Swimming 101: The Stroke Basics

How to Breathe Properly While Swimming

Being underwater can seem second-nature to experienced swimmers, but having one’s face submerged is not comfortable for everyone.

This article addresses some of the basics of proper breathing for all four strokes. These tips can help you regulate your breathing so that you can relax and focus on your stroke technique.

If you have anxiety about breathing and it’s keeping you from working on good technique, ask a coach about trying a swimmer’s snorkel. Using a snorkel will help you get the air you need and develop good technique habits.

Freestyle

Exhale

It’s best to have a continuous stream of bubbles coming from your mouth and/or nose when you swim, sometimes referred to as trickle breathing. Don’t hold your breath, as doing so increases the carbon dioxide in your body, which can result in a feeling of panic. Inhale when your face is out of the water and exhale when your face is in the water.

Rotation

Body rotation ensures that the mouth is free for breathing. If you swim too flat, the only way to get air is to engage your neck and turn your head. A more efficient way is to rotate your entire body. Even if you breathe from only one side, you should rotate to both sides. The head should never be up and out of the water. Look at the bottom, either straight down or just slightly ahead of you. Only move your head slightly, if at all. As you rotate your body, your mouth will naturally come out of the water, and you can grab a breath in the small air pocket you’ve created as you propel yourself forward.

Patterns

Although bilateral breathing (breathing to both sides) has many advantages, many swimmers breathe only to one side. If you breathe to both sides, you probably breathe every third or fifth stroke. If you only breathe to one side, it’s even-numbered strokes, so every second or fourth stroke. It’s important to find what’s comfortable for you—there’s no right or wrong. It’s far better to breathe every stroke and swim continuously than it is to stop after a 25 or 50 because you’re out of air from using a pattern that has you breathing less often.

Breaststroke

Inhale at End of Pull

Breathing is more natural in breaststroke as the catch and pull from your arms lifts your head out of the water, and you can then inhale. But remember to keep your face tilted down. Although it’s tempting to look to the end of the lane, keeping your face down ensures that you’ve reduced your drag as much as possible in the pull.

Exhale During Glide and Recovery

After your pull and your breath, and your face is back under the water during the glide and recovery, exhale. Clear the lungs before your next breath.

Remember Pull/Kick/Glide

Pull, kick, glide is the essence of the breaststroke and getting out of sync or out of rhythm will impact your breathing as well. If you focus on the three elements of the stroke, breathing will come naturally.

Butterfly

Synchronized Breath and Arms

In the butterfly stroke, breathing and arms are synchronized. In other words, your arm movements control your breathing. As you pull down, your head will rise out of the water. Make sure that you have coordination between your arms and your breathing. Also watch for timing problems. The faster you move your arms, the shorter time you’ll have to breathe, so a quick inhale might be necessary.

Chin in Front

As in breaststroke, breathing in butterfly is automatic. As you pull back your arms, your head will naturally raise up. The proper position for the head at this point is with your chin out front of your forehead. Your head will be out of the water prior to completing the pull.

Quick Breath/Head Back Down

Once you have taken a breath, quickly drop your head back down. Make sure you drop your head prior to your hands entering the water for the next pull down. You want to get your head back in the water as quickly as you can because a raised head increases drag and impacts your streamlined position.

Conclusions

Proper breathing is essential to swimming. Remembering a few basic breathing tips can increase your comfort, efficiency, and enjoyment in the water.

—ANN LOWRY

How to Do an Open Turn in Swimming 

Swimmers work hard on their technique to swim more efficiently and achieve faster times. Among many things experienced swimmers work on is their turns. You might be doing well with your technique and gaining speed all the time, but leaving precious seconds on the table because your turns are slow. 

A clean and fast turn, be it a flip turn or an open turn, not only helps with your speed, but a flawless turn also reduces your risk of injury. Open turns are used in breaststroke and butterfly events, including medleys, but some swimmers use open turns in freestyle and backstroke as well. If you have a condition or injury that prevents you from executing great flip turns, then perfecting your open turn should be high on your list of priorities.

Step One: Approach 

Remember: the wall is your friend, so approach it with enthusiasm. Your last stroke before the turn should be a half body length from the wall. If you’re too far away, kick. Keep your head down because lifting it increases drag. If the pool has a gutter or ledge, you can gain an advantage by using it to pull yourself into the wall. Some pools do not have ledges, but a straight vertical wall, so practice a simple touch, as opposed to a grab, at the pool’s edge. Swim toward the wall and touch it. Remember to touch with both hands in the breaststroke and butterfly. 

