Freestyle Tips

There are several different elements to swimming with a propper freestyle technique. Pay close attention to your body position and get your technique right before you work on your speed. Swimmer with good technique can swim faster and longer than more athletic swimmers with poor technique.

These basic tips can help you refine your freestyle stroke:

• Keep your head in line with your spine
• When breathing, look sideways with one eye directly over/above the other. When not breathing, look at the bottom of pool.
• Your shoulders and chest should rotate around the central axis of your spine in same plane as your hips. Your upper shoulder is on recovery, while your lower shoulder is pulling your arm through the water.
• The propulsive surface of your arm (the line from fingertips up through wrist and elbow) should point at the bottom of the pool as much of the time as possible.
• Rotate your hips around central axis of your spine in same plane as shoulders. Attempt to initiate body rotation from your hips.
• Kicking is secondary to the pull, and shouldn’t overpower it. It should be natural and not forced. A variety of kick rhythms are acceptable.
• The faster feet your feet, the faster your pull, and ultimately the faster your swim. Splashing is not only OK but encouraged to facilitate better follow-through on.

Remember, the #1 thing you can do to improve your swimming is to practice.