Did you know that the best freestyle swimmers can swim 25 meters in 7-13 strokes? The goal of any freestyle swimmer is to swim efficiently, using a minimum number of strokes. Sometimes people feel like they hurt themselves in the water when they try to swim freestyle, floundering around the pool with lots of splashes and an inordinate number of strokes.
If you’re a beginning swimmer or veteran swimmer who finds yourself splashing around like there’s no tomorrow, or moving your arms too fast and pulling them a short distance, then learn exercises that work to improve stroke efficiency and save! Energy!
Do the following exercises to improve stroke efficiency, and remember to visualize what you’re doing:
Exercise #1 Fist Swimming: Imagine yourself as a polar bear navigating the wave-swept Atlantic Ocean to escape the Arctic waters (which they do in winter). The polar bear makes a fist while swimming to warm its claws and hand.
Step 1: With your hands clenched into fists, crawl through the water using the surface of your forearms. During the pull phase (when your hand dips into the water), keep your elbow higher than your hand. As the hand passes under the shoulder, your hand, elbow, and shoulder should be in one line, perpendicular to your body.
Step 2 – Keep your fists clenched during the push-off phase (when your hand comes back up and prepares to enter the water again). Relax in the push phase, keep your fists clenched, maintain proper head position, use a steady kick, and keep your strokes long and smooth.
This swimming fist drill is great for strengthening your forearm and working on the push and pull phase of freestyle. Try swimming your fists several times across the width of the pool and see how difficult it can be.
Drill #2 Head-Up Freestyle: When performing this drill, imagine yourself as a great white shark tracking down its prey. The great white shark is the only shark that lifts its head out of the water. Their eyes can rotate 360 degrees because they don’t have an urnifying membrane. Head up freestyle is a good technique to practice and perform well on the lake or ocean.
Step 1: Begin swimming with your head up and your chin just touching the surface of the water. Keep your head still and keep a reference point in front of you. Keep your elbows high and support them during the pull phase (when your arm goes under your body and your hand pushes through the water).
Step 2 – During the pull phase, keep your hand under your sternum and press through the push phase (when your hand comes back out of the water and your arm stretches to prepare to re-enter the water). The head-up freestyle can be practiced in a swimming pool, the ocean, or a lake.
Drill #3 One-Arm Freestyle – Imagine yourself as a flying fish gaining enough speed and momentum from one fin to fly out of the water in a short burst of speed and then return to the freestyle stroke. Flying fish literally fly out of the water with speeds of up to 40 mph and then come back at a swimming pace. The one-arm freestyle will help you build speed and strength by working one arm at a time.
Step 1: First, start a regular freestyle swim with your right arm, bringing your left arm to your side.
Step 2: While pulling (arm underwater pulling the water) with the right arm, breathe only to the left side (and to the right when pulling with the left arm). Time your breaths so that you start your head rotation as your right arm enters the water. Once your hand is past her stomach, finish by pushing your hand past her thigh as far as it will go. When your right arm comes out of the water to recover before going back in, your right shoulder will be out of the water and your left shoulder will be in the water.
Step 3 – As your arm comes out of the water for recovery, bend your arm and keep your elbow high. Your arms and hands should be relaxed. One-arm swimming is good for practice in a 25-yard pool. Practice one-arm swimming with your right arm for 25 yards, then switch to your left arm and repeat as much as you like.
All of these exercises will make you a “swimtastic” freestyle swimmer, as long as you already know how to swim freestyle.