Step Two: Touch and Tuck 

As you touch the pool’s edge, quickly drive your knees toward your chest to move into a tucked position (this is easier if you’re using the grab method). Transfer both feet to the wall while keeping your body curled. Your head is still down—keep it there. Now move the hand on the side you’ll be turning toward down to rest on the side of your body. Keep your knees pointed straight up. This will keep you aligned for the push off. 

Step Three: Turn and Push Off 

Bring the hand that’s touching the wall past your ear and slice it forward into the water, while making a similar movement with the lower hand so that the two will meet out in front of you as you leave the wall. As you move your arms, your head and body will turn back toward the lane. Now straighten your knees and push off as hard and as quickly as you can. Lock your arms into a streamlined position for a completely aligned body. Remember to keep your head straight because the body follows the head. 

Step Four: Glide and Kick 

As you leave the wall, a slight movement of your legs as your feet leave the wall can bring you from your side to your front. Once you’re positioned correctly in the water, take advantage of the momentum you’ve created from your push-off. Glide if you’ve generated thrust from your turn, then kick to keep your momentum. If you’re doing butterfly, take three or four dolphin kicks. If you’re swimming breaststroke, start your pull-out. If you’re swimming freestyle or backstroke, do as many dolphin kicks as you can without exhaustion, or, if you aren’t a good dolphin kicker, use a tight and fast flutter kick to bring you into your breakout stroke.  

Drills to help you improve your open turn 

Drill One: Stationary Open Turn 

Lie face down in the water in a stationary position, away from the wall. Follow the same steps above for an open turn, only with no wall to grab or touch. Tuck your knees and get into a curled position. Drop one hand to the side. Lift the other hand up and past your ear and thrust it into the water in the opposite direction, as though you just turned at a wall. Your lower arm should shoot forward in a similar motion to join the upper one in a streamlined position. Get a friend to time you to see how long it takes to complete the turn. Aim for a faster time with each attempt. 

Drill Two: Knee Drive 

This drill is like the first, but in this one you finish on your back. The focus here is on the knee action. First, lie face down on the surface of the water. Then quickly drive your knees toward your chest. Now slip your arms to your sides and then pivot onto your back. Focus on quick knee action and streamlined position. 

—ANN LOWRY 

How to Do a Flip Turn in Swimming 

When you’re first learning flip turns, it’s common to include a bunch of extra movements as you’re getting used to the motion. But those extra movements—the twisting, waggling, and waving—make you wider in the water and, therefore, slower. Then you must spend more time and energy getting your body and all its parts back in line for a good streamline off the wall. That’s a double whammy: wasted energy and wasted time. 

The Four Fundamentals of a Great Flip Turn 

Step One: Get Ready 

Take your last freestyle stroke above or slightly after the “T” on the bottom of the pool at the end of your lane. Everyone is different on backstroke, but it’s usually three or four strokes from the flags before you turn over and pull yourself forward. 

Step Two: Hands to Hips 

As you take your last stroke, one hand is already at your hip and the other is pulling you toward the wall. As that stroking hand reaches your hip, tuck your chin to your chest and reach back for your toes with both hands like you’re doing a toe touch. 

Step Three: Flip the Feet 

Before you touch your toes, flip your feet over the water toward the wall. Use your core muscles, which are much larger than other muscles, to help you do so quickly. Some swimmers throw in a little dolphin kick just before the flip to help the process go faster. Make sure your knees are slightly bent, so you can absorb the momentum once your feet hit the wall. Look for the tops of your thighs to help keep your head tucked. While flipping, avoid the temptation to twist to get on your side or stomach before you push off.  

Your hands stay in about the same place in the water and should be over your head once your feet land on the wall. You shouldn’t move them to the side or make any circles or other time or energy wasting movements. Remember: use your more powerful core muscles to flip over, not your arms. 

Step Four: Get Off the Wall 

You’ve probably noticed by this point that you’re on your back, staring at the surface of the water. This is great if you’re swimming backstroke, but it’s also great if you’re doing freestyle. Push off strong while making yourself as narrow as possible with a tight streamline. Rotate onto your stomach while kicking underwater—the movement of your legs will aid with rotation. 

Here are two drills to help you do perfect, fast flip turns without any twisting, waggling, or waving. 

