Stroke Technique
Backstroke Swimming Technique
Thoughts on Basic Swimming Technique
By Mat Luebbers, About.com
What is your mental picture of a backstroke swimmer? This is one result from a mental exercise to quickly describe different elements of backstroke swimming.
· Head - In-line with spine
· Eyes - Looking straight up in longer events and slightly back towards the feet in shorter events
· Shoulders and chest - Rotate around central axis of spine in same plane as hips. High shoulder is on recovery arm side, low shoulder on pulling arm side
· Arms - Arms are always 180-degrees from each other. Arm speed is controlled by kick speed. Recovery arm is straight from wrist to shoulder and points straight up
· Forearm and hand pull - Propulsive surface, line from fingertips through wrist and elbow starts pointing towards the bottom and side of the pool, rotates more towards the side and surface of the pool, then finishes releasing the water towards the feet and under the hips; reach towards the bottom, then arm-wrestle, then throw something into your pocket.
· Forearm and hand recovery - Straight arm from shoulder through wrist
· Forearm and hand entry - Pinky first, directly above and just outside the shoulder with arm fully extended, with body rotation allowing entry hand to reach deep into the catch
· Trunk - Must maintain the connection between the shoulders and the hips
· Hips - Rotate around central axis of spine in same plane as shoulders. Attempt to initiate body rotation from the hips
· Legs - Kick is steady 6-beat, with faster tempo resulting in faster hands
· Feet - Faster feet = faster pull = faster swim. Boiling water at the toes is not only OK but encouraged to facilitate better follow-through on the kick
· Breathing - One breath per cycle; inhale on one pull, exhale on the next pull.
Breaststroke Swimming Technique
Thoughts on Basic Swimming Technique
By Mat Luebbers, About.com
What is your mental picture of a breaststroke swimmer? This is one result from a mental exercise to quickly describe different elements of breaststroke swimming.
· Head - Varies slightly, but primarily in-line with spine
· Eyes - Looking at bottom of pool when not breathing, looking down and forward when breathing
· Shoulders and chest - Tip up and down/forward about a line drawn from one hip through the other. Shoulders also lift and squeeze in towards ears as elbows come together and hands/arms move forward in recovery
· Arms - Arms are a mirror of each other. Arm speed controls foot speed, and rhythm will generally change during the course of a race, with the highest tempo occurring during the first and last portion of a race.
· Forearm and hand pull - Propulsive surface starts as hand through shoulder as the arms sweep out and up, then changes to hands through elbow as hands sweep towards each other as elbows squeeze together
· Forearm and hand recovery - Hands lead forward at or under the surface of the water, reaching forward; as the extend the upper body lowers forward and onto or under the water, but avoid a diving down action
· Forearm and hand entry - Full extension, hands touching each other at the thumb
· Trunk - Must maintain the connection between the shoulders and the hips
· Hips - Hips are driven forward and under trunk by pull and by back muscles, then become an anchor point as upper body launches forward with no pause as kick is initiated. Hips remain relatively high in the water, acting as moving-forward pivot point
· Legs - Fast motion of ankles both up towards the hip (kick recovery) and through the kick action (back and slightly out to full extension)
· Feet - Foot rhythm controlled by pull speed; feet must always move fast - foot speed always high, in both directions; kick concludes with legs in full extension, soles of feet pressing together
· Breathing - One breath per cycle, as hands and elbows sweep in, trunk rises, breath taken from when mouth clears until trunk begins to lower.
Butterfly Swimming Technique
Thoughts on Basic Swimming Technique
By Mat Luebbers, About.com
What is your mental picture of a butterfly swimmer? This is the result of a quick mental exercise, trying to describe different elements of butterfly swimming technique.
