Swimming Techniques: Freestyle (Crawl) Learning
- Yüzme Öğretmeniniz
- Oct 3, 2024
- 18 min read
Freestyle is known as one of the fastest and most popular techniques in swimming. Also called the “crawl”, this technique is often favored in both professional competitions and recreational swimming activities. Basically, freestyle involves strong arm pulls and regular breathing. With this technique, it “s possible to gain speed and cross the water more comfortably. If you “re new to freestyle swimming or want to improve your technique, your first goal should be to learn the basic steps such as correct body positioning, coordination, and breath control. In this article, we will take you step by step through the basics of freestyle and show you how to master the water more effectively.
1. Body Position
In freestyle (Crawl) swimming, correct body positioning is critical for both gaining speed and saving energy. Lying flat on the water reduces friction, allowing you to move more comfortably against the natural resistance of the water. Here are the key points you need to know about the ideal body position in freestyle:
Correct Body Alignment
During freestyle swimming, your body needs to be almost completely in a straight line. This refers to an alignment that extends from your head to your feet. Correct alignment allows you to stay balanced on the water and move forward with less drag on the surface of the water.
Head Position: Your head should be in the water, facing downwards. Your eyes should be positioned to look slightly forward, not directly at the bottom. This helps to bring the neck and spine into a natural alignment. Raising your head too high can destabilize the body, causing you to be underwater or expend more energy.
Shoulders and Hips: Your shoulders and hips should be parallel to the surface of the water. This parallelism should be maintained during arm pulls and foot taps, which are the basic movements of freestyle. If the shoulders or hips drop down, this increases friction and reduces your speed.
Position of the legs: Your legs should be in harmony with the rest of your body and close to the surface. Putting your legs too deep underwater will slow you down and consume unnecessary energy. The legs should keep your balance by pushing the water with small, controlled strokes. Large, unbalanced strokes will jolt the body and reduce your speed.
The Importance of Rotation in Swimming
Being successful in freestyle swimming is not just about learning to lie in a straight line. Proper body rotation not only makes your arm pulls stronger but also makes breathing easier. Turning your whole body slightly sideways (rotation), from shoulders to hips, allows you to push more water with each stroke.
Shoulder and Hip Rotation: As you put your arms in and out of the water, your body needs to accompany the movement. For example, when your right arm enters the water, you should lift your left side up by rotating your body slightly to the right. Likewise, when the left arm enters the water, you should rotate your body to the left. This movement both reduces the resistance of the water and helps the body move more efficiently.
Harmony with Breathing: Body rotation also makes breathing easier. Every time you take your face out of the water, make sure your shoulders and hips rotate in that direction. This reduces tension in your neck area and allows you to breathe easily.
Common Mistakes
Common mistakes in body position can negatively affect your performance. Here are a few common mistakes you should avoid:
Head too high: If you hold your head too high, your body alignment is disturbed and your hips fall under the water. In this case, you will encounter more resistance and your speed will decrease.
Dropping Hips: If your hips are not close to the surface of the water, your feet will drop down, increasing friction and slowing you down. You should keep your hips as close to the water surface as possible to correct your footfalls and keep your body parallel to the water.
Lack of Rotation: Paddling without body rotation puts strain on your shoulder and arm muscles, causing you to tire quickly. At the same time, you lose the strength needed to push through the water effectively.
Tip: Stay Neutral and Relaxed
It can be difficult to constantly control your body position while swimming, but after a certain point it will become automatic. Focus on staying in a neutral and comfortable position. A tight and contracted position can limit your mobility. Staying comfortably above the water is the first step towards success in freestyle swimming technique.
2. Breathing Technique
Breathing technique in freestyle (Crawl) swimming is a vital skill that directly affects your performance and endurance. Breathing properly in the water not only fulfills your oxygen needs, but also improves your body balance and speed. For many swimmers, breathing can be one of the most challenging parts because you need to be in constant motion in and out of the water. However, learning the correct breathing technique will help you stay relaxed and maintain your speed while swimming.
Basic Dynamics of Breathing
Breathing in freestyle should be done in harmony with your stroke and body rotation. The most effective breathing method is to inhale by turning your head to the side with minimal movement and exhale immediately before returning to the water. This helps to stabilize your body on the surface of the water while swimming.
While Breathing: When swimming, one arm reaches forward while the other arm pushes under the water. Turn your head to the side, taking advantage of body rotation to breathe. When you lift your head out of the water, only your mouth should be out of the water; it is important that your eyes look sideways parallel to the surface of the water. Breathe in a relaxed way, without overstraining your neck area.