Drills for Perfect, Fast Flips

Drill One: Use Your Noodle 

If you’re worried about hitting your heels on the gutter as you’re learning, a good drill is to get in the middle of the pool with a noodle. Lie face-down in the water with both hands holding the noodle in front of you above your head. Pull the noodle under the water and down to the hips and proceed to tuck your chin, reach for your toes, and throw your feet over the water. If done correctly, you end up lying flat on the water on your back, holding a noodle behind your head. The same drill can be done with a kickboard in each hand. 

Variations of this are using the lane line in the same way, though many pool operators and lifeguards may cringe at this, or the water aerobics dumbbells in place of the noodle. When you’re comfortable, ditch the equipment and try it for real at the wall. If you’re still nervous about striking your heels on the gutter, you can point your toes slightly as you’re learning, which will cause the bottoms of your feet to hit the gutter instead, which is less painful. The goal, however, is to place your feet quickly and accurately on the vertical surface of the wall. 

Drill Two: Start Upside-Down 

As you’re learning flip turns, you might find it unnerving to be face up under the water. Aside from getting water up your nose, which you can fix by exhaling or using a nose clip, it’s a little disorienting because the ceiling or sky are your only visual references. You can get used to being face up under the water by pushing off the wall on every send-off from the head-up, knees-up, toes-up position.  

Hold the wall or gutter with one hand and put your feet on the wall, making sure your toes and knees are pointed toward the surface. Your head is up as well and facing the wall with your other hand in the water. Let go of the wall and bring the wall hand over your head to meet the other under the water as you sink. Once you’re underwater, you’ll be facing the surface with your head up, knees up, and toes up, just as you would be in the middle of a flip turn. Push off in a streamline. If you do this at every send-off, you get used to the position and develop a great ability to rotate onto your stomach off the wall rather than taking the time ot turn while you’re on the wall. 

—SCOTT BAY

How to Have Good Underwaters in Swimming 

The most important lesson from the elite race pool is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to technique, training, or racing. 

One thing most coaches agree on, however, is that the underwater part of swimming has changed the sport. From the 15-meter rule to adding a dolphin kick to breaststroke, a lot of things have changed. 

To maximize your speed, you might want to look at how you do everything from the push-off through your streamline.  

Push-off 

Except for the start, the push-off is fastest you’ll be moving through the water and it’s critical to making the most of it. Until you get to another wall, you’re managing how much you slow down. The goal is to maximize your velocity and carry as much of it for as long as you can. 

• How to work on it Streamline Drill: Swim into the wall, turn and push off, and go as far as you can on a streamline with no movement. Repeat this a bunch of times. Measure how far you go by where you stop. Experiment to find out what makes you go farther. 
• A to F drill: A is for amplitude (how big your kick is) and F is for frequency (how fast it is). Immediately after the push-off, use big powerful kicks, then reduce the size and increase the frequency on down the lane. This develops power, speed, and balance in your kick. There will be a sweet spot where you have your best power and velocity. This is based on feel. Time it with the same fast amplitude and frequency to make sure what you feel is fastest. Keep in mind, this will change as you get better and stronger. 
• Just do it: A simple way to work on your streamline is to vow that anytime you push off the wall in practice, you will do a good streamline. Even during warm-up and cool-down. This builds lung capacity, muscle memory, and good habits. 

Kick 

When to start kicking and how many kicks you do are also different from swimmer to swimmer. There’s been much debate over whether to glide or not to glide off the wall, and how far to glide if you do. 

Again, the goal is to maintain your velocity after a strong push-off, so it’s a good idea to do something rather than just glide and let it dwindle.

How to work on it 

• Just like before, start with a good turn into the wall and a strong push-off. 
• Experiment with how soon you start kicking. Is it right away or after a short glide or after a longer glide? Whether you come off the wall on your side or your back or your front, you won’t want to start kicking until you find your balance. If you don’t have a good aquatic posture and balance off the wall, then you may end up on the bottom of the pool, spearing through the surface, or, worse, in someone else’s lane. A glide just long enough to obtain balance for an effective kick will ensure that you’re not wasting energy going in the wrong direction. 
• It’s best to measure this at 5, 10, and 15 meters or yards. Just change the length of your glide and then record your times. Each attempt will be a little different, so multiple tries are a good idea. Just like the push-off, this will change as you get stronger and better.  

Length of the Streamline 

Many swimmers were taught that the longer the streamline the better (within the 15-meter rule of course) but there are reasons to shorten the streamline. The length of your streamline will be determined by how much oxygen you need for your race.  