· Head - Varies slightly, but primarily in-line with spine
· Eyes - Looking at bottom of pool when not breathing, looking down and forward when breathing
· Shoulders and chest - Tip up and down/forward about a line drawn from one hip through the other. The chest lays forward and presses down as the hands enter
· Arms - Arms are a mirror of each other. Arm speed controls rhythm, with generally steady to decreasing/slowing rhythm through the course of a race unless well-conditioned
· Forearm and hand pull - Arms remain shoulder width apart, flex at elbows with line from fingertips through elbow moving towards pointing down an slightly inward, then sweep inwards to outwards they press on the water, with the fingertip through elbow line moving from pointing inwards and down to slightly outwards and down
· Forearm and hand recovery - Straight arms, relaxed hands, with a wide and low arm swing, thumb down, pinky up, back of the hand towards thumb lead
· Forearm and hand entry - Straight arms, extended, thumb to fingertip first, shoulder width apart
· Trunk - Must maintain the connection between the shoulders and the hips
· Hips - Maintain hips relatively high in the water, acting as moving-forward pivot point
· Legs - Generally two kicks per cycle, but one per cycle is also acceptable. Kick timing is based on arm timing, with kick balancing arm and trunk motion. There is generally a kick as the pull begins and a second kick just prior to hand exit. The kick action and the chest position must work together or swimmer will be moving body up and down instead of forward. If swimmer attempts to kick with too much effort they will tend to tire sooner than if they allow the kick to work with the arms and body
· Feet - Feet must remain in the same plane through the entire kick. They may be in slightly different planes, but that difference must not change. Feet are extended, relaxed ankle on the down-beat, flexed on the upbeat. Kick amplitude should not be exaggerated
· Breathing - Keeping body as low and flat/forward as possible, head tips up enough for face top clear water, inhale, head lays down prior to arm-recovery reaching a "T" from the shoulders out to the fingertips
Freestyle Swimming Basics
Thoughts on Basic Swimming Technique
By Mat Luebbers, About.com
What is your mental picture of a freestyle swimmer's technique? This is one result from a swim coach doing an exercise to quickly describe different elements of freestlye swimming technique.
· Head - In-line with spine
· Eyes - Looking at bottom of pool when not breathing, looking sideways, one eye directly over/above the other when breathing.
· Shoulders and chest - Rotate around central axis of spine in same plane as hips. High shoulder is on recovery arm side, low shoulder on pulling arm side.
· Arms - One arm tends to be leading at all times, other arm is pulling or recovering; more of a catch-up with hands overlapping in the area from the shoulders forward - sometimes called the front end or front quadrant. Shorter max-effort or sprint-efforts may have less front-end overlap, even no front-end overlap, but that is a function of the timing, not an effort to remove the overlap.
· Forearm and hand pull - Propulsive surface, line from fingertips up through wrist and elbow should be pointing at the bottom of the pool as much of the time as possible - as early a catch as can be achieved, with the maximum possible catch held until the hand passes below the waist
· Forearm and hand recovery - Relaxed, hanging from the elbow, swung forward rather than pushed forward, thumb leading
· Forearm and hand entry - Fingertip first, rotated towards thumb up, pinky first entry, then a gentle slide forward to a natural extension as the body rotates
· Trunk - Must maintain the connection between the shoulders and the hips
· Hips - Rotate around central axis of spine in same plane as shoulders. Attempt to initiate body rotation from the hips.
· Legs - Kick is secondary to the pull, not overpowering it. It should be natural, not forced. A variety of kick rhythms are acceptable, from 2-beat through 6-beat, with cross-over variations.
· Feet - Faster feet = faster pull = faster swim if same kick pattern is maintained (2-beat, 6-beat, etc.). Switching form a lower beat kick to a higher beat kick will also result in faster arms and a faster swim, but possibly at a higher cost if not practiced often. Splashing is not only OK but encouraged to facilitate better follow-through on the kick.
· Breathing - Every two or three pulls - every 1 to 1.5 cycles. Swimmers must be equally comfortable breathing to either side. May breath less often for shorter events.