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Front Crawl Technique

by Rob Harvey

Introduction

This guide to front crawl technique is a good place to start for those new to swimming who take 25:00+ to complete 1500m. The focus is on efficiency in the water which is crucial when you consider that the swim normally accounts for less than one third of the total race duration.

Contents

  • Body and Head Position
  • Leg Kick
  • Body Roll
  • The Recovery Phase
  • Hand Entry and Extension
  • The Underwater Phase
  • Breathing
  • Timing
  • Measuring Stroke Efficiency
  • A quick note on - Awareness

Body and Head Position

In general a balanced position for freestyle is one in which the head, torso, hips and legs are all in one line parallel to the surface of the water. This position reduces frontal resistance.  This can be achieve through the use of your leg kick to lift the hips and legs to the surface, however as kicking uses a significant amount of energy, experiment with different head positions and the idea of leaning onto the water with your chest. All the time ensure your body is aligned and you maintain good posture. Here are some keys to achieving and maintaining balance while swimming:

  • Swim with stretched tension throughout your body - Imagine your body is a piece of elastic being stretched from above, as if someone if pulling you along by the top of your head. This will help you maintain alignment as you swim and move as one solid object.
  • Begin with a neutral head position in line with your trunk - The position of your head is crucially important to balance as it has a weight of 5-10 kg's. When not breathing, look down towards the bottom of the pool keeping the crown of your head in line with your spine rather than looking forward to the end of the pool. The water line should be around the middle of your head so only one third of your head will be exposed, the rest will be underwater.
  • Keep a straight back and press you buoy - Your lungs are literally a buoy that causes the upper portion of your body to float. By contrast your centre of mass; located just above your belly button causes your hips and legs to sink. Pressing your buoy towards the bottom or leaning on it will raises your hips and reduce your frontal surface area. The overall feeling should be one of swimming slightly down hill. Don't allow yourself to ‘pike' at the hips when you press your buoy.
  • A relaxed, narrow and shallow kick - Kicking too deep, too wide or with inefficient technique will significantly effect streamlining. Kick is dealt with in more detail later.
  • Learn to balance on your side - Whilst this isn't something that most people find natural it is important to learn how to do it. Why? Well here are 4 good reasons:

1. Water offers less resistance when we swim on our side as we present a smaller frontal surface area
2. The longer we are in the water the faster we will move similar to the long thin bow of a racing yacht
3. Swimming on your side also enables you to use the large muscles of the back and the snap of your hips for propulsion
4. It also makes it easier to maintain a high elbow during recovery.

 

Body Position Drills

Front Balance: Keep your arms by your side. Lay face down in the water, head fixed looking straight down at bottom of the pool. Lean on your chest until hips rise to the surface. Kick gently from the hips. When you are learning the drill stop each time you need to breath and take as long as your require to recover before beginning again. As you progress, breathe to the side keeping one goggle and the lower part of your mouth in the water. Once you have taken a breath return to the neutral position.

TIP: Imagine you are lying down peering over the edge of a cliff. Keep yourself long, thin and stretched in the water. Don't pike at the hips.

Back Balance - Keep your arms by your side. Lay face up in the water, head fixed looking straight up at ceiling of the pool. Water should lap around corner of goggles. Lean on your shoulder blades until hips rise to the surface. Keep leaning until they are there! Kick gently from the hips. Breathe as you wish. Think about how breathing affects your balance in the water?

Side Balance - Keep your arms by your side. Begin in front balance position. Keep your head still and looking at the bottom of the pool. Rotate your body from the hips until your belly button is pointing to the wall of the pool. You should now be lying on your side. Your top arm should have a dry strip clear of the water and your upper hip should be at the waters surface. Kick gently from the hips. To breathe, turn your head to look up at the ceiling. If necessary, roll slightly onto your back. Take 2 or 3 deep controlled breaths before returning to the head down position.

Side Balance 45 - Few swimmers will rotate their bodies through 180 degrees when they swim. Research has shown that somewhere between 45 and 60 degrees is optimal. It is therefore worth practicing the Side Balance drill at a 45 degree angle, which is half way between the front balance and side balance position.