If you’re new to swimming and racing, you might be faster on top of the water than under it, so you’ll want to break out and start swimming as soon as possible. Work on getting better at the underwater part of your race and then start incorporating it into your race-day strategy. In a longer race, conserving some breath on each wall is an important part of strategy, so shorter streamlines may come into play. Work on it and find what’s right for you as an individual and for your specific races.

How to work on it 

• Start by doing 25-meter or yard repeats, adjusting the length of your streamline, and repeat. Do this on feel rather than on the clock in the beginning. 
• Increase distances and note the feel for longer and shorter streamlines. 
• Make sure you only change one thing at a time. For this the clock does not lie. Repeat what you were working on and see which is fastest for you based on 25, 50, 75, and 100 meters or yards. 
• Working on it in practice will produce changes over time. Your streamlines might be longer in the opening phases of a race and shorter later in a race.   

Patience and Progress 

A great streamline requires strength and fitness. As a terrestrial creature, the best way for you to get stronger is by doing regular dryland exercises—you need resistance to build strength. Your fitness level is a function of frequency, intensity, and duration. So, in addition to having a knowledgeable swim coach help with your technique and training, seek the advice of a qualified strength trainer for some dryland exercises. With patience and progress, you’re certain to improve your underwater game! 

—SCOTT BAY

How to Swim Faster

For swimmers of any age to improve, they need to know exactly what to work on to improve their technique. This series will distill swimming down to its critical components, focusing on what really matters. Although it doesn’t seem like it, swimming fast is quite simple, if you’re able to accomplish these three things: 

• Maximize propulsion
• Minimize resistance 
• Swim with great timing 

Although not easy to achieve all at once, these three components can be broken into digestible parts and then reassembled. The concepts apply to all the strokes, which will be explored in detail in subsequent articles. This introduction includes the common solutions for achieving each of these objectives.  

Maximize Propulsion 

To improve speed through the water, strive to create as much propulsion as possible. This means using your limbs to move water backward so that you can move forward. To move as much water backward as possible, here are three things to work on. 

Maximize surface area of the arms and legs 

Use as much of your limbs to move water backward as possible. When using your legs, use as much of the foot to push backward as possible. When using your arms, use hands, forearms, and even upper arms to move water backward. Whenever you’re swimming, think about how you can better position your arms or legs so that your limbs are best positioned to move more water backward by using more of the limb. Pay attention to the limb paths that allow you to feel pressure on as much of your arm or leg as possible. Can you feel it on your forearm? Can you feel it on your whole foot and shin during breaststroke? If you can, you’re using a lot of surface area. 

Maximize pressure on the arms and legs 

Feel as much pressure as possible when you’re pulling and kicking. Focus less on where you’re feeling pressure and more on how much pressure you feel. Increase the pressure you feel by accelerating your limbs as you pull or kick. Make it more of a gradual build versus an instant application of pressure. When you’re swimming, pay attention to limb paths where you feel the most pressure on your arms or legs. In addition, pay attention to how the amount of pressure changes depending on how you accelerate your limbs underwater.  

Maximize surface area and pressure for as long as possible 

Once you get a feel for using as much of your limb as possible, and you can feel high levels of pressure, work to increase the duration you can achieve those sensations. Remember, more pressure equals more water being moved. The longer you can move a lot of water, the faster you’ll be swimming. When you’re swimming, ask yourself the following questions: How long can you feel high pressure on the whole limb? Can you extend that duration? Do you ever lose pressure on the water during your stroke? How can fix that? Are you able to start feeling high levels of pressure earlier in the stroke cycle? Can you feel more pressure later in the stroke cycle? 

Minimize Resistance 

The term streamline is often used in reference to the position achieved after the start or pushing off the wall. But streamlining is occurring during every aspect of the stroke cycle because your body becomes more and less streamlined at every instant. You must move out of this streamline to some extent to create propulsion with your arms and legs. However, faster swimmers can do so in ways that minimize the impact on whole-body streamline. Here’s how to minimize the amount of resistance you experience as you move through the water. 

Move the spine straight through the water 

To swim fast, you need keep the spine as straight as possible, just like the smooth hull of a ship. If you’re moving through the water with a crooked hull, you’re limiting your speed. Although rotations and undulations are good, avoid bending sideways or having too much up and down motion when moving through the water. Pay attention to how much your spine is out of alignment when you swim. Are you arching too much in either direction? Are you bobbing up and down? Are you swaying side to side? Can you find a way to reduce that movement? 

