As an elementary school kid in Northern Virginia it was always super exciting to get to enter the 4th grade. Why? Because thats when you were first allowed to join the orchestra! Yay instruments and cool things that don’t feel school related but happen during school! But, then you get to enter 5th grade, and orchestra all of a sudden looks as lame as those Payless shoes your mom bought for you because now, as a mature and well rounded 5th grader, you’re first allowed to join the band! WOOT WOOT! See ya never weird stringed thing that I wish was a guitar! Time to pretend like I’ve always had dreams of playing Hot Cross Buns and eventually Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s All Turca on the oboe!
What? You thought this blog was all about swimming? Sounds like you must be new around here. Sike! (do people still say that? No, I know they don’t, but they should) It is all about swimming, so let’s bring it full circle and get to the meat of today’s post sandwich: why am I talking about musical instruments? Because today’s drill we’re focusing on is Accordion Drill! Too bad we never had the opportunity to play those in my elementary school, otherwise my life might have taken a very different and german themed turn…But since we’re here, let’s get to it.
Accordion Drill is a simple movement we like to use to work on the timing of your breaststroke. This drill works on the timing of your breaststroke pull, kick, glide, and the body movements that bring all of these pieces together. Apparently we thought naming this movement after a musical instrument would be the best way to get these movements across, now you’re starting to put together what the movements of this drill are going to be, huh.
To being this drill you want to start in a streamline position at the surface of the water. Make sure your legs are together and your toes are pointed. Next, bring your streamlined hands to the crown of your head - make sure you actually touch your head! The feeling of your hands hitting your head is the cue to take the next step.
Once you bring your streamlined hands to your head, as soon as your hands hit your head you’re going to start your kick - you want to think of kicking your hands forward AT THE SAME TIME. You want your arms to be back in your streamline position before you finishing kicking.
Now, the timing of this can feel a bit wonky and like you have no control, that’s okay! This drill took me about 3-4 minutes of playing around with my body position while doing so - take your time! Performing this drill incorrectly won’t help improve your breaststroke, so make sure you’ve given yourself enough time to play around with this one before starting a set.
That’s it! You’ve done it - you’re officially an accordion now. No need to be jealous of your 5th grade self who never played the instrument in band class, now you can embody it whenever the mood strikes.
Make sure you watch our instructional drill video to fully understand the movements before hitting the pool!