Exhaling One of the most common mistakes is that swimmers wait until their head is out of the water to exhale. However, the correct technique involves exhaling from inside the water. Just before you put your head back in the water, start exhaling through the mouth and nose. Holding your breath makes it difficult to stay comfortable underwater and disrupts your rhythm. By exhaling slowly and continuously, you can move comfortably underwater.
Double and Triple Breathing Technique
There are two basic breathing methods in freestyle swimming: double breathing and triple breathing. Both methods have different advantages and which one you prefer depends on your swimming speed and personal comfort.
Double Breathing (One Breath Every Two Strokes): In this technique, you take a breath every two strokes and turn your head to the same side continuously. For example, you turn your head to the right and breathe in during a right stroke and put your head back in the water during a left stroke. This method allows you to take in more oxygen and is particularly useful for long-distance swimming. However, constantly breathing to one side can throw your body off balance and you can develop an unsymmetrical swimming technique.
Triple Breathing (One Breath Every Three Strokes): The triple breathing method involves breathing every three strokes. That is, you breathe by turning your head to the right in one stroke and to the left in the other. This method makes the body rotation symmetrical and helps you use your shoulders in a balanced way. It also allows you to practice breathing in both directions. However, this technique can be tiring for slower paced swimmers, as the breathing times are longer.
Breathing with Body Rotation
The correct breathing technique should be in perfect harmony with body rotation. Each time you breathe in, you need to slightly rotate your shoulders and hips to bring your head out of the water. This rotation makes it easier to lift your head out of the water and prevents unnecessary effort when lifting your face out of the water. At the same time, the rotation keeps your body parallel to the water, which helps you maintain your speed.
Rotation Breathing: Body rotation should occur in conjunction with the arm pull. As the right arm reaches forward, your body turns slightly to the right, while you turn your head to the right and inhale. Then, as the left arm reaches forward, your body turns to the left and your head returns to the water. This cycle ensures a continuous movement during the swim and helps you to progress without interruption.
Tips to Make Breathing Easier
Finding the Rhythm Synchronize your breathing with your stroke movements. This can be challenging at first, but regularizing your breathing will help you relax while swimming.
Stay Calm and Controlled: Panicking or trying to breathe in a hurry can throw you off balance in the water. Stay calm and control your breathing. This will help you save energy, especially when swimming long distances.
Do not lift your head too much: Lifting your head too much to breathe can disrupt your body alignment. In this case, your hips may sink into the water and you may lose speed. Lift your head just enough to breathe; more than half of your face should be in the water.
Exercise: You can do various breathing exercises out of the water to improve your breathing technique. Exercises such as deep breathing, long breath holds and controlled exhalations will help you breathe more easily in the water.
Common Mistakes
Some mistakes made during breathing can negatively affect your speed and your balance on the water:
Holding the Breath: Holding the breath puts unnecessary stress on the body and prevents you from being comfortable while swimming. Exhale continuously during the time you are not breathing.
Head completely out of the water: One of the most common mistakes that swimmers make is to take their head completely out of the water while breathing. This movement destabilizes the body and causes the hips to drop. It is enough to raise your head only up to the level of your mouth.
Unbalanced Breathing: Continuously breathing only on one side can cause imbalances in your shoulder and neck area. Learning to breathe to both sides with the triple breathing technique will give you a more balanced swimming style in the long run.
Learn to Master Breathing
Breathing technique is an essential skill for mastering freestyle. Learning to breathe correctly can take time, but by practicing patience and discipline you can perfect this technique. When you synchronize your breathing with your stroke and body rotation, you will notice that you move through the water more comfortably and quickly. When breathing during swimming becomes natural and effortless, you can enjoy freestyle even more.
3. Arm Movements
One of the most critical components of freestyle (Crawl) swimming is the arm movements. Arm pulls provide the main thrust needed to propel you forward through the water. Correct arm movements increase your speed and maximize energy efficiency at the same time. In freestyle, arm movements are performed in a continuous cycle, and it is important to time both the entry and the push correctly. In this section, we will focus on the technical details of arm movements and the most common mistakes.
Stages of Arm Movements
In freestyle swimming, arm movements consist of three main phases: The entry into the water, the underwater traction and the exit out of the water. This cycle takes place in harmony with body rotation and both arms must work in a continuous rhythm. Here are the details of each phase:
Entering the water (Catch Phase)
Arm Extension The first step is to extend your arm forward. Your arm should be straight in the water. Your palms should be flat and your fingers should be slightly close together. Before you put your arm in the water, extend your arm as far forward as possible to increase your swimming distance.
