Freestyle Basics (Part 2)
BOTTLE DRILL
Instead of using a kickboard, you will now use your empty warm bottle. Make sure the cap is screwed on well so that no water gets in.
Lie on your seide again, this time holding the bottle in your hand, and extend your arm while kicking. It's important to keep your arms extended in this drill. Kick 10 times on one side, and then switch hands and rotate by putting your face in the water and rolling to the other side. Kick 10 times on that side with your arm extended, and then switch hands again, putting your face in the water as you rotate to the other side, kicking all the while.
This is what you do with your breathing: Take a breath before your face goes into the water and blow out all the air under water; when you roll to the other side, you will be ready to take a breath. Repeat that all the way down the pool. Do this for the entire pool length, if you can make it, or until you need to rest and catch your breath.
If you have made it the full length, rest at the end, if you need to, and come back. If you have not made it the entire pool length, rest, floating on your back, until you can make it the remainder of the way. Do two full pool lengths, even if you have to rest in midlap. Then repeat this whole exercise, going all the way down the pool and all the way back.
you have now done 200 yards, or about an eighth of a mile. Next, do the same drill but switch sides every six kicks. Do two entire pool lengths. By now, you are approximating the same kind of move that you will make when you swim properly. You have done 250 yards.
At this point, if you feel that you need to repeat any drill to become more comfortable doing it, repeat it. If you feel that you have it mastered, then go on to the next step. But do not skip a step. And never be reluctant to come back to these basic drills to work on your stroke mechanics. Remember, practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect.
BREATHING EVERY THREE
Now you are going to add the arm stroke and breathing and actually start to swim. When you swim freestyle, you should breathe every three arm strokes - or "every three". That means you will breathe on both sides of your body, right and left.
If you breathe every three, you have a tendency to have a balanced stroke. Even if you start out swimming more slowly while breathing every three, it is better in the long run. And it will be faster in the long run. It is harder to do if you are used to breathing every two strokes. If you are just starting out, it is a great habit to get into. If you have been swimming a long time and have not tried it, just remember that it will allow you to reach farther with that other side, and you will soon go faster.
BREATHING MECHANICS
To breathe, you have to learn to blow air out. Blow it out your nose and mouth.You will be rememberd to breathe in, but you must teach yourself to blow air out; that is the only way your lungs will be ready to take in more air.
Breathing properly is easy. All you do is follow your hand as it goes under water and turn your head to the side. As you perform your arm stroke, your hand will pass under your face. When that happens, begin to turn your head to that side, just enough to take in air, and then put your face back in the water as your hand passes your face out of the water. When you breathe, you should be looking to the side of the pool but slightly behind you. When you swim, take three arm strokes, and in the third arm stroke, turn your head to the other side to take a breath. A commom mistake with breathing is raising the head instead of turning it to the side. If you think of the cartoon character Popeye, it is easier. Popeye has one open eye and talks out of one side of his mouth. That's what you want to do when you breathe. You want one eye and one side of your mouth out of the water and the other eye still in the water. Another way to think of it is to keep one goggle under the surface for freestyle breathing. Just turn your head to the side when you see your hand; keep one goggle in, and turn so that one goggle is out. Try it once or twice just leaning over in the water.
The reason you don't want to raise your head is that as soon as you do that, your hips and legs drop in the water and create drag, slowing you down and making it much harder for you to swim. Turning your head to the side helps you swim faster and more easily.
FREESTYLE ARM STROKE MECHANICS
In freestyle, your hands should enter the water fingertips first, middle finger first , so that yout elbow is high and bent when your hand meets the water. Think of it as slipping your hand into a long sleeve. You want your hand in line with your shoulder, about 12 inches out in front of you. Slide your fingertips in, and then move your hand forward all the way into the water. Extend your arm as far as you can as you rotate onto your side, like you did in the bottle drills. This cuts down on drag - or resistance.
When you have extended your arm as far as you can, cup the water slightly with your hand. It feels like a lump of wet sand. With your hand, first sweep out slightly, no more than 6 inches wider than your shoulder and catch the water. Then sweep back in, making almost a half-hourglass shape, with the narrow part being underneath you, level with your waist. Pull the water past you. To understand how it should feel, think of playing tug-of-war and pulling on a rope one hand at a time or of climbing a ladder one rung at a time. It feels like that, but with the motion sweeping slightly out and then slightly back in.
