watch this video to correct your swimming technique

Welcome to the channel!

When you fix these mistakes,

you will be able to swim much longer and much faster

The most common mistake that crucial effects a swimmer is made during the arm stroke

if swimmers perform an arm stroke with low elbow position

the swimmer doesn't catch as much water and pulls from the surface

arm strokes are the most important element of freestyle swimming

By performing a correct arm stroke, you'll be able to catch large amount of water

and pull to gain speed and move forward,

therefore each swimmer must be sure

that the arm stroke technique is correct

if you have this mistake, you will learn how to fix it

Actually, this is easy!

The mistake comes in the first phase of an arm stroke,

in the beginning of a correct arm stroke,

the forearm is turned inside

and elbow look upwards

if you have wrong technique,

your forearm is not turned inside and elbow look downwards

forearm position is the key part of this mistake

There is no chance to perform a correct arm stroke

when the swimmers forearm is not turned inside

and the elbows directed downwards

In this position, an arm stroke movement is the same

as a swimmer is pulling a rope

This is the wrong movement for swimming

An important point is that a swimmer is not able to catch the water and push it,

by performing such arm stroke hands will go through the water

and swimming will become harder and super inefficient

First, in the beginning of the arm stroke

you need to turn your forearm inside

so that your elbow is directed upwards

in this position it is impossible to perform an arm stroke wrong

In the first part of the arm stroke, you need to catch the water

you should perform a movement with your forearm facing downwards

while your elbow stays in high position

By doing a correct catch of the water

you'll be able to pull the water

When you catch the water

you need to start performing the arm stroke by using entire arm

a high elbow position allows you to include your back muscles

When you use incorrect arm stroke technique

you can use only your arm muscles

So during the entire arm stroke try to keep high elbow position

Here is the best dryland exercise to set up your correct arm stroke technique

While doing this drill, you'll get absolutely another feeling of the arm stroke

You need to take a chair or a bench,

locate the chair in front of you and put one hand on it

This imitates your study position of the arm stroke

Then, turn the forearm inside to get high elbow position

Once the arm is ready, perform an arm stroke with high elbow position and push the chair backwards

Now, you can see incorrect way to perform an arm stroke

In the starting position, the elbow look downwards

while performing the arm stroke the elbow drops down

and hand is pulling the chair as a rope

When arm stroke is performed, you can continue doing arm strokes in the air

to memorise the correct arm position

Take a video of you performing this drill to figure out

whether you have good arm stroke technique or not

While swimming freestyle, you need to take a breath to the side

A common mistake swimmer make is when they perform an arm stroke while taking a breath

You want to breathe while your hand is in recovery

and another hand is in front

At this moment, your upper body is turned to the side,

one hand is recovering forwards and another hand is in front to provide support for the body

When a swimmer performs an arm stroke while being turned to the side,

the arm follows the wrong trajectory

Swimmer does not have a chance to control the arm stroke while taking a breath

Therefore, the arm catches the water properly

but then, it leaves the correct trajectory and goes close to the body

Imagine, how much this mistakes affects your swimming

If at every breath your arm stroke is useless

Watch carefully how to fix that!

First, you need to work on dryland to get the correct feeling of the movements

In my next videos, I will teach in details how to get correct breathing technique in freestyle

Now, we will focus on the timing for starting a new arm stroke

While performing an arm stroke, another hand is located in front

it helps to get support on the water and glide forward

In the end of the arm stroke, you need to turn the head to take a breath

At the same time, the arm is recovering forwards

while the other hand is still out in front

Remember an important rule,

you cannot start an arm stroke when your head is turned to the side

When a breath is taken, you return your head to neutral position

At the same time, you start a new arm stroke and recover the other arm forwards

This timing of the movements guarantees that the arm stroke will be done in correct body position

Try to memorise the feelings and the rhythm

While performing an arm stroke, focus that the arm goes on almost straight trajectory

and doesn't go under the stomach as you have seen in incorrect swimming

To sum up this mistake,

start a new arm stroke only when you head is back after the breath

and your body is directed forwards

Many swimmers lack of basic swimming skills such as breathing technique

Often adult swimmers learn to swim alone, without a coach

they succeed but there are high chances that some technical elements will be missed

