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Freestyle
Freestyle is not technically a stroke. It has come to mean a particular stroke that was once called the Australian Crawl, but in reality freestyle is a term meaning the use of any stroke that can get you from one end of the pool to the other. In fact, some swimmers whose butterfly is actually their fastest stroke can, and do, swim freestyle events using their butterfly. The only catch to this choice is that once you've chosen an alternate stroke to use during the freestyle event, you must hold to all the rules regarding that stroke or be disqualified. So while it's rare, but not unheard of, to see people swimming butterfly during a shorter freestyle event, I've never heard of someone trying to do a mile freestyle using butterfly. Freestyle is just easier using the Crawl. Therefore, since the vast majority of swimmers use the Crawl during freestyle events, I'll just call it freestyle from here on out.
Freestyle at Competition Let's start with the kick. Freestyle, just like backstroke, uses what's called a flutter kick. A flutter kick is an asymmetrical kick where the leg that is kicking down moves opposite the leg that is kicking up. Once the leg has reached the top of its motion it moves down while the other moves up. The full range of motion of the foot in a flutter kick from top to bottom of its cycle is rarely more than twelve inches. If you've ever seen a competitive swimmer do freestyle or backstroke, you'll know what I mean. The trick to a good flutter kick is to always start the kick from the hip, leaving the knees and ankles flexible but firm in their movement of the water. A good kick does not splash. The water should seem to boil. You should feel a constant pressure on the bottoms and tops of your feet as you propel yourself through the water with a good kick and a good kick provides a good foundation for the rest of your stroke. Like backstroke, freestyle is a rotational stroke. When one arm is creating power for the stroke, the other is in recovery. Thus, like backstroke, a good shoulder roll is very important to a smooth and efficient stroke. However, unlike backstroke, your shoulder roll is the basis for your breathing cycle in freestyle. A swimmer can easily unbalance his stroke by breathing too often to one side or even, when he gets tired, slow down the rotation of his shoulders when he wants to breathe. This shows up often in tired swimmers when they seem to lope down the pool taking short and long strokes as they wind their way down the pool. Now this doesn't mean that swimmer's haven't been successful. In fact some of the best swimmers in the world have had this flaw. High-level competitive swimmers who have this problem, have trained it so deeply into their stroke that their stroke would have to be completely deconstructed in order to fix it. Most coaches just don't bother fixing these issues since they make a living on the speed of their athletes and adjusting a stroke at that level makes the swimmer slower during the relearning process. Nonetheless, an unequal stroke is inefficient and wastes precious energy. Learn it right and train it right so you can be the best you can be. Lay prone in the water with your arms straight over your head and your thumbs touching. The waterline should be at the top of your forehead. Start your flutter kick. This is the foundation of freestyle. Your arms will move and your shoulders will rotate, but your head, chest and lower body will remain steady. Any movement of the lower body usually means something is out of position in your stroke and means your stroke should be looked at for flaws. From this position, start your catch. While one arm stays where it is, above your head, bring your fingertips of the other hand down until your hand is perpendicular with the bottom of the pool. Keep your elbow high. Rotate your wrist slightly outward until you feel a ball of water creating pressure on your hand. As you turn your catch into a pull, your shoulder will drop, raising the shoulder of the non-pulling arm a little. Pull the ball of water just outside the width of your shoulder then reverse the flow of the pull back towards the centerline of your body being careful to rotate the wrist out so that you do not lose the ball of water as you change the direction of the pull. Bend your elbow a little more and begin to raise your shoulder back to the beginning, neutral, position while you pull the ball of water under your centerline. Once your hand and the ball of water is under your body, you will reverse the flow of your pull again. Be careful again to not lose the ball of water by rotating your wrist, this time to the inside if your body. Your final push of the stroke now begins. Finish rotating your shoulder back to the neutral position you started the stroke with while bringing the ball of water past your waist and thigh. Once your hand is at your thigh, your recovery phase with that arm begins. While the catch and pull starts with your other arm, you shoulder will rise, leading the elbow then