Side Kick (Side Balance with lower arm extended) - As described for Side Balance except that the lower arm should be stretched /extended out in front of your head to make yourself as long in the water as possible. The palm of the lower arm should be facing the bottom of the pool and the hand should be below the surface of the water by approximately 20-30cm. This should make it level with the lower shoulder when in the side balanced position. The upper arm should remain resting along your side as described previously:

Shark Fin - Begin from the Side Balance (Arm Extended) position. Once balanced, slowly run the hand of your upper arm along the side of your body until it reaches your arm pit. Lead from the elbow keeping it high pointing directly towards the ceiling. Your palm should be facing back down the pool throughout. Remain in the side balanced position throughout the movement keeping your upper hip at the surface. The whole movement should take approx 5-10 kicks to complete. Take 2 or 3 deep controlled breaths before repeating. If this proves difficult only go as far as you can before your balance is lost. Keep practicing until you can pause for a few seconds at your armpit. To progress the drill from the shark fin position you can try raising your hand to point to the sky whilst remaining balance before recovering.

Head Position Drills

‘Say what you see' - It is important when you swim to take advantage of all the information available to you. This includes what you can see. When not breathing think about what you can see. If you can see the end of the pool and the waters surface you are probably looking straight forward and swimming with a high head position. If you can just see the end of the pool you are probably swimming with your head at 45 degrees and if you can only see the bottom of the pool you are likely to be looking straight down. Combine this information with what you know about the alignment of your head, hips and heels to decide whether to look further down to help you lie flatter in the water.

Fixed head - When not breathing keep your head still. You should be able to follow one line on the bottom of the pool, whether it is the black line or a line of tiles. As your body rotates along its long axis you should catch sight of your lower shoulder.

Leg Kick

The leg kick for front crawl consists of alternating sweeps of the legs in the direction the body is facing referred to as upbeats and downbeats with the upbeat of one leg occurring at the same time as the downbeat of the other.

For triathletes and distance swimmers the legs provide only a small part of overall speed; however it is important to stabilize the body position and to maintain the streamlining and synchronisation of the stroke. The importance to balance is apparent when using a pull buoy or band to neutralize the leg action, when trying not to kick at all or to kick out of sync with the stroke.

You should kick mainly from the hip and allow your knees to give slightly to the pressure of the water. Keep your ankles loose and turn your feet slightly inwards. Kick within the shadow of your body and tap your big toes as they pass to keep your kick narrow. The downbeat of your kick should only be chest deep and the upbeat should just break the surface of the water with your heels

During the full stroke cycle described below the legs will have made 6, 4 or 2 downward kicks referred to as a 6-beat, 4-beat or 2-beat kick. Aim for a 2-beat kick synchronized with the rotation of your body.

Leg Kick Drills

Vertical Kicking - In the deep end of the pool hold yourself in a vertical position using the wall. Place one hand over the other on your chest and start kicking holding your head at the surface. Your mouth and nose should be above the water. Keep your head and back position straight up and down. Resist the temptation to lean forward. Kick mainly from the hips, allowing your legs to yield slightly to the pressure of the water. Keep your ankles loose. Keep your kick small and rapid inside the shadow of your body. Progress the drill by placing your arms by your side and finally hold them in a streamlined position above your head.

Wall Kicking - Holding onto the gutter, or pool rail if low enough, practice kicking in the prone position and on each side. Use the stability of the wall to allow you to focus on the feel of the kick. Focus on kicking from the hip with a relaxed ankle.

Underwater Kicking / Torpedo - Push off from wall remaining underwater for maximum distance (aim for 12.5m) holding a tight streamlined body position, arms extended above your head, face down using a narrow, smooth, relaxed kick from the hips.

Kick with board - Holding onto the board with both hands and with your head out of the water kick your legs to provide propulsion. Using the board makes it easier to breathe and allows you to focus on the quality of the kick.

Loose Band work - Swim front crawl with a loose band around your ankles. To avoid injury this should ideally be made from Thera-band or some similar stretchy material so to give when you legs kick against it. Over time make the band tighter and use the feedback it gives you to reduce the size of your kick.

Using Fins - Fins are a useful tool to learn how to keep the ankles loose and the legs straight on the upbeat of the kick. The use of fins sensitizes you to the movements of your legs, the fins make it less likely you will kick excessively downward or over flex their legs (bend your knees) on the upbeat.

Body Roll

Body roll is essential to smooth efficient freestyle as efficient freestyle involves a series of continually linked movements alternating from the right to the left side lying position. The linking movement is a snappy roll of the body. Maintaining lateral alignment as you roll is important for streamlining. This means the hips and legs must stay within the confines of the shoulder line by rolling from head to feet as a complete unit. As if you were turning on a skewer running up your back and pointing out the top of your head. Rolling should be a natural reaction to the stroking movements, not forced. The shoulders, trunk, hips and legs move down on one side when the arm on that side moves down and up on the other side when that arm is travelling forward. It is possible to roll too much, but most swimmers roll too little. Accomplished front crawl swimmers will roll in a range of 40 to 60 degrees usually slightly more to the breathing side.