Pull your arm all the way down until it is past your waist and extended and your hand is by your thigh. That's when you are done with your stroke. A commom mistake people make with their arm stroke is putting their hand flat on the water instead of entering the fingers first. If you put your hand out flat onto the water, you will catch too much air and go more slowly because you aren't moving as much water. Entering the water with your hand at a slight downward angle will beging a long, powerful stroke, which is what you want. Again, you want to be as long and tall and skinny as you can be, rolling onto your side and reaching as far and long as you can. Your goal is to move as much water as you can with each stroke, and to do that, you need to reach as far as you can.
Another common mistake is not reaching far enough. Some people put their arm in the water just a couple of inches beyond their head. That is not nearly enough to give you the kind of power you want. A third common mistake, and this one is particularly easy to make if you are breathing every two instead of every three, is crossing over the centre line of your body when your hand enters the water. Some people even put a hand in so that it is practically over the opposite ear. If you have had this problem in the past, breathing every three and learning to extend will really improve your swimming ability in a hurry.
Yet another commom mistake is not finishing the stroke. Some swimmers don't pull water all the way until their hand is next to their thigh. They take it out of the water too soon. A later drill will help you avoid that. And finally, there is the mistake of not bending your elbow. Some people fling their arm out as if they are doing butterfly. This wastes energy and is dangeours to others in the same lap lane.
Remember that the shortes distance between two points is a straight line. Imagine drawing a straight line from your thigh to where your hand should enter the water. For your hand to get from your thigh to the twater, the elbow must bend.
Recapping: Slip your hand, fingers first, into the water. Extend your arm as far as you can and then sweep out, catching the water with your hand and sweep in, pulling the water underneath you and past you until your arm is extended back and your hand is near your thigh, palm toward the sky. It may help you to practice this technique in front of a mirror before going for the pool.
BOTTLE DRILL (WITHOUT THE BOTTLE)
Next you will do the bottle drill, kicking 10 times on each side, but without the bottle. You will add an arm stroke. Lie on your left side, with your left arm extended, and kick 10 times. Then roll onto the other side, just as you did in the bottle drill, but this time, pull under the water with your left arm while you reach over and into the water, with your right arm. Extend your right arm as far as you can, and lie on your right side and kick 10 times. Remember to blow air out as you put your face in the water and take air in when your face comes to the surface. Do an entire pool length of this. Then rest. Then do another pool length and rest.
Now do the drill changing sides every 6 kicks instead of every 10.Rest and swim back, doing the same thing. At this point you are practically swimming, but the difference is that you are breathing every time you roll to the side. Next you will start real swimming. And to do that, we are going to change the emphasis from using your kick as your guide to using your arm.
FREESTYLE STROKE MECHANICS
Instead of rolling to the side every 6 kicks, you will roll to the side with every arm stroke, But you will lkeep your face direcred at the bottom of the pool except for every third arm stroke, and that's when you will breathe. Every three arm strokes, you will breathe by rolling to the side. Say to yourself: One, two, breathe on three; one, two, breathe on three.
Remember, on the strokes where you aren't taking a breath, look down at the bottom of the pool. It has a dark line on it. Just look at that. Looking down at the bottom of the pool will help you keep your legs up. And if your legs are up, that will make it easier to swim. So, unless you have already been a competitive swimmer, try to look down at the bottom of the pool - that way, your legs are sure to be closer to the surface.
If you can coordinate your kicks at this point, great. If not, concentrate mostly on the arms and breathing. Kicking keeps your legs up and reduces drag, making it easier for you to swim and easier for you to swim faster. That's the purpose of the kick. It might be two kicks per arm stroke, or one, or three. Do whatever works for you.
Kicking hard at this point in your progression will take too much energy, so you have to balance it out. Distance swimmers use a two-beat kick, one for every arm. Distance swimmers trying to do 200s use a four-beat kick, two for every arm. Real sprinters use a 6-beat kick, three for every arm.
FINAL DRILL
To start, push off the wall while lying on one side to give yourself some momentum. Take a breath and then make your arm strokes. Breathe in when you are rolling to the side every three strokes. Breathe out when your face turns and goes under the water and you're looking at the bottom of the pool. It will be one, two, breathe on three; one, two, breathe on three; one, two, breathe on three - all the way down the pool. Breathe = your third arm stroke. That rhythm will help you get it right at first. If you are already a fast swimmer, you may want to say: one, two, breathe; one, two, breathe.
When you get to the end of the pool, stop and rest. If you are experienced and can keep up the breathing patterns, do 50 years instead of 25.
Excerpt from Championship Swimming (Tracey McFarlane Mirande with Kathlene Bissell)
