How to Master Your Freestyle Swimming Technique

How to Swim Freestyle Faster

It is often thought that to swim faster you must increase training mileage and intensity. This is only partly true — in swimming, you're only as fast as your technique. Body balancing, breathing, core stability, kicking, and the right training tools are all key components of faster freestyle swimming.

Here are the 5 key components to a faster freestyle swim:

Breaking Down the Freestyle Stroke Technique

Hip and shoulder rotation in freestyle have been thoroughly analyzed — for good reason. The more the body is immersed in water, the more resistance it creates. The first step in mastering freestyle stroke technique is learning to reduce that resistance through proper body balancing. The work of the hips is essential here, and hip drop most often originates from incorrect head position.

Exercise 1: Correct Hip Position — Sweep In & Sweep Out

Exercise 2: Improve Shoulder Work — Dog Paddle Drill

Elite swimmers work extensively on shoulder rotation because it enables a more powerful pull and easier arm recovery. The shoulder rotation involves not just the shoulders but the trunk and hips — making the stroke more effective throughout.

Combining Hip and Shoulder Work — Pull Buoy Exercises

Freestyle Swimming: The Recovery

Recovery is the fourth phase of the freestyle stroke — it begins when the arm exits the water and ends when the hand re-enters to begin the next stroke cycle. It is called recovery because it requires neither work nor effort. The arm in its aerial phase does not advance the swimmer, so relaxing the shoulder and arm during this phase is critical.

An excellent exercise for managing the recovery phase is to cross the pool in the fewest number of strokes possible, focusing on stroke width.

Classic freestyle teaching requires a high-elbow recovery. Here are the three steps to developing correct recovery mechanics:

High Elbow or Straight Arm Recovery?

There is no definitive answer — both can be effective. The key is understanding how each interacts with body rotation:

Freestyle Rotation: Maximize Your Power

With proper body rotation, the arm achieves a longer reach and engages more muscles — favoring greater propulsion. The world's best freestylers rotate approximately 30 degrees below the water's surface, taking water from just under the stomach rather than from the side. Rotation involves the shoulders, trunk, and hips together.

Rotation benefits freestyle for three important reasons:

1. More water intake — rotating on the axis extends the stroke further and makes it more effective.
2. Easier arm recovery — rotation helps prevent shoulder injuries compared to swimming parallel to the water surface.
3. Engages the strongest muscles — chest, back, and core muscles all contribute to a rotated stroke.

Drill 1: Improve the Catch Phase — Front Scull

Drill 2: Train Pull Effectiveness — Doggy Paddle

The freestyle stroke's greatest effectiveness comes during the pull, when the arm passes just below the stomach. To maximize this phase, keep the hand and arm on the same line as the shoulder.

Drill 3: Develop the Exit — Catch-Up Freestyle

Without a correct push and exit phase, the stroke is incomplete — making all the work of the catch and pull less effective.

The Great Bilateral Breathing Pattern Controversy

Breathing is another critical component of a fast, well-executed freestyle. Every swimmer has a natural breathing style, but understanding the true importance of breathing can unlock unexpected improvements.

What Is Bilateral Breathing and Why Does It Matter?

Bilateral breathing means breathing on both sides — every 3, 5, or any odd number of strokes. Mastering it means being able to breathe from either side of the body comfortably. The patterns:

• Left arm / right arm / left arm → breathe from the left side
• Right arm / left arm / right arm → breathe from the right side

Practical Tips for Developing Bilateral Breathing

• During warm-up, incorporate breathing to your weaker side.
• Try different patterns in drill sets: 100's breathing 2-3-2-3, 2-3-2-5, or 3-5-3-7 across lengths. Don't worry about speed initially.
• Breathe low in the water — avoid lifting the head or dropping the extended arm when breathing.
• Practice sustained exhale underwater: imagine a continuous stream of bubbles from the mouth. Never hold the breath.

When Is Unilateral Breathing Better?

Bilateral breathing is not an absolute law. Swimmers with excellent technique sometimes breathe on one side — particularly at elite levels — to ensure muscles receive the maximum oxygen necessary for peak power output. From 100m upward, breathing every two strokes guarantees better oxygen supply. Open-water swimmers and triathletes, however, must train bilateral breathing to use both sides for navigation.

Master the Two-Beat Freestyle Kick

Two, four, or six kicks per stroke cycle? The answer depends on your event and training level. Leg work is the foundation of propulsion, stability, and rhythm — especially in longer races where leg fatigue can break the stroke apart.

Kicking requires precise attention and significant effort. Learning to take advantage of propulsion that starts from the feet and carries through to the arms is what completes an effective, fast freestyle.

Key Principles for Building a Correct Kick

• The width of the kick should not be too wide — an excessively wide kick creates drag.
• During drills, focus on both the kick and the stroke together.
• Repeat drills slowly and with control to acquire correct technique before adding speed.

Coordination Drills: 50m with Varying Kick Patterns

Swim 50m four times, each with a different kick pattern to develop coordination between legs and arms:

1. Arms only with a pull buoy — no kick.
2. Single leg kick every two strokes.
3. Two kicks each stroke (one on hand entry, one during the pull).
4. Three kicks each stroke — six kicks per full stroke cycle.

Which Kick Pattern for Which Swimmer?

Basics of Freestyle Flip Turns

A well-executed flip turn can earn up to a second per lap. In short-course racing, flip turns allow for a brief recovery from swimming and explain why short-course times are consistently faster than long-course times for the same events. Whether you're a sprinter or mid-distance swimmer, the flip turn is a decisive performance factor.

The 3 Most Common Flip Turn Mistakes

1. Blocking the legs on approach — raising the shoulders for momentum breaks the continuity of the swim and slows both the approach and the rotation.
2. Knees too far from the chest — this slows the somersault and increases time to reach the wall.
3. Bent arms on exit — delays repositioning into streamline and causes incorrect body position off the wall.

The Correct Flip Turn — Step by Step

• Head follows the hand — the head begins the flip turn rotation curve during the final stroke push.
• Raise the hips — dip the forehead, push the shoulders down, and push the hips upward with a strong bend.
• Lower the head underwater — at the end of the last stroke, rotate palms downward and push the head under to facilitate rotation.
• Keep knees on the surface — the most common error is keeping heels at the surface and drawing the knees too quickly, creating massive drag.
• Push off the wall — feet at hip height, upper body locked, and leg thrust through the shoulders.

Adding Speed to the Turn

Why Freestyle Streamline Is SO Important

Often, to improve you have to go back to the basics. Streamline is the most hydrodynamic position a swimmer can hold — and it produces two of the highest speeds in any race: off the start and off every turn. The goal of streamline is to carry that high speed for as long as possible.

Streamline Position Drill

1. Push off the wall while blocking one hand over the other, hooking the upper thumb over the lower hand.
2. Push and rotate to a prone position. Keep the head firmly wedged between the shoulders with arms stretched as far forward as possible.
3. Check that the gaze is downward and that the core, hips, and legs are perfectly aligned.
4. Hold the position and slide until the body naturally rises to the surface.

Two Streamline Positions

Streamline in the Three Key Racing Contexts

How to Balance Freestyle Catch Technique with Pull

Freestyle can be broken into four distinct phases. Breaking down each phase individually is the key to identifying and correcting the specific areas limiting your speed.

Frequently Asked Questions