Entering the Water: When you put your arm in the water, your hand should enter the water starting from the fingertip. Your wrist should be slightly broken and the angle of entry should not be too wide. Ideally, your hand should enter the water just in front of your head and shoulder width apart. This creates less resistance and allows you to enter the water easily. If your hand enters too far or too close, it can throw off your balance.
Pull (Pull Phase)
Grasping the Water Once your arm is in the water, grasp the water by bending your elbow slightly. This stage is also known as “catching” the water before you start pushing the water backwards under your body. This is one of the most important moments of the stroke because the better you grip the water, the more thrust you “ll get.
Elbow Height: You should maintain a high elbow position when pulling your arm. A high elbow allows you to push more water and moves your body forward better. If your elbow is too close to the water, your stroke power will be reduced and your speed will decrease.
Underwater Thrust: Keeping your elbow bent, pull your arm back under and to the side of your body. At this stage, your palms should face completely backwards and push the water strongly. Pushing the water effectively during the arm pull is a factor that directly increases your speed. When your arm is fully retracted, the push is complete when your hand is at hip level.
Out of Water (Recovery Phase)
Arm out of the water: After completing the arm thrust underwater, you should take your arm out of the water and bring it forward again. At this stage, your arm should move freely and comfortably. It is important to rotate your arm out of the water while keeping your elbow up. As you bring your arm forward, support the movement with body rotation from your shoulders.
Balance and alignment: You should move your arm forward as comfortably and naturally as possible during the ascent out of the water. By keeping your elbow high, you can relax your wrists and hand. The movement of the arm out of the water can be considered as a moment of rest after the powerful push in the water.
Things to Consider for Effective Arm Movements
Effectively executing arm movements is all about the correct alignment and timing of the strokes. Here are some elements to pay attention to in order to optimize arm movements:
Continuous Movement: In freestyle swimming, your arms should move continuously. One arm should be going forward while the other arm should be pushing underwater. In this way, your body will maintain a constant forward movement.
Asynchronous Strokes Your arms should not move at the same time, but asynchronously, complementing each other. As one arm goes forward, the other arm pushes the water backwards. This asynchronous movement allows you to move forward while maintaining balance.
Arm and Body Harmony: Arm movements should be in harmony with body rotation. Each time the body rotates slightly to the right and left, extend your arm forward. This reduces the resistance of the water and keeps your body in a straight line.
Common mistakes with arm movements
Low Elbow One of the most common mistakes is to keep the elbow too low in the water. A low elbow prevents you from pushing the water effectively. A high elbow position allows you to get more power from your strokes.
Wrong Water Entry: If the arm enters the water too far or too close, it can destabilize the body and slow you down. Make sure that the angle of the arm entering the water is just in front of your head and shoulder-width apart.
Fast and uncontrolled strokes: Some swimmers try to move their arms too fast to swim faster. However, instead of increasing swimming speed, this makes you more tired and reduces energy efficiency. Controlled and powerful strokes are the most effective way to increase your speed.
Exercises to Improve Arm Movement
You can do some exercises in and out of the water to make your arm movements more effective:
One Arm Stroke Exercise: While swimming, use one arm to stroke while keeping the other arm still. This exercise strengthens both arms independently and improves your technique.
Pullbuoy Swimming: A pullbuoy is a piece of equipment that allows you to swim with only arm strength while keeping your legs still. This allows you to focus on arm movements and grip the water more effectively.
Regular Stroke Training: In each workout, try to make slow and powerful strokes, focusing on your arm pulls. Control the tempo of your strokes and focus on getting maximum thrust with each stroke.
Powerful Paddles, Effective Propulsion
In freestyle swimming, correct arm movements are one of the most important elements that increase your speed. To perfect your arm movements, you need to practice regularly and pay attention to technical details. You can become a faster and more efficient swimmer when you apply all the stages from the water entry to the underwater pull in a balanced and controlled way. When your arm movements are strong, you will enjoy freestyle swimming more and feel freer in the water.
4. Foot Strokes
In freestyle swimming (Crawl), the foot strike is an important movement that increases speed and efficiency while keeping the body balanced. The correct foot strike technique provides a complementary propulsion that moves the swimmer forward. However, many swimmers can cause unnecessary loss of energy by executing the footstroke incorrectly. In this section, we will discuss the technical details, common mistakes and ways to improve the footstroke in freestyle swimming.