Minimize the impact of breathing on body line 

Poor breathing is a killer of spine alignment. Most swimmers breathe too high, causing their hips to sink, or they pull their head way out to the side, causing the body to bend to the side. Can you find a way to “hide” your breath? Can you find a way to breathe without moving side to side? Can you find a way to not move up and down so much? If you can accomplish any of these tasks, you’ll find yourself moving through the water more efficiently. 

Minimize the impact of your arm recoveries on the body line 

Another major challenge to keeping your body in line is the recovery of your arms. If you’re swinging your arms way out to the side, you’ll wiggle through the water. If you’re swinging them high out of the water, you’ll be pressed down under the water. If you’re arm recoveries are asymmetrical, your body will twist. Pay attention to how your arm recoveries are affecting your swimming. Can you feel it? Can you change it, even slightly?  

Swim With Great Timing 

Fast swimming looks effortless. This effortless speed arises from exceptional stroke timing, rhythm, and coordination. Fast swimmers do the right thing at the right time. Basic principles inform how to do the right thing at the right time. Each stroke has its own requirements for effective timing, but here’s an overview. 

Rotational timing 

This applies primarily to the long-axis strokes, backstroke and freestyle. When it comes to rotation, it’s not about how much rotation you create, but how well you time the rotation. The main goal is to ensure your rotation is timed with your hand entry. As your hand drives into the water, your shoulders should be reaching the end point of their rotation. Your hips should be following along with your shoulders, although they tend not to rotate quite as much. Are your rotations too early or too late? 

Undulation timing 

In the short-axis strokes, breaststroke and butterfly, there isn’t side-to-side movement. Rather, there are undulations, which are up and down. As with rotation, there should be enough undulation, although more is not always better. The top of the undulation should occur when you breathe in both breaststroke and butterfly. The bottom of the undulation should occur after breathing, when your chest presses down, at the same time your arms get fully extended in the front. That’s the key timing moment: Press your chest when your arms are extended. Are you timing the front of the stroke correctly?  Kick timing  Timing your arms and legs is critical in breaststroke and butterfly, moderately important in freestyle, and minimally important in backstroke. Do you feel your arms and legs working together, or are they working against each other? If it’s the latter, there’s a timing issue at hand. 

Breath timing 

A timing issue with breathing can cause a loss of body position and slow your stroke rate. It’s hard to breathe early as it will be difficult to get your head out of the water in time to take a breath. In most cases, breathing late is the issue. Are you able to able get your head back into the water well before the completion of the arm recovery? Are you breathing late or is your breath taking too much time? 

Put it All Together 

Regardless of the stroke, swimming fast consists of maximizing propulsion, minimizing resistance, and optimizing coordination. In all strokes, you maximize propulsion by moving large surface areas for as long as possible with the strongest muscles of the upper body, minimize resistance by reducing the amount of movement away from streamlined positions, and appropriately time the arms and the legs to make movement rhythmic and efficient. These general principles can be used to improve all your strokes. 

Here's stroke-specific advice for swimming faster 

• Butterfly 
• Backstroke 
• Breaststroke  
• Freestyle 

—ANDREW SHEAFF

What Are Common Swimming Mistakes to Avoid? 

Swimming requires precision and skill, and this is true at every level of the sport. Developing technique is essential regardless of your goal, be it learning to save yourself from drowning, passing a lifeguard certification test, general fitness, competition at any level, and even becoming a Navy Seal. To excel, you must learn a variety of drills and techniques to improve your performance. 

Mistiming strokes and improper breathing are among the most common mistakes swimmers make, but they’re not the only ones. With practice and perseverance, you can improve your skills, minimize mistakes, and ultimately become stronger and more confident in the water. 

Typical Mistakes in Freestyle  

Breath Holding 

Kids playing in the pool and learning to swim often enjoy competing to see who can hold their breath the longest. This is a bad habit many swimmers bring with them to training; breath holding negatively affects performance. 

To maintain proper breathing, it’s necessary to exhale through your nose or mouth while your head is submerged. This ensures a release of carbon dioxide, allowing your lungs to prepare for taking in oxygen as soon as your head is turned. While racing, the exhalation is forceful and rapid. 

