As long as I have been a swimming coach, I have shied away from the “self help” approach to swimming improvement. The reason is that I believe there is no replacement for an experienced eye observing a swimmer’s stroke in action. While a particular stroke may seem right to a swimmer doing it, analysis by a coach can provide valuable insight about subtle, but important stroke flaws that are present. Unchecked, the swimmer can end up practicing and perfecting flawed technique. Without intervention, stroke flaws may be repeated over and over again, becoming habit.
Study them. Know their purpose. Try them. Practice them, and practice more. But above all, ask your coach for feedback. There is nothing more valuable than that.
Don’t get discouraged if things don’t fall into place right away. Drills are meant to be repeated, and repeated again. Check the Feedback Charts to identify problems. Make modifications and try again. Practice over several visits to the pool. Above all, spend lots of time in the water, and enjoy every minute of it.
Process of becoming an efficient swimmer involves using both the body and the brain to “feel” and “understand” what is going on. When a swimmer “feels” fluid movement through the water, and “understands” the cause and effect of specific actions, that swimmer is prepared to pursue efficient swimming.
The art of swimming is all about “feeling” effective movement through the water. It is probably best described as “being at one with the water.” A good example of the art of swimming is when good swimmers refer to feeling fishlike in the water. The swimmer is able to “feel” the water, rather than fight it.
The foundation of economic swimming is solid swimming technique that allows a swimmer to minimize drag, to develop “feel” for the water, and to access potential power.
We humans have mastered vertical balance. To be a good swimmer, we must become equally comfortable and agile in the water. We have to mater horizontal balance, or floating. Just as we are able to shift our weight forward and from side to side to do things better and easier on land, we must learn this skill in the water. Our spine and core strength are key in allowing us to stand erectly, and they are equally crucial in floating correctly. Swimmers are well served by giving special attention to learning how to stabilize their core in the water. It reduces drag, improves feel for the water, and increases access to power. It encourages the swimmer to achieve the importance feeling of swimming “downhill.”
Hands that are able to feel the water are able to use water like a handle. With a firm hold on the water, the swimmer can best move his or her body forward past the point at which the hands are anchored.
Leveraging is also present in the limbs while swimming. To access available leverage, swimmers must learn to stabilize their joints, especially the elbows and the knees. Observe fish. They don’t have elbows or knees. We have to learn to stabilize our joints and not allow them to collapse and weaken our levers.
A swimmer must know the correct sequence of the drill, and perform each step correctly. This is important to feel the full effect of the action being performed in the drill. Skipping a step reinforces incorrect technique, and can interfere with achieving the desired outcome. Sometimes, the skipped step is the very one that represents the problem area. Start by practicing each drill slowly. Many drills seem awkward at first, but like any new thing, they get better with practice.
An efficient freestyle is built on good body position. The way we float in the water is affected by our core tension. For a better freestyle, we must learn to shift weight forward, and achieve a “downhill” floating position.
Focus on your spine. Make it as straight as possible by contracting your abdominal muscles and pulling your bellybutton in. Learning to achieve and maintain a straight spine through core tension is an important skill that can be applied to all strokes.
I can’t balance on my chest: Try rotating your shoulders back, and rounding your chest out. Pretend you are staring at attention horizontally. Focus on your breastbone, moving it gently lower in the water.
Splash from your kick should be a result of your foot moving water, rather than you foot bringing air down into the water. Bend your knees less. Keep your feet connected to the water.
Observe as fish swimming. Notice the tail as the fish swims. It is not rigid, rather it moves back and forth in the water like a flag in the breeze. The movement is not frantic, rather, it appears to be an effortless action for the fish.
Begin a gentle sculling action (tracing side to side underwater figure eights with your hands) to keep your head above water.
Kick even faster. Try to achieve a fluid motion that makes your legs feel as if they have no bones.
With the long, sweeping, alternating arm action of the freestyle stroke, humans are capable of producing the most potential speed of all the strokes. The swimmer must be concerned with 3 things:
- Achieving correct alignment is crucial to begin the stroke from a position of strength.
- Maintaining a high elbow position is important to hold on to the water.
- Accelerating through the arm stroke is necessary to fully benefit from the stroke action.
Your arms should be aligned in front of your shoulders, not in front of your nose.
Fist freestyle
Purpose of this drill:
- Learning to feel the water with the forearm
- Understanding the importance of a stable, high elbow
- Appreciating the role of the hand
Once your hand is clear of the water, your elbow should remain higher than your hand throughout its path over the water.
I lose the rhythm after a few strokes: It takes practice. Keep each stroke long. Cue your inhale and your exhale with the movement of the corresponding arm.
I don’t seem to have time to inhale: Make sure you are exhaling thoroughly before you turn to inhale. There is not time to both exhale and inhale when you are turned to the side.
At the exact point when your mouth clears the water in inhale, freeze in that position. Identify precisely where the arm is that you are turned away from when breathing. Has it left the fully extended position? Is it under your chest? If the answer to either of these questions is “yes,” you have a heavy arm. As this heavy arm presses down on the water in an attempt to lift you up to breathe, it works like an anchor. When your arm sinks, you lose half of your next stroke that could have moved you forward in the water.
Using core leverage avoids injury to vulnerable shoulder joints. Long term flat freestyle is responsible for many swimmers being out of the water for extended periods of time. By using core leverage, the shoulders can be spared of the entire burden of freestyle.
The rhythm of ice skating resembles the rhythm of swimming freestyle. As one side of the body balances, the other is applying force. To go faster, the ice skater does not do shorter, choppier movements. Instead, each stride is extended, using leverage from the hips to produce motion.
My head is moving side to side with my hips, even when I am not breathing: Relax the muscles in your neck. Keep looking at the bottom of the pool. It is as if your head was an independent object, floating in front of your body.
Although the rate of the kick is quicker than the rate of the arm stroke, one kick should match each arm entry. As one arm enters in front, kick down with one foot. Doing so creates additional forward motion, but also lift and balance to the whole stroke.
Swimming “uphill” is as tiring as running “uphill.”
Think about how a person climbs a rope. Hand over hand, the climber uses one hand to grasp the rope at a point higher than the body, while the other hand holds the body steady at the previous advance. When the reaching hand has a good grip on the rope, the climber moves his body past that reaching hand, while the lower hand then becomes the one that reaches to a higher point. This is exactly how the best swimming is. Rather than churning the water madly, efficient swimmers reach and grab hold of the water in front of them, then move their bodies beyond that point, hand over hand.
Avoid dropping your elbows. High elbows give you more leverage to lift your body past your reaching hand.