{"id":68374,"date":"2016-08-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/uncategorized-en_us\/10-drills-improve-freestyle\/"},"modified":"2020-05-20T10:22:07","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T08:22:07","slug":"10-drills-to-improve-your-freestyle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/us\/training-technique-us\/10-drills-to-improve-your-freestyle\/","title":{"rendered":"10 drills to improve your freestyle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Swimming is only ranked 44<span style=\"font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 20px;\">th<\/span>\u00a0in terms of difficulty in the ESPN (a US TV channel that broadcasts sports programs only) world rankings.<\/p>\n<p>A study of the parameters on which these rankings are based (coordination, stamina, flexibility, strength, endurance, speed, agility and analytical attitude) shows that swimming is second only to gymnastics in terms of coordination.<\/p>\n<p>Coordination means implementing a motor scheme that your brain has just designed.<\/p>\n<p>It takes good coordination to develop an efficient technique and this can only be achieved by practising at every training session.<\/p>\n<p>With this in mind, here is a set of drills to help you improve your technique. Today we will be focusing on freestyle:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. One arm only:<\/strong> swim freestyle for a length using one arm only with your other arm either extended along your side or out in front of your head.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3c4TOTxTzAM?rel=0\" width=\"854\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>2. Freestyle with breaststroke legs:<\/strong> perform a breaststroke leg kick every cycle of arm strokes (right and left), breathing facing forwards as you make your leg kick.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t2rixh5_pMU?rel=0\" width=\"854\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>3. Clenched fists:<\/strong> swim freestyle with your fists clenched (variation: start with clenched fists and then release one finger &#8211; starting with your little finger &#8211; every two arm strokes)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YqsFf-r9Pkw?rel=0\" width=\"854\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Alternating:<\/strong> swim freestyle pausing as your hand enters the water until your other hand has caught up and pause for approximately 2\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yqhE3qd4s0g?rel=0\" width=\"854\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>5. Long sculling:<\/strong> swim \u201cdog style\u201d using your arm to provide all the thrust from out above the water down to your thigh, performing your arm recovery underwater<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PbK7TWZO-xo?rel=0\" width=\"854\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>6. Short sculling:<\/strong> block your elbows along your sides and thrust underwater using only your forearm which \u201coscillates\u201d alongside your body to describe a semicircle.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oyt7zZvCyng?rel=0\" width=\"854\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>7. Sculling behind your head:<\/strong> lie on your back with your feet facing forwards and perform short and quick oscillating movements with your hands by rotating your wrists to drive yourself towards the other end of the pool.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wqoGVezFc2c?rel=0\" width=\"854\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>8. Elbow bending:<\/strong> accentuate your elbow bend during the arm recovery phase (external phase) touching your armpit with your hand and pausing g for approximately 2\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aJFTI7M4MqA\" width=\"854\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>9. Varying your arm speed:<\/strong> swim freestyle with 3-4 fast arm strokes and 6-7 slow arm strokes<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nDe53_SMqxA?rel=0\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>10. Rolling:<\/strong> swim freestyle breathing both sides and pausing momentarily when your body is on its in order to breathe (maximum rotation around the body\u2019s central axis).<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BvjRXLwXUvs?rel=0\" width=\"854\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Since swimming is such a highly technical sport, why not practice as much as you can?<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>Are you looking for the perfect swimsuit for your training? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arenawaterinstinct.com\/en_us\/women\/competition.html#\/page\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Be inspired by our collection<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Swimming is only ranked 44th\u00a0in terms of difficulty in the ESPN (a US TV channel that broadcasts sports programs only) world rankings. A study of the parameters on which these &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1372,"featured_media":105692,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10190],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>10 drills to improve your freestyle - The arena swimming blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.arenaswim.com\/us\/training-technique-us\/10-drills-to-improve-your-freestyle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 drills to improve your freestyle - The arena swimming blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Swimming is only ranked 44th\u00a0in terms of difficulty in the ESPN (a US TV channel that broadcasts sports programs only) world rankings. 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