Body Rolls Drills

Front to Back - Begin in the front balance position, hands by your sides and looking directly down at the bottom of the pool. Slowly rotate your whole body through the side balance position to the back balance position without pausing. Initiate the rotation from your hips and work to keep long and stretched in the water, hips and shoulders in line. Keep pushing your buoy through the movement to prevent your hips from dropping below the surface of the water. Imagine you are being turned on a skewer. Keep your chin tucked into your chest as you rotate so by the time you reach the back balance position you are looking directly up at the ceiling with the water lapping around the edge of your goggles. Take a number of breaths and check you are balanced before returning in the same direction. This drill should be done in both directions. It can also be done with your arms extended above your head in a streamlined position.

TIP: Imagine you are being turned on a skewer.

Side to Side - Begin in the side balance position, hands by your side and looking directly down at the bottom of the pool. Slowly rotate your whole body through the front balance position to the side balance position on the opposite side without pausing. Keep your head fixed looking down at the bottom of the pool until you reach the side balance position. Once you have checked you are balanced slowly turn your head to look at the ceiling and if required roll slightly onto your back. Take to or 3 deep controlled breaths before returning to the head down position and repeating the drill in the opposite direction. This drill should be done in both directions.

Side to Side (Arm Extended) / Zipp Drill - Begin from side balance (Arm extended) and slowly run the hand of your upper arm along your side till it reaches your arm pit as in the Shark Fin drill. Now allow your hand to continue forward into the water. Imagine your elbow is being held up by a puppet string and as you hand passes your ear, the string is cut and your hand falls forward into the water and extends to full extension. As the string holding your arm is cut you should also begin to rotate your body. Initiate the movement from the hips and feel the core muscles working to keep yourself aligned. Don't pause in the front position. Carry on rotating until you reach the side balance position on the opposite side. The rotation should be smooth and continuous along the long axis of the body. As your entering hand reaches full extension being to catch, pull and push with the other arm to keep you moving forward. Once you reach the side balance position on the opposite side pause to check you are balanced. After 12 kicks repeat the rotation so you are back on the original side.

Side-Front-Side (Arm Extended) - A good progression towards the Side to Side (Arm Extended) drill is to pause in the front position and then either return to the starting position or continue through to the opposite side. Pausing in the front position allows you to break to down the movement into 2 parts so you can check your balance. Returning to the starting position allows you to focus on only one just one side.

3-7 x Side-to-Side (Arm Extended) - As you progress link Side-to-Side drills before pausing on your side. Begin with 2, then 3, 4, 5 up to 7.

Hip Snap - If you want to swim faster try increasing the speed of your rotation from one side to the other. When doing any of the Side-to-Side drills above really snap your hips from one side to the other a quickly as you can keeping your body strong, long and streamlined in the water. Don't try to rush the next stroke, instead enjoy the speed you generate during the glide. Start the roll from your hips and see how quickly you can get from your belly button facing one side wall to facing the other side wall.

FC-BC Combination Drill - Swim 5-7 strokes Front Crawl and on the final stroke hold your leading arm extended and roll through onto your back along your long axis and completing 5-7 stroke backstroke driving the rotation of the stroke with your hips. Remember to stay flat (head, hips and heels aligned at the surface of the water) as you roll. On the 5-7th stroke hold your leading arm extended and roll through onto your front and immediately beginning the pattern again. This drill is excellent for remaining flat as you roll and feeling the similarities between the body movements for front crawl and backstroke.

 

NOTE: This is a good introduction to practicing backstroke turns around buoys used when swimming in open water.

Single Arm Drills - These drills are an extension / variation of the Side-Front-Side drill with the pauses taken out to make them flow. They could also sit within the section on drills for the underwater phase of the stroke as they give you the opportunity to focus on the movements of just one arm at a time. However the key focus of single arm drills should be body rotation. The drill involves completing the full stroke cycle with just on arm with the resting arm in one of two positions:

  • Fully extended - Breathe on the stroking side
  • By your side - Breathe on the non-stroking side

Focus on rotating your body along its long axis as if you were swimming full stroke front crawl, don't just paddle down the pool on one side without any rotation:

To progress these drills in one of two ways:

  • Swim with your stroking hand closed loosely in a fist to, really ‘feel' the water on your forearm.
  • Combine a number of strokes using one arm with a number using the other. For example - 2 strokes left only, 2 strokes right only, and then repeat. This type of combination drill is good for developing rhythm and timing in your stroke.