Basic Logic of Foot Strikes
In freestyle, the footstroke is similar to a vertical scissors movement, and the legs are moved from the hips, not from the knees. A good foot strike keeps the swimmer's legs moving parallel and rhythmically through the water, keeping the body balanced. The main purpose of this movement is to stay in a straight line on the water and to help arm movements.
How to do foot kicks?
Movement of the Legs
Movement starting from the hips: In freestyle swimming, the legs start from the hips, not the knees. Bending your knees too much creates too much resistance in the water and slows down your speed. Moving your legs straight from the hips will help you encounter less resistance in the water.
Keeping the knees slightly bent: Instead of keeping your knees completely straight, it is important to keep them slightly bent. You should move your legs with a natural flexibility, without making too rigid a movement. This allows your strokes to be more flexible and controlled.
Position of the Feet
Toes pointing into the water: During the foot strike, your toes should point slightly downward and inward. By keeping your toes straight, you can push the water efficiently. The feet hitting the water in parallel, not at a right angle, pushes you forward without creating resistance.
Flexibility of the Ankles: Having flexible ankles allows you to make more effective strokes. Stiff and tense ankles apply more resistance to the water and reduce propulsion. Strokes made with flexible ankles allow you to progress faster.
Stroke Frequency and Rhythm
6 Stroke Technique: The most commonly used footstroke rhythm in freestyle swimming is the 6-stroke technique, which corresponds to each arm pull. In other words, six foot strokes are performed during every two arm pulls. This technique is ideal for optimizing speed and balance. However, depending on your speed and conditioning, you may also prefer 2 or 4 strokes.
Balanced and Rhythmic Strokes: It is important that your foot strokes are in harmony with your body and arm movements. Your strokes should not be too fast or irregular. A controlled and rhythmic stroke style allows you to swim long distances with less energy expenditure.
Ideal Power of Foot Strikes
In freestyle swimming, foot strokes are used not only to maintain balance, but also to increase your speed. However, it “s important to get the power of the foot strokes right. Overly powerful kicks can provide a short-term speed boost, but in the long run they can lead to a loss of energy. Keeping your foot kicks strong but controlled will allow you to stay underwater longer and increase energy efficiency.
Common Mistakes with Foot Strikes
In freestyle swimming, getting your footstrokes right can greatly improve your overall technique. However, many swimmers make mistakes at this point and lose speed and balance. Here are the most common mistakes:
Too much bending at the knees: Too much bending at the knees causes the feet to be exposed to too much resistance in the water. This makes strokes ineffective and slows you down. Take care to move your legs in a straight line, starting from the hips.
Strokes that are too hard: Some swimmers kick their legs excessively strong and hard to go faster. However, instead of increasing your speed, this can tire you out more quickly and cause you to lose your balance in the water. Soft, rhythmic and controlled strokes give better results.
Asynchronous Strokes: Strokes can become asynchronous when the legs move in different directions at the same time. This disrupts your swimming technique and reduces your energy efficiency. Make sure both legs are moving in unison.
Feet Out of the Water: Your feet should not go out of the water during strokes. Feet should be close to the surface of the water but not completely out of the water. Feet sticking out of the water will cause unnecessary energy loss.
Exercises to Improve Foot Strokes
Learning and improving the correct foot strike is possible with regular practice. Here are some exercises you can do to improve your foot kicks:
Kickboard Kicking: Kicking with a kickboard strengthens your legs and ankles. Try to move through the water using only your legs while holding the board with your hands. This helps to make the foot kicks more efficient.
Backstroke: Lying on your back with only your feet kicking allows your feet to move rhythmically and smoothly. This exercise is especially good for strengthening your leg and glute muscles.
Freestyle Full Body Workout: Perform full body exercises to coordinate your body, arm and foot movements as a whole. These exercises ensure that your kicks are in harmony with speed and balance.
The Role of Foot Strokes in Balance and Speed
Footstrokes are an important factor in freestyle swimming, complementing the arm movements and stabilizing your speed. The correct footstroke not only moves you forward, but also keeps your body in the right position in the water. With fast and rhythmic footsteps, your body stays above the water and you encounter less resistance.
Effective Strokes that Conserve Energy
In freestyle swimming, practicing the correct foot strokes will not only increase your speed, but also conserve your energy, allowing you to swim longer. Rhythmic and controlled strokes starting from the hips improve your swimming performance and allow you to move more evenly in the water. By practicing regularly to perfect your footstrokes, you can make the most of all the benefits of freestyle swimming.
