Technique tips for Frontcrawl

Balance - the bottom line

Bow wave breathing

Whole stroke kick coordination

Seamless Breathing

Over rotation

Arm entry angle in freestyle

Whole stroke timing

Front Crawl arm entry examples

Arm recovery in front crawl

Arm recovery angle 90 degrees for ease

Incorrect front crawl recovery

Recovery clearance

Arm Entry for Frontcrawl

Arm entry in freestyle

Front view recovery arm width

Roll to breath - without change of stroke rhythm

Seamless Breathing

Drag Reduction and Streamlining

Skill practice for body streamlining

Front Crawl Sweet Spot

Torpedo rotation balance practice

Streamlined body position

Description

Why does swimming present as such a challenging activity? What are the Universal Swimming Challenges faced by all human bodies in water?

Well, lets think about a few things that happen to our bodies (and brains) when we hit the water.

1. We are no longer on/over our centre of gravity, but hanging from it
2. Humans tend to move around in water, and move the water around (very uneconomical)
3. We have reduced visual cues
4. Our faces are submerged in a medium with no accessible oxygen

The result of these factors, leaves us marginally in, or close to triggering our flight / fright response ( even in confident and regular swimmers).

In addition to these fundamentals,  there are  4 key challenges that are universal to the human swimming problem. Each of these affects any individual in differing amounts, depending on multiple factors….. skill, confidence, body mass, mass distribution, breath control to name but a few.

Sinking

• The human body is heavier that water
• 5% of our bodies ‘rest’ above the water
• Gravity pulls you down

Instability

• We are trying to move in an unstable medium
• Instability itself, creates an unstable body position
• We use energy to stabilise the body – for many in the form of movement, which is hugely energy wasting and costs us precious heartbeats

Drag

• Water is 880x denser that air
• As we increase our swimming pace, drag increases exponentially
• Form drag – through body position (see below)
• Wave drag – through noisy turbulent strokes

All too often, and until we know otherwise, the direct result of drag and instability which tend to cause sinking is to….

Limb Churn (windmilling arms)

• Disconnects us from our true power source
• We move water around, instead of moving through the water
• We emulate ‘wheel spinning’ like a car wheel spinning in ice or mud, with no traction
• Generally causes a low level of efficiency, less that optimal forward propulsion for the effort’ used