The Recovery Phase

The arm leaves the water with the elbow leading. The forearm and hand should be completely relaxed and hanging down from the elbow so the fingers move forward close to the surface of the water and the swimmer's body. The more body rotation you have the easier it will be to achieve this high-elbow recovery. Remember to keep your palm facing back down the pool to set yourself for the correct hand position on entry. It may help you to imagine that there is a sting attached to the elbow of your recovering arm that is being pulled from above as your arm moves forward, with the hand following an almost straight path. Just as your elbow goes past your head imagine the string is cut and the hand, arm and elbow drops forward into the water.

Recovery Drills

Ripple - As your hand exits the water at the end of the underwater phase you should be rotated onto your side. As your arm recovers above the water, your fingertips should stay in contact with the water, rippling across the surface. Keep the elbow high as if being held up by a string. Your palm should face back down the pool throughout. Once your recovering hand reaches the ear it should extend forward and down into the water. Imagine that the string holding the elbow high has been cut. Keeping your fingers in constant contact with the water gives you feedback and makes sure the hand doesn't come up and over as it passes the ear instead of forward and down:

TIP: If you keep the thumb of the recovering hand in contact with your body as it moves forward you will know that you have good body rotation and guarantee that hand is following a straight path forward.

Wrist Shake - As your arm recovers above the water keep your wrist relaxed and loose. To confirm this shake your wrist once, twice or three times before entering the water. This can be done as a progression to the ripple drill by keeping the fingertips in contact with the water.

Shoulder Throw - Instead of thinking about leading your recovery with your elbow then try leading form your shoulder. Begin by slowly throwing your shoulder forward and into the water. This may result in increased body rotation which is not a bad thing as long as the rotation takes place along the whole of your body, not just the shoulders. Be careful with this drill and stop of you feel any pain. Begin slowly and only increase the pace as you become more confident.

Lane Rope Drill - Swim down the pool with one shoulder touching the lane rope. This forces you to rotate and recover your arm with a high elbow or the arm will be caught under the lane rope. Repeat with other shoulder against the lane rope. Take care if lanes are busy with other swimmers or pool users.

Hand Entry and Extension

This phase of the freestyle stroke begins as the hand enters the water and continues until the arm reaches full extension pointing down the pool. The entry by the hand is made in line with your shoulder about 30cm in front of your head. The palm should be pitched somewhere between 0-45° to the surface of the water. As the hand enters it extends forward and slightly down at between 0-30° so that at full extension the hand is approximately 20-30 cm below the surface of the water. During this movement keep your elbow higher than your wrist and your wrist higher than your fingers tips. As it extends forward the arm should feel weightless and should cause as little disturbance to the water as possible. Can you see lots of bubbles? Can you hear a big slap or slash as your arm enters? To help this imagine trying to silently slot your elbow through the same hole your hand created as it entered. Whilst these movements are taking place the other hand is pushing through underneath your body towards the back of your stroke.

Hand Entry and Extension Drills

Keep off the line - As your hands enter the water they should extend forward in line with your shoulder. To make sure your hands don't creep across the centre line of your body use the black line on the bottom of the pool. As your left hand extends forward keep it to the left of the black line. As your right hand extends forward keep it to the right of the black line. You may have to look slightly further forward than normal to perform this drill so you can see the position of your hands, only look as far as you need to.

Finger point - This is a variation of the drill above. Every 3rd stroke as your hand enters and extends forward straighten you index finger. Glance up to see where you are pointing. Are you pointing directly down the pool? Make sure you aren't pointing too far out to the side or across your body:

Weightless Arm - As your hand enters the water and extends forward it should feel weightless in the water. If you enter at too deep an angle or too close to your head you will feel pressure on the upper side of the arm. If you over reach and enter the water with a straight arm or extend forward at the surface of the water you will feel pressure on the under side of the arm.

No Stopping - The fingertips should be the lowest point of the body as the arm reaches full extension, with the wrist high and the elbow higher. It is tempting to over-reach during this phase and allow the elbow and wrist to drop and the fingertips to raise back up towards the surface. This will result in you showing your palm to the end of the pool, like a policeman stopping traffic this will act as a brake to your progress.

