Freestyle Swimming Tips
\nArm Length
\nStretch forward with each arm and re-enter the water fingers first, keeping them fully outstretched, straight and tight together. Use the full length of your arms and keep each stroke as smooth as possible.<\/p>\n
Still Head
\nKeep your head as still as you can, moving it only to the sides to take a breath. The waterline should stay just above your eyebrows.<\/p>\n
Breathe Each Side
\nBreathe out underwater and take in air on both sides, every three or five strokes, to maintain an even stroke and keep a stable head position which helps you stay swimming in a straight line. Too many people try to breathe in and out when their head is to the side, which isn\u2019t efficient.<\/p>\n
Body Position
\nTry to keep your body position straight from head to hips and horizontal when freestyle swimming. That will keep your torso as streamlined as possible and decrease drag through the water.<\/p>\n
Leg Action
\nTake small and regular kicks in the water to complement arm movement and improve your body\u2019s stability. The legs are your engine room so keep them moving fast to avoid them dragging behind you.<\/p>\n
More Swimming Tips
\nObserve lane etiquette
\nIf you\u2019re training in a pool, knowing the rules will help keep you and your fellow swimmers safe. \u201cCheck if the lane is running clockwise or anti-clockwise, be aware of those around you and always stop to let faster swimmers pass at the end of the lane,\u201d says Sam Williams, a Total Immersion swimming coach at Swim Studio London.<\/p>\n
Stay relaxed
\nMost endurance sports such as cycling and running are all about exertion, but if you\u2019re doing it properly, swimming should be the opposite. \u201cIf you\u2019re too tense in the water, you\u2019ll end up thrashing around, wasting energy and tiring yourself out,\u201d says Williams. \u201cInstead, focus on staying balanced in the water and maintaining a relaxed stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n
Focus your training
\nMindlessly drifting up and down the pool for hours isn\u2019t the most productive use of your time. \u201cAim to do two short, 20- to 30-minute technique sessions during the week where you focus on improving a specific aspect of your stroke, such as your breathing or kicking,\u201d says Williams. \u201cThen do one longer session at the weekend, adding extra lengths or time every week to monitor your progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Take to a lake
\nMore UK lakes are now being opened up for swimmers and not only are lakes ideal to swim in, but they also serve as a perfect development stage between the pool and the ocean. \u201cLakes are great for longer-distance training sessions where you can work on better breathing techniques and stroke improvement work, and they also double as fantastic practice for open-water races,\u201d says Swim For Tri coach Dan Bullock.<\/p>\n
Warm down and stretch off
\n\u201cIt\u2019s worth allocating an extra five to ten minutes at the end of your session to warm down properly with a few gentle, easy laps,\u201d says personal trainer Aaron Deere. \u201cThis will help flush the lactic acid from your muscles to initiate recovery.\u201d Once you\u2019re out of the water, take the time to work on tight muscle groups with dynamic, movement-based stretches. \u201cLunging forward with one foot while raising both your arms directly above your head will target your chest, hip flexors and shoulders, all of which tend to get tight during swimming,\u201d says Deere.<\/p>\n
Refuel afterwards
\n\u201cOnce you\u2019ve finished your swim, replenish your glycogen stores with plenty of quality slow-release carbohydrates like wholegrain rice,\u201d says endurance and nutrition coach Steve Whittle. \u201cYou should also have a decent serving of protein such as salmon to help your muscles recover.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Freestyle Swimming Tips Arm Length Stretch forward with each arm and re-enter the water fingers first, keeping them fully outstretched, straight and tight together. Use the full length of your arms and keep each stroke as smooth as possible. Still Head Keep your head as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[34,35],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-jumping","tag-lake"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advicecave.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advicecave.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advicecave.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advicecave.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advicecave.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=139"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.advicecave.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258,"href":"https:\/\/www.advicecave.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions\/258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advicecave.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advicecave.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advicecave.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advicecave.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}