5. Coordination
In freestyle swimming (Crawl), it is as important to learn the correct techniques as it is to coordinate them in harmony with each other. Coordination allows the body to move through the water in a fluid and balanced way. Synchronization of arm, leg, breathing and body position movements increases the speed and efficiency of freestyle swimming. Good coordination helps you save energy and feel more comfortable while swimming. In this section, we will analyze in detail how to coordinate arm, leg, breathing and body position movements in freestyle swimming.
Basic Elements of Coordination
For effective coordination in freestyle swimming, various parts of the body must work in harmony. The main elements are as follows:
Harmony of Arm and Leg Movements
Synchronization of Breathing and Arm Movements
Combining Movements with Body Rotation
When each of these elements come together, your swimming technique becomes more fluid and controlled.
1. Harmony of Arm and Leg Movements
In freestyle swimming, arm and leg movements should complement each other. Keeping a rhythm with your leg kicks during arm pulls is critical to maintain speed and balance. Usually, six leg strokes are performed during each arm stroke. This pattern keeps the body in a straight line in the water and allows the swimmer to move stably on top of the water.
Balance of Arm Pulls and Leg Strokes: When one arm goes into the water and pushes and pulls, you need to make rhythmic strokes with your legs. Your leg kicks should support the power and speed of the arm movements. It is important to avoid overly fast or erratic footsteps during arm movements; otherwise, you may lose speed.
2. Synchronization of Breathing and Arm Movements
In freestyle swimming, correct breathing technique is of great importance for performance and comfort. Breathing should be done in harmony with the arm movements. Generally, one arm is inhaled as the stroke is completed and exhaled as the other arm enters the water. This harmony helps to keep the body balanced in the water.
Timing of Breathing: When breathing in, you should choose a point where one arm is behind the water and the other arm is moving forward to lift your head out of the water. At this time, your body turns slightly to the side. After inhaling, as you put your head back in the water, the other arm starts to pull. The inhalation and exhalation should be in harmony with the body rotation.
Continuous Breathing Routines: It is generally recommended to breathe every third arm pull. This helps you maintain your body balance by allowing you to breathe on both the left and right sides. If you find it difficult to breathe every three arm pulls, you can also switch to breathing every two pulls.
3. Combining movements with body rotation
One of the most important elements of freestyle swimming is to match the body rotation with the arm pulls and breathing movements. Turning your body slightly sideways in the water makes your arm movements stronger and breathing easier.
Body Rotation: During the arm pull, the body rotates slightly to one side above the water. This rotation is performed with the other arm reaching forward and entering the water. This rotation reduces friction in the water and allows you to move forward with less energy.
Balance and Stability: Body rotation helps you maintain balance. Instead of keeping the body completely straight, rotating it slightly to one side with each arm pull allows you to move more comfortably in the water and increase your speed. It is important that the rotation is coordinated with the arms and legs; otherwise, you may lose your balance and slow down.
Exercises to Improve Coordination
Some basic exercises to improve coordination can help you perfect your swimming technique:
One Breath in Two Arm Pulls: Improve the synchronization of these movements by taking a breath with every two arm pulls. This is a particularly effective way to improve the harmony of breathing and arm movements.
Breathing Exercise with Kickboard: Using the kickboard, practice breathing periodically while moving forward with leg kicks only. This exercise improves breathing and body position coordination.
Full Body Coordination Exercises: Focus on progressing with both arm pulls and six leg kicks to ensure full body movement coordination. You can strengthen your coordination by practicing these movements at a slow and controlled pace.
Importance of Coordination
Proper coordination in freestyle swimming is the key to increasing your speed and efficiency. The synchronized movements of your arms, legs, breathing and body rotation work in harmony, allowing you to expend less energy and swim long distances comfortably. You can take your swimming technique to the next level by practicing regular exercises to improve your coordination.
In conclusion, learning the basic techniques of freestyle swimming correctly will increase your speed and efficiency. Body position, breathing, arm and leg movements, and the coordination of all these elements directly affect your swimming performance. With regular practice and correct techniques, you can improve your freestyle swimming skills and experience a more comfortable and controlled swimming experience.
If you want to learn freestyle swimming techniques or improve your existing skills, we are at your side with private swimming lessons. You can get information about our lessons by contacting us via the contact form on the yuzmeogretmeniniz.com website, and you can take your swimming skills to the next level by working one-on-one with our instructors!
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