3 and glide - A great way to check your hand entry and extension is to perform 3 continues strokes then pause with the front arm at full extension. You should be streamlined with your head, hips and heels aligned at the surface and your body rotated at a 45 degree angle. Your fingertips should be lower 25-30 cm below the surface of the water and lower than your wrist. Your wrist should be lower than your elbow. You should feel streamlined and balanced. Hold that position until you feel that you are beginning to decelerate then begin you next 3 strokes.

Polo - Apart from being a great way to develop strength in the water, polo or head up freestyle can be used in short repeats to focus on your hand entry and extension. Swim with your normal front crawl stroke except tilt your head up and look directly forward, pointing your chin towards the bottom of the pool. The high head position allows you to look forward and see each what your fingertip, wrist and elbow are doing as they enter the water and extend forward. This drill should be used sparingly by novice swimmers as it can result in a dropping of your hips and heels.

The Underwater Phase

The stroke phase begins with the catch as the swimmer begins to apply pressure to the water until the hand exits the water at the back of the stroke. After the catch is made the hand travels in an outward and downward direction whilst the elbow remains firm close to the surface of the water. The aim is to try to get the forearm as vertical as possible far out in front as possible. Keep the palm facing back down the pool throughout this phase and try to feel the pressure of the water on your forearms as well as your palm. At the completion of the first part of this phase the angle at the elbow should be about 45-65 degrees. Inwards and upwards movements of the elbow occur before the push through to the back of the stroke. The hand accelerates throughout this stroke phase until you can no longer keep the palm facing back down the pool.

Drills to develop ‘Feel for the Water'

Sculling drills should be used to help develop the connection between your hand and forearm and the water. Without this connection your arms will simply slip through the water without getting the purchase necessary to pull and push yourself forward.

Front Scull - Lie in the prone with your arms stretched out in front of you. Your hands should scull in a figure of eight; they will have to change pitch to propel you forward always acting at 45 degrees to the water. Your kick should be minimal or ideally you should use a pull buoy. The head can be up or down. This is like the catch position of your stroke.

Mid Scull - Lie in the prone position with your elbows bent. Your fingertips should be pointing towards the bottom of the pool with your elbows high, just below the surface of the water. Your hands do figure of eights moving in towards the centre line of the body and out away from the centre line of the body. Use the hand and arm pitch angle to generate forward propulsion. Again your kick should be minimal or ideally you should use a pull buoy. This is like the centre of your stroke.

Back Scull #1 - In the prone position lie with your arms straight by your sides and fingertips pointing directly back down the pool. Do figure of eights moving your hands towards and away from the centre line of your body to propel yourself forward using the pitch of your hand to generate forward propulsion. Again your kick should be minimal or ideally you should use a pull buoy. This is like the back of your stroke.

Back Scull #2 - Lie in the prone position with the elbow tucked into your sides and your forearms and fingertips pointing towards the bottom of the pool. This will create a 90 degree angle at your elbow. With your palms facing back down the pool push back on the water keeping your elbows fixed to your side. This should work the same muscles as doing a trip dip! Once your arms are straight turn your hands perpendicular to your line of travel so they can cut easily through the water as they recover back the starting position. Repeat and try to feel the pressure of the water on your hands and forearms. You can try moving both hands back together or alternating one arm then the other for a more continuous movement.

Scull Combination - Slowly move from front scull, through to mid scull and finish with back scull before turning the hands inwards to face each other and recovering them to the front of the stroke underneath the water. At full extension begin the pattern again. Keep a high elbow throughout this drill. It allows you to slow down the underwater phase of the stroke and see what is happening at each part. Take your time and move through the cycle slowly.

Sit Scull - Sit in the water. Hold you knees, feet and head at or above the surface of the water with your thighs perpendicular to your shins. This drill develops feel and demands that you connect your hands and forearm with the water to move forward. As you head is high breathing isn't a problem. Hold everything else still and only make movements inwards and outwards with your hands and forearms.

Catch and Pull Drills

Vertical Forearm - Once you begin the catch and pull phase of your stroke, get the stroking forearm vertical, pointing towards the bottom of the pool as quickly as possible and keep it vertical for as long as possible while the arm moves down the length of the body. Keep the elbow high at all times (higher than an imaginary line between shoulder and wrist). This allows you to increase the amount of hold you have on the water.

