Freestyle Drills

Let's start with young new swimmers. I do like to teach a straight arm recovery and not high elbow in the beginning. I see way to many kids who have learned high elbow before rotation, and there are a lot of bad habits that are develop by doing this method.

Begin with Kicking on Side (the assumption is that they know how to freestyle kick from swim lessons). They need to learn to keep the bottom arm extended pointed forward and hand not in front of the head. Focus a lot of keeping their ear on the pillow (which is their shoulder). They never lift their ear off the shoulder.

Next it is Side Kicking with a rotating head. Moving in a "no" motion, the swimmer blows bubble in the water, and then turns head to take a single small breathe and then back into the water to blow bubbles.

Next is 6 Kick Switch Drill. The swimmer kicks on side for 6 kicks and then takes a stroke and rotates to the other side for the next 6 kicks, and then the process is repeated. Incorporating breathing becomes tough, and they shouldn't mind if they have to take more kicks than 6.

Next is 6 - 3 - 6 Drill. Here they will do 6 Kicks on one side, and then they will take 3 strokes, and then 6 kicks on the other side. Same concept as 6 kick switch except that the are three strokes instead of the one.

Now once they have done this for awhile and have developed some rotation, you can do drills that develop high elbow recovery.

Finger Tip Drag is a good beginning, but if they are having trouble with finger tip drag do zipper drill. Zipper drill is when they have a zipper on the side of the body and they zip up the zipper from thigh all the way up. It is essentially finger tip drag, but an emphasis on the hand being close to the body. This is big when they are still developing good rotation.

I also use Freestyle Touch Drill. This Drill includes touches at Thigh, Shoulder, Head, and then water back to a Superman Position. I normally talk about elbow rises tom move from thigh to shoulder, and then elbow moves forward as they go from shoulder to head. This up and then forward method goes well with the concept of rotating the shoulder forward.

I know coaches who don't like Catch-Up Freestyle, but I do like to use it while holding a Superman Position. Emphasize that the entry and extension is to superman, and not to streamline.. I like Catch-Up so the swimmer can focus on arm at a time and try to "set the elbow" or create a vertical forearm. A 3/4 Catch-Up can used greatly yo work on front quadrant stroke, which I do try to teach my swimmers. 3/4 catch can be a good tool to also work on rotation speed.

Kicking on side can also be done in Shark Fin (hand behind shoulder and elbow upward, not drooping down on their side), and in Sailboat (elbow slightly extended in front of head, shoulder rotated forward, and fingers pointed towards the lead arms wrist). Young kids do these with fins on. Stress good neutral body position.

We'll incorporate a 3/4 Catch-up with sailboat and a 6 kick switch with the sailboat. Emphasizing the rotation from one side to the next as quick as possible on these drills, spending very little time on their stomach.

I do refresh sometimes by do a straight arm recovery drill, and then a straight arm to sailboat drill (The straight arm recovery lasts until the elbow passes by the head, you can utilize some pauses at the top and sailboat positions as well to really get the emphasis on the positions. I use this for those who come to me with high elbow with bad rotation, and inability to finish through their stroke due to learning the high elbow to early. These reminders are also good maintenance for the other swimmers.

I hope that provides some ideas or some reinforcement for all of you out there. I do use other drills throughout the season, but the number of drills do get big, and I have drills designed for specific levels as I think that early on there are some things that need to be taught to develop good strokes for future success.