Rolling Too Much 

Excessive body roll while swimming is often tied to breath holding, and usually occurs because the swimmer turns their face upward to achieve two things: An exhale, followed by an inhale. Only one of these actions is essential: the intake of air. The exhalation of air should have already been completed while your face was underwater. 

To master a rock steady head, it’s crucial to keep your head stable and in line with your spine while in a prone position. When turning your head to breathe, you’re really rotating on your long axis, with your hips and shoulders engaged, but don’t overdo it. When you breathe, only one goggle should be exposed above the waterline, not two goggles and both cheeks. For a good body roll in freestyle, rotate no more than 40 degrees.  

Swimming Too Flat or Having Lopsided Rotation  A flat body position while swimming freestyle is inelegant, exasperating, and will cause neck issues as you crane your neck to get your head rotated to breathe. Lopsided rotation leads to an imbalanced stroke. Both these problems can be difficult to troubleshoot on your own. 

Try the side-11 freestyle drill, preferably with a coach or instructor. This drill combines multiple skills and incorporates rotation. 

• Start by flutter-kicking with your arms in the 11 position (stretched out in front of you), head prone and in line with spine, eyes looking at the bottom, slightly I front of you, and a steady stream of air being released through the nose. 
• Toward the end of 10 flutter kicks, use one arm to begin the early vertical forearm catch and pull, and go underwater to the thigh, where your hand comes to rest as your entire body rotates to its side. 
• The arm that did not pull is still extended in front, your head is steady in freestyle position, practicing one-goggle breathing. Your cheekbone is almost touching the extended arm. The shoulder and hip on the same side as the stroking arm are in sync, pointing upward. 
• The kick originates from the hips, not the knees. 
• After three practice breaths, exhaling underwater, recover your arm straight as if reaching for the sky and return to position 11. 
• Repeat these steps, rotating to the other side. Progress by reducing the number of flutter kicks from 10 to 8 to 6 kicks, and lower your breath count as the number of kicks are lowered. 
• Using fins will help you practice your one-goggle breathing in the beginning. 

Head Lifting 

Swimmers who lift their heads to look where they're going may not have learned to take advantage of the underwater markings at the bottom of the pool. 

To prevent the possibility of colliding with another swimmer while sharing a lane, always swim on the right side of the black line. This can eliminate the need to lift your head to see where other swimmers are. The T-shaped marking at the end of the black line serves as an indicator that the wall is only a few strokes away. 

It’s also tempting to lift your head when you begin your turn at the wall. Resist this urge to look for the wall and practice knowing where it is by using the T on the bottom and the cross on the wall to practice how many strokes you’ll take before turning. 

A quick cure to the problem of freestyle head lifting is to hold a tennis ball under your chin throughout an entire practice.  

Typical Mistakes in Breaststroke 

Incorrect Kicking 

When one foot refuses to turn outward in kicking breaststroke, you have a scissor kick, which diminishes your power and will get you DQd in a race. If you have any dolphin kick during breaststroke (except for the pull-out), either with one foot or with both feet as you undulate, you’ll also be DQd. To ensure that each leg movement generates maximum propulsion AND to maintain a legal kick, try these two things: 

• Start with both legs together in a streamlined position. Bring your heels up toward your buttocks while bending both feet outward at the ankles. Next, push your lower legs outward in a circular, sweeping or whipping motion and finish in the same streamlined position. You can practice this on the floor in front of a mirror. 
• Train breaststroke kicking on your back. Begin on your back, with your arms at your sides and hands near your hips. Perform breaststroke kick trying to keep your knees from coming out of the water. With each kick, try to kick your hands as you whip your feet around. 

Incorrect Timing 

If there’s a delay in your breath timing or you move your hands too soon or too late, you’ll experience an awkward decrease in speed.  

The separation breaststroke drill is a great way to focus on each part of the stroke individually. The drill starts with three seconds between the upper body pull and the lower body kick, followed by a two second pause, one second, and finally, no time delay.

This will help you become more aware of each movement in your stroke and adjust timing accordingly. It should be done under the supervision of a coach or swimming instructor to ensure proper form and timing.  

Typical Mistakes in Backstroke 

Improper Head Position 

Keeping your head too high or too low when swimming backstroke affects your overall body position and balance in the water. If not corrected, this can lead to neck strain, shoulder pain, and even back pain. 

To correct an improper head position, keep your chin tucked close to your chest and your ears on the surface of the water. Use your core to assist you by drawing your bellybutton to your spine and keeping some tension in your core so that your feet don’t sink.  