Rope Pull - Imagine that as you reach full extension at the front of the stroke you catch hold of a rope running the length of the pool about 30-40cm below the surface of the water. Grab the rope between your thumb and index finger; pull your self along the rope beginning by kicking your elbow up and out to get an angle of approximately 90 degrees at your elbow. Your hand should pass directly underneath your body.

Fists - You can either make your hand into a loosely clenched fist, use fist gloves or rounded paddles. This removes the feel for the water from the palm of your hand and heightens the feel for the water on your forearm. Often we rely too much on catch water with the palm and not enough with the forearm so by removing the palm we can focus on the efficiency of the other areas. Concentrate on a smooth, balanced and efficient vertical forearm stroke:

None-Dominant Swimming / One Fist Drill - The drill is performed as above but with only one fist closed whilst the other remain open. This drill is excellent to ‘Feel' the difference in the pull on each arm. It is sometimes used to help ‘balance out' a stroke where one arm is more dominant than the other. One approach is to close the fist of the none-dominant arm to improve the use of the forearm and improve efficiency. The second is to build strength by closing the fist of the dominant hand and relying more on the use of the none-dominant hand:

Doggy Paddle - This progression of drills allows you to focus on the underwater phase of the front crawl stroke particularly the catch as it slows the arms so that you can think about executing all movements properly. Doggy paddle is essentially front crawl with an underwater recovery so the hand never exits the water. It is better to learn this drill stood with your feet on the bottom of the pool leaning forward from your waist to bring your upper body towards horizontal. Once you have masters the progression in this way you can take your feet off the floor and repeat lying flat on the water kicking your legs very gently or using a pull buoy.

First hold both of your arms out in front of you. Fix your elbow high and at just wider than shoulder width, close to the surface of the water, don't allow them to move from this position. Drop the hand and forearm of your left arm back and down so they are facing back down the pool, like you are scooping soil out of a tunnel. Keep those elbows high and fixed. Recover the left arm under the water to the starting position. Now try with the right arm. Keep alternating left and right till you get the feel for the movements. Now begin the movements with the resting arms as the active arm recovers to more closely simulate the movement patterns of front crawl.

TIP: Try this drill by placing your upper arms over the lane rope help keep your elbows fixed.

NOTE: To be done well this part of the drill requires flexion of the elbow and internal rotation of the shoulder. Practice both of these movements separately first if you are struggling.

Next extend the movement of the active arm so that when your forearm and hand have reach vertical facing straight back down the pool (this should be when they are at the level of your elbow when viewed from the side) continue back and through with the movement to the end of the stroke, finishing with an extension of the tricep. As you develop the feel for the movements begin to add in body roll along your long axis:

The arm stroke should be slow and deliberate. When stood on the floor doing this you should take the opportunity to look at what your hands are doing as well as closing your eyes to help develop the feel for the movements. When lying on the water keep your head in a neutral position like you would when swimming full stroke as this will result in better streamlining and allow you to roll to breathe as normal. Keep visualizing scoping soil out of a tunnel as this will help keep your hand and forearms vertical throughout the underwater phase.

Finish all doggy paddle drills by going straight into a short full stroke front crawl swim to re-enforce the movements the drill has been practicing. To do this simply recover the arm above the water instead of beneath it.

Thigh Touch - Don't cut the underwater phase short. Make sure you push back on the water by extending your elbow using your triceps and make your stroke as long as possible. As you hand exits the water it should brush your thigh mid-way between your hip and your knee. Keep your body long and strong as you do this and don't loose your lateral alignment which would cause you to snake down the pool. This rear quadrant of the stroke is where much of the propulsion is generated so keep you hand facing back down the pool and your forearm as vertical as possible.

Breathing

Freestyle swimmers, even those who are highly skilled, tend to make many mistakes when they turn the head to the side to breath. They turn the head too early or late, lift it out of the water and pull it back and away from the mid-line of the body. Head movements need to be coordinated with body rotation so that you can breathe without disrupting horizontal and lateral alignment. As the time the stroking arm reaches the end of the underwater phase the body will be maximally rotated and the upper part of the mouth and upper goggle should be clear of the water. You should try to keep the lower part of the mouth and the lower goggle in the water so as not to lift the head. Think pop-eye breathing:

Roll the body; don't lift the head - rotate down and in, don't lift up and out!

Look to the side or slightly forward when you turn to breath. Keep the lower part of your mouth and lower eye below the surface of the water. The return of your face into the water is also coordinated with body roll. By the time the recovering hand enters the water at the end of the recovery phase your head should be rotated back face down, looking at the black line. Don't hold your breath whilst swimming. Begin exhaling as soon as you have finished inhaling by blowing out a steady stream of bubbles as you swim. This helps avoid CO2 build up which contributes to your ‘need to breath'.