hand out of the water. Here is where you can take your breath. As your shoulder roll to that side reaches its apex, turn your head just to the side. If you go too far, your kick will have to counterbalance you and you'll see a fast kick out to the side. You won't have to turn very far either, since your progress through the water will create a nice wake in which you will be able to take your breath. Only your mouth need be above water, not your whole head. Once your breath is taken, your arm rolls over your body with its elbow high and fingertips low. Let your shoulder roll return your head to its starting position and knife your hand into the water, finger tips first, about two feet in front of your head at shoulder width. Here you are ready to start the next catch and pull. Freestyle, unlike other strokes really doesn't lend itself to being taken apart very well. Almost all of the motions in the stroke are interdependent upon another. In order to work on differing aspects of the stroke, one drill that I found works well is to use a kickboard in one hand, holding it out in front of yourself while you practice with one arm at a time. Just be sure, as you're doing your freestyle stroke to reach your fingertips a little underneath the kickboard as you start your stroke to simulate the shoulder roll of the other arm as you practice. Another drill that I like to use in order to keep my feel for the water, is sculling. Sculling is best performed in a prone position with a pull buoy. While your nose is at the waterline, place both arms out in front of you shoulder width apart. Bring your fingertips down so that your hands are perpendicular to the bottom of the pool and your elbows are raised slightly. Using nothing but your wrists and hands, scull, moving your hands back and forth and propel yourself to the other end of the pool. Not only does this drill give you an excellent feel for the water, it teaches you how to catch the water at the beginning of a stroke easily and efficiently. You may get a little tired at first, but the results are worth it, especially when you sprint. Some coaches mistakenly have the belief that sprinting and distance freestyle are two different strokes that require different disciplines to do well. Don't get me wrong, there are a number of differences between the swimmers that can do these events well. Sprinters tend to be well-built muscular individuals with an ability to go into deep anaerobic deficit. Distance swimmers, however, are pure aerobic athletes. Both freestylers, however benefit greatly from an efficient stroke and you can do them both as well with the following mindsets. When you sprint freestyle, your job is to get to the end as fast as possible. No one who did the best they could in a sprint ever bothered to take a breath. Furthermore, as a sprinter, you don't have the luxury of finding your feel for the water with every stroke. When you start your catch, do your best to grab all the water you can, but don't wait on the perfect grab. The sprinter's catch moves so fast into their pull that there really isn't any separating the two. If sprinting is your thing, be sure to practice your catch quickly so that you will have the most power through your stroke. Furthermore, a sprinter's kick is powerful. Since the sprinter is going to go into deep anaerobic deficit anyway, there's no point in holding back anything so power your kick as hard as you can without splashing. Then you'll be sure to get as much out of your stroke as possible. Unlike sprinting, distance swimming is all about efficiency and everything you can do to work with the water to maintain your aerobic strength is key. A distance freestyler's stroke is a little longer then a sprinter's. You'll have time to work with your catch so that you're as efficient as possible. Keep focused on your body position so that you don't work against yourself and breathe. Many distance swimmers end up breathing every other stroke which is fine as long as you don't get unbalanced. If you feel yourself starting to lope down the pool with uneven strokes, switch to breathing to the other side a bit. Another tip for a distance swimmer, is never ever wear a cap if you can help it. Endurance athletes lose a terrible amount of effectiveness if they overheat and you can dissipate a lot of heat through your head without a cap to keep it in. Ok, I can hear you saying, all these tricks are nice and I'll take years trying to figure out just how to do the stroke you just described, but how does a good freestyle feel? Well, I'll tell you. In freestyle, more than any other stroke, your heart leads the way. This is why, when my freestyle feels right, I feel like my heart is pulling me forward through the water like a love-sick teenager pining after their latest crush. It's not very scientific, but many excellent freestylers describe the stroke as being powered by their love for the sport. The body position engendered by this feeling really is optimal, I think, for a good freestyle. Try it. |
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