How to Swim Efficient Freestyle

Swimmers can use a few techniques to swim more efficiently.

Anyone who swims for fitness or competition can swim laps or complete workouts. However, the ability to swim those yards or meters efficiently allows swimmers to complete the same amount of training with less effort -- or complete more training with similar effort. More efficient swimming is characterized by two main principles -- increase propulsion and/or decrease drag. Swimmers increase propulsion by moving their bodies with more velocity. They decrease drag by positioning their body to glide through the water more smoothly. Freestyle swimmers can make good swimming technique great by swimming more efficiently.

Things You'll Need

• Swimming pool
• Swimming suit
• Goggles

Instructions

1. Keep your head and trunk in line. A common mistake freestyle swimmers make is to watch where they're going. However, when the head is lifted in that way, it keeps water from gliding past the body smoothly. Swimmers should keep their heads in line with their spines. They should remain in line even when breathing, according to Ernest Maglischo in "Swimming Fastest." Often, swimmers need to look at a point directly below them on the pool floor to put their heads in the correct position.

2. Rotate the body as a unit. Freestyle swimmers should rotate their bodies along an imaginary line from the top of their heads to their toes. No part of the body should divert from that line in truly efficient swimming, Maglischo writes. Often, in freestyle, swimmers can focus on the rotation of their shoulders and hips to monitor their body rotation. Body rotation can create power.

3. Enter hands in the water smoothly. When the hands enter the water or are above the water on their way to entry, splashing and water disturbance should be at a minimum. If the hands are forced into the water, it creates "push drag," where the water is pushed in the wrong direction, Maglischo writes. By creating a "knife into butter" feel when entering hands into the water, freestyle swimmers also conserve energy by relaxing muscles when they're not in use.

4. Ease into each stroke. After the arms and hands enter the water, the subsequent motions do not propel the body. They position the arms and hands to make the stroke. Therefore, since they don't make a swimmer speed up, those motions should be done smoothly and gently, Maglischo writes. Swimmers should think about gradually increasing force on the water with the arms and hands. Start easy and increase force on the stroke gradually.

5. Curve your hand and forearm slightly. Placing hands and forearms into the right position can help a freestyle swimmer get more out of each stroke. Hands and arms should make a crescent shape, writes Cecil Colwin in "Breakthrough Swimming." The thumb should be extended out, not positioned alongside the index finger. If a swimmer's hand and wrist are at a 90-degree angle or are perfectly straight, they're not being used as efficiently as possible.

Tips & Warnings

• Minimize splashing as much as possible. Splashing creates water turbulence and minimizes stroke efficiency.

• Keep muscles relaxed when possible. If a muscle isn't propelling the body, it shouldn't be tensed.

References

• "Swimming Fastest"; Ernest Maglischo; 2003.
• "Breakthrough Swimming"; Cecil Colwin; 2002.