You should practice bi-lateral breathing; that is breathing to both sides. Advantages of bi-lateral breathing include:

  • Your stroke will be more symmetrical. Alternate breathing encourages swimmers to roll the body equally to both sides which increases body rotation and improves streamlining on the non-breathing side.
  • When swimming in open water you will be able to watch competitors on both sides, breathe on the sheltered side in choppy water and sight more effectively in bright sunshine.

Breathing Drills

Trickle Breathing - Don't hold your breath in the face down position whilst swimming. This will cause carbon dioxide to build up in your body causing feeling of tension / discomfort. You should aim to release a constant stream of bubbles as you let the air trickle out of your mouth. If this proves difficult use the following cue to aid your memory: bubble-bubble-breath. Each time one of your hands enters the water exhale some air from your mouth. Then simply inhale when you roll to breath.

Bi-lateral Breathing - This involves alternating the side to which you breath. First take a breath to the left, and then complete 3 strokes before breathing to the right side. You can try alternating this pattern to include breathing every 5 strokes, 7 strokes or even 9 strokes! Be careful doing this especially if you have asthma. Breathing to both sides helps to even out your body roll. Those who breathe to just one side will over time rotate well to the breathing side and little to the non-breathing side. If you struggle with bi-lateral breathing then practice one length breathing to the left and the next length breathing to the right.

TIP: It is crucial to practice bi-lateral breathing even if you don't use it when competing. Being able to breathe to both sides gives you the option in open water swims to shelter from choppy water, look away from the sun or keep an eye on competitors.

Side Sighting - When breathing keep one eye in the water, pop-eye mouth and look at 90 degrees to your direction of movement. Sight using visible objets. Avoid looking behind as this will encourage you to lift your head. Focus on making sure you are rolling your body and not your neck when breathing. Begin by asking a partner to walk along the poolside slightly in front of your shoulder level. Each time you breathe look at your partner's feet. As you improve use landmarks on poolside instead of partner's feet, finally work from internal cues.

Popeye Breathing - As you breathe you should try to keep the lower part of your mouth and lower eye in the water. To take in air without swallowing water curl up your bottom lip Popeye style and breath just from the upper side of your mouth. Whilst side sighting check that you are keeping your lower eye in the water when breathing.

Sneaky Breathing - Imagine you are being watch closely by your coach and that you have been instructed to take a breath without them being able to see you. This means you have to minimize all movements involved so that you only just clear your mouth from the surface of the water. This is a great development from Popeye Breathing.

Timing

When do we roll from one side to the other? Well imagine there is a line stretching across the pool level with the front of your head. As your recovering arm is moving forward you are still long a stretched in a side lying position with the front arm fully extended. When the recovering hand cuts through the imaginary line this should trigger the rolling action to the other side. As you begin to roll the recovering hand continues forward through the surface of the water to full extension and the extended arm takes a stroke. Delaying any movement of the extended arm until the fingertips of the recovering arm enter the water will results in stroke timing know as Front Quadrant Swimming where at least one of your arms is in front of your shoulder line at all times. Classic timing is when the extended arm begins to move earlier in the stroke so that as the fingertips of the recovering arm enter the water the stroking arm is level with the line of the shoulders. Windmill timing would put the stroking arm towards the back end of the stroke as the recovering arm enters the water. Each type of timing has it's advantages but for the novice to intermediate triathlete the long and streamlined front quadrant stroke is an excellent place to start.

Timing Drills

Catch-Up - Perform one complete arm stroke with the left arm before initiating the next arm stroke with the right arm. The resting arm should be held at full extension with the hand approximately 30cm below the surface of the water and at shoulder width until the moving arm catches up. This drill exaggerates the glide in your stroke and allows you to practice disassociating the movements of the arms. It is particularly useful if you swim with a windmill arm action. It also allows you to focus on the movements of one arm at a time. Swapping a 30cm stick from hand to hand as you change from one arm stroke to the next can be useful to keep your hands apart so they don't cross the centre line.