Incorrect Kick 

Kicking too wide, too narrow, with an incorrect tempo, or with a missing-the-ball kick can affect speed and balance. What is missing-the-ball backstroke kick? 

When you’re about to kick a ball on land, you bring your leg back and kick from the hip, and then use your entire leg to follow through, bending at the knee for added power as you flick the ball away from you. If at any point during this motion you stop twelve inches in front of the ball, you won't effectively make contact.

Apply this principle when you’re kicking backstroke by kicking all the way through from your hips. Strive for a full, robust kick, with your toes creating bubbles at the surface. If you’re not making bubbles, you’re missing the ball. 

Typical Mistakes in Butterfly 

Looking Forward 

One common mistake is to look forward instead of down when positioning your head in the butterfly stroke. This causes your hips to drop, and you lose your body position in the water, making it harder to move through the stroke efficiently. 

To master a smoother stroke, ensure that you're in the correct position, keeping your head in a neutral, facedown position. This will help you maintain an even body line. Make sure that your shoulders and hips are horizontal as you move through the stroke. To take a quick breath, move your chin forward, like a turtle sticking its neck out. Keep your head low and practice chin-surfing on the water.  

Thumbs Up 

If you swim with your thumbs up or forward and your palms down with bent elbows during the butterfly stroke, you’ll cause strain on your shoulders and reduce the efficiency of your stroke.  

Keep your thumbs facing downward and your elbows straight during the recovery phase of the stroke. This ensures proper technique and minimizes any unnecessary strain or injury to your shoulders. 

Here are two drills to proper muscle memory to maintain the correct position of the thumbs and elbows during the recovery phase of the stroke practice this technique: 

• Fingertip drag 
• Two kicks-one pull 

Small Changes and Time Make a Big Difference

Improving your swimming technique requires practice, determination, and time. It's important to have a knowledgeable coach or instructor to guide you in developing the correct form and provide feedback for improvement. With consistent effort and focus on proper technique, you can achieve more efficient swimming, which ultimately leads to better performance and more long-term enjoyment of the sport. 

—CAROL NIP
 

Outdated Swimming Advice and What to Do Instead

Swimming is an ever-evolving sport and the techniques used to swim more efficiently and faster have changed over time. Some advice from decades ago may have been appropriate at the time, it’s no longer advisable today.

It can be difficult to discern which advice is outdated and what should be avoided, so here are a few common outdated techniques, followed by reliable, modern, technique advice.

Outdated Swimming Advice to Avoid: Freestyle

The S-Pull

In the 1960s, wisdom was to swim with an "S" curve in your pull, which is now considered inefficient. It’s now known that the zig-zag motion of the S-pull creates resistance and increases drag.

Modern swimming technique advice is to swim with a straight-arm pull and an early vertical forearm pull, which generates more power and speed. From fingertip to elbow, EVF keeps your forearm in a vertical position during the catch phase of the stroke, which allows you to grab more water, create more propulsion, generate more power through your stroke, and minimize drag.

Fingers Together

One of the worst pieces of advice when it comes to swimming freestyle is to hold your fingers tightly together to hold onto water in your hands. Doing so slows you down and causes undue strain on your fingers and wrists.

When you place your hands in the water, they should be in a neutral relaxed position with just enough space between your fingers so that when you move your hands through the water, a web-like effect is created. Your hands will hold water almost like a duck's webbed feet, and that will help propel you forward.

Cupped Hands

Cupping your hands can help you generate power in your stroke temporarily but keeping them flat creates a larger surface area to push against the water. This helps you maintain a straight line through the water, reduces drag, allows for a greater reach with each stroke, thus helping you cover more distance per stroke. So, for maximum speed and efficiency, keeping your hands flat is best.

Waterline at Hairline

Swimming with the waterline hitting your forehead near your hairline is a technique that was learned by swimmers who are now in their fifties and sixties. Although this head position isn't the worst way to swim freestyle, it's certainly not the best.

Instead, try keeping the waterline at the crown of your head. To ensure that you’re maintaining the correct head position while swimming freestyle, try putting a swim paddle on your head as a guide. This will help you focus on keeping your head at the right level. Challenge yourself to keep the paddle on the crown of your head while doing a freestyle flip turn. You can also practice drills such as single-arm freestyle or catch-up stroke to help build awareness of where your head should be in relation to the surface of the water.

