms – this does not seem to be a very successful combination as the non-propulsive “gaps” that are created are simply too inefficient to promote optimal forward motion.

The Finding Freestyle program helps the athlete navigate their way along the continuum, naturally selecting the style that suits their personal strengths and body composition.  Once mastery of the drills is obtained, the swimmer will find themselves hitting their own optimal rhythm and stroke range, as well as being able to effortlessly transition within this range to adjust to changes in currents, conditions and speeds.