FQS - Whilst catch-up is useful for developing a long streamlined stroke it is not a particularly practical way to swim. Instead try front quadrant swimming. Make sure that you always maintain one arm in the front quadrant of your body. That is in front of your shoulders line. If you have a tendency to drop your leading arm early in a windmill style action then hold out your leading arm a moment longer than usual to give your recovering arm a moment to catch-up. Swimming with a front quadrant stroke also helps to shift weight towards the front of your stroke helping to keep your hips and heels high:

Blurred Lines - Momentum is important in swimming. It is difficult to initially build up pace and overcome the resistive forces of the water, but much easier to hold onto it. Many people swim in a repeating pattern of speeding up with one arm stroke, gliding, slowing down then speeding up again with the next arm stroke. Whilst it is useful to have a short glide in your stroke you should try to avoid slowing down noticeably. One way to check this is to use the tiles on the bottom of the pool. They can be used as a guide to how fast you are moving through the water. If you are noticeably slowing during your glide then work to begin your catch and pull a little earlier or maintain propulsion with your kick. The first is the preferred option.

Super Slow Swimming - As the name suggests this drill involves swimming full stroke front crawl as slowly as possible without altering your technique. You need to work to remain balanced and streamlined with less propulsion to keep you aligned at the surface. Slip silently through the water causing as little disturbance as possible:

Stroke Efficiency

It's important to keep an eye on what all these drills are doing to your stroke. For distance swimming the first priority is stroke efficiency. Are you getting quicker for the same effort level? Are you getting greater distance per stroke?

Using the clock - If you want to know if you are getting quicker then you need to keep an eye on how long it takes you to swim set distances. If you haven't got a coach on pool side who can time for you then you have two options:

  • Pace Clock - Most swimming pools will have a large pace clock on the wall that you should learn how to use.
  • Wrist Watch - Alternatively you can use a wrist watch ideally with a stop watch function.

TIP: It's not all about getting quicker! For distance swimming efficiency is important. Compare the time you swim with how hard it felt. If it feels easier to swim at the same pace then your efficiency (or fitness) is improving.

Stroke Counting - Is something you can use whenever you are swimming. Count the number of strokes it takes to complete a set distance. Divide the number of strokes by the distance and you can calculate your distance per stroke. If you swim the same distance in fewer strokes then you have increased your distance per stroke and therefore your efficiency. Remember this will be affected by turns and pushing off the wall.

Swim Golf (Min-Max) - This is a good drill for learning how to optimise your distance per stroke and stroke rate over a set distance. Swim a set repeat distance whilst counting stroke per length. E.g. ‘16 x 25'. Add together the number of seconds taken for the repeat and the number of strokes taken per length. This is your Swim Handicap which should be recorded. Once a number of baseline repeat have been completed you should try a number of strategies to try to minimize your handicap:

  • Swim faster with fewer strokes
  • Swim faster with the same number of strokes
  • Swim the same time with fewer strokes

Break Point Set (Descending 25/50/100) - A variation on swim golf is to swim a set repeat distance reducing the time taken by between 1-3 seconds each repeat. Begin from something very easy and progress until you can no longer descend the time. For example 8 x 50 beginning from PB+14 seconds, then PB+12, PB+10, etc. On each repeat count the number of strokes you take. See if there is a repeat where your stroke count increases by more than 1. This is your stroke break point, the pace at which you can no longer maintain the efficiency of your stroke. Follow up this set with one targeted at that break point pace or slightly quicker aiming to reduce your strokes per length down to pre-Breakpoint values. For example:

• 8x50 on 2:00
• 8x75 on 2:30
• 8x100 on 3:00

Kick-inns - This is a good drill for increasing stroke length. Swim a series of 50 or 100m repeats counting the number of strokes taken and setting off on a set turnaround that is challenging but manageable. Before you begin set a target number of strokes for each repeat. This should be 1-2 cycles fewer than you usually take to complete this type of repeat. The aim is to complete the repeat with the target stroke count or fewer. If you don't finish within the set stroke count then you must kick the remainder of the distance and still set-off on the set turnaround. This will motivate you to try to reduce stroke count without sacrificing pace.

A quick note on - Awareness

Perhaps the single biggest tip to minimizing resistance from all sources is first to be aware of it then to act on that awareness. Use your senses to give yourself feedback about where you are fighting the water. Listen for slashing or kerplunking sounds and try to eliminate them. Feel for smooth, flowing movements of all parts of your body instead of bulldozing movements. You are trying to slip through the water rather than plough through it. Look for large or numerous bubbles in the water around you a sure sign of turbulence. We need to gear much of our training to help you make adjustments to reduce or eliminate these resistance indicators and the motions and positions that cause them.