A common mistake is lifting head up for breathing

this is a serious mistake, it makes swimming hard inefficient and damages other technical elements

For many swimmers it seems that it is much easier to leave the head up to take a breath

However, it's not

It is harder and much more uncomfortable to breathe this way

by breathing like this, your body gets down into the water and speed slows down dramatically

I recommend that all of you learn to breathe correctly in freestyle

First, you must start doing freestyle rotations with breathes on land

Imagine that you have an axis that is going through your body from legs to the head

By having this axis, you cannot move your head anywhere except rotating around the axis

So while performing freestyle rotations turn your head only to the side

While taking a breath, keep your head in horizontal position

and then return your head to neutral position

Correct breathing technique to the side is much more comfortable and much easier than lifting your head up

Swimming will become smooth and you will not spend any additional energy for breathing,

you will literally enjoy your swimming

In the water, you need to practice breathing technique by performing swimming drills

The best drill for practicing side breathing technique is to do kicking against the wall

One hand is in front and another hand is by your side

You need to take a breath to the side and constantly perform good kicks

While performing this drill, don't lift your head up at all

turn it only to the side

To succeed in this drill, you should try to keep one of your eyes under the water

Perform this drill for 30 seconds and have a break

While swimming try to take a breath exactly in the same way as you were doing in the kicking drill

don't be afraid that water will get into your mouth

while taking a breath lift your mouth to the side which is above the water

Every competitive swimmer does it, do it too and your swimming will become comfortable

Swimming technique requires constant attention and improvement

By swimming hard intensive training sessions our technique falls apart little by little

this is not a problem, if you have a stable swimming foundation

However, if you don't,

technique can easily be ruined

Another common mistake is to take short arm strokes

Often, this mistake happens due to swimmers trying to rush and skipping swimming skills

By performing short arm strokes, swimming becomes hard,

swimmer gets tired very quickly and body position lows

In the beginning of the arm stroke, you need to catch the water in high elbow position

This is half of your successful arm stroke

you need to perform a long arm stroke with the proper trajectory

In freestyle lessons, I will explain in details

everything about the arm stroke, stay tuned!

In the end of the correct arm stroke, your hand should extend and your fingers should touch your leg

Once you touch it, you know you are in good position

For triathlon swimmers, it is super important to perform long efficient arm strokes

In order to increase swimming speed and save the energy for cycling and running

By doing correct arm strokes, you will notice how much easier and more enjoyable swimming is for you

The common mistake is have large bending at the knees

Many swimmers don't know how to perform kicks,

know the leg movement,

what the rhythm is or what muscles must be working

This approach cannot provide sufficient kicking technique

the worst part of incorrect kicking is that it slows down your swimming speed

plus it takes a lot of swimmer's energy

Kicking doesn't provide a large speed boost

thus, it is not that important for swimming and especially for triathlon

that's why, we need to reduce any movements that decreases our speed and create water resistance

First step to start is swimming with straight legs

However, you should keep your legs relaxed

Due to water resistance your legs will not be straight, they will bend at the knees

In other words, your legs should be relaxed and at the same time straight

This will help you to perform correct kicks

Kicking amplitude should not be too high

ideal kicks are performed in body's streamline

A drill to set up your technique is freestyle kicking in vertical position

You can keep your hands on the lane rope, on the water surface or in any other comfortable position

Kicking in vertical position will force you to perform kicks with straight legs bending a little at the knees

This is the only way to stay in this vertical position

if you bend legs too much,

Most likely you won't be able to stay in stable position

while performing this drill try to memorise the feelings of correct kicking

to repeat them while swimming freestyle

You can do vertical kicks for 30 seconds and have a break

Now you are able to fix and avoid any of these mistakes

By practicing exercises and swimming drills

Do it regularly and your swimming will be fast and easy

Let me know in the comments!

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