Outdated Swimming Advice to Avoid: Breaststroke

Heads Up

Old-fashioned head-up breaststroke taught decades ago is still seen in pools around the country every day. The rules of competition at the time even dictated that you weren’t allowed to submerge your head when swimming breaststroke. Since breaststroke involves lifting your head out of the water to breathe, looking forward is natural. Constantly looking forward, however, can cause strain on the neck and disrupt your body's alignment, leading to your hips dragging and slower swimming.\

Rules now allow for your head to be submerged, and modern breaststroke has a sleeker look to it. When it's time to breathe, your head should be tilted forward and your face lifted just enough to clear the water. By imagining a face print on the water's surface upon head entry, focus on keeping your gaze forward while maintaining good alignment. This helps to reinforce the idea of a neutral head position and minimizes the chances of looking too far down or letting your head drop too low. This, in turn, minimizes drag and helps you achieve higher hips in the water.

Very Wide Pulls and Kicks

Very wide pulls and kicks in breaststroke were once taught. It was thought you could increase propulsion by pulling more water with wider arms. And a wide frog-like kick was thought to be more powerful. These techniques, however, have since been discarded due to the increased drag and reduced efficiency they create.

Modern breaststroke technique emphasizes both a narrower pull and kick. The pull focuses on generating power throughout the entire stroke cycle, rather than just in the arm motion. Your pull is initiated with a strong kick and your arms should be pulled inward toward each other with continuous acceleration during the in-sweep phase before being pushed forward in front of your face to prepare for the next out-sweep phase. To narrow your kick, think of it as a whip kick instead of a frog kick, in which you keep your knees closer together and flare your feet outward.

Outdated Swimming Advice to Avoid: Backstroke

Very Wide Entry

Swimming has come a long way since the days of wide arms in stroking backstroke. Modern swimming now calls for a narrower entry. Be mindful, however, as crossovers in backstroke swimming are also a common error.

To achieve a narrower arm entry, focus on engaging your core muscles (pull your belly button to your spine) and maintain good posture throughout your stroke. Focus on rotating your body during each stroke, which will help create an even stronger pull and propel you faster. Think about 11 and 1 on an analog clock as you enter your hands, pinkie-first.

Straight-Arm Pulling

Straight-arm pulling in backstroke places a great deal of stress on your shoulders. If you’re still swimming like this, you probably have shoulder pain and should switch to a more modern stroke for your safety and comfort.

Keep your arms bent at the elbow during the pull cycle. A good way to visualize the movement is to imagine you’re throwing a baseball to your feet. Point your fingers up or to the side but never down to the bottom of the pool. Keep your arms relaxed during the over-water recovery to help reduce strain on your shoulders and improve your overall performance. Sculling drills or using fins to increase resistance can help you. Focusing on body position and kick timing can also help improve your arm movement in backstroke.

Outdated Swimming Advice to Avoid: Butterfly

S-Pull

Just as with the S-pull in freestyle, a two-handed S-pull in butterfly is considered poor technique and should be avoided.

Focus on a strong and symmetrical straight-back, high-elbow pull with your arms and a powerful dolphin kick to propel yourself through the water. This technique creates less drag and a more graceful stroke cycle.

Bad Swimming Advice to Avoid

“Swimming continuously helps build endurance.” Swimming continuously may help you build endurance in the short term, but it won't make you a better swimmer in the long run. To become a better swimmer, you need to train intervals and swim fast with good technique. This doesn’t mean that a long continuous swim has no place in your workout regimen occasionally, it just won’t contribute to your speed or endurance.

“You don't need to warm up/cool down before/after swimming.” Warming up at the start of your workout helps your body prepare for exercise by increasing blood flow to your muscles and raising your heart rate gradually. This helps reduce the risk of injury. Cooling down at the end of your workout helps your muscles recover and your body prepare for your next workout.

“You don't need to waste time on drills, just swim.” Drills are an important part of any training program as they help improve your technique and efficiency in the water. Regularly practicing drills will help you become a better swimmer. The important part is that you ensure the drills are being done properly.

“You shouldn’t use fins.” Fins are very helpful for improving technique, building confidence and strength, improving flexibility, and increasing enjoyment of swimming. Use fins (and a swimmer’s snorkel) to get more from your workouts.

By understanding which advice is outdated or simply wrong, you can avoid wasting time and risking injury. Focus on modern, updated technique and training methods that will help you enjoy swimming for the long term.

—CAROL NIP