How to Pull the Body in Freestyle Swimming

Video Transcript

"In this section, this is going to be seventh step of freestyle swimming. What I'll be explaining to you now is--we've learned to keep the hands closed, we've learned to them in at a forty-five degree angle. Now what I'm going to teach you is the pull. Now, what I've been taught, and what every swimmer, competitively or beginner, is always taught, is to form an S. So, the best way I'll explain is: imagine drawing a woman figure. So, your hands will go like this. A woman's figure is out like that and back in like this. But you're doing it with one arm at a time, and then the other arm. So you're doing a complete woman's figure under the water, but one arm at a time. And it's an S-form. So, here we go. You're going in at an angle; your hands are like a paddle, fully-extended. You're going to form an S under the water pulling all the way back. So did you see that? The arm enters the water, your shoulders are aligned perfectly, and you're forming and S pulling, using your entire arm as the muscle to pull back. And then the same thing with the other arm. Enter in at a forty-five degree angle, you'll extend completely, and then you're going to be forming an S to pull. And that's what's going to move you completely forward. Because if you just went like this, first off, you're going to be straining out all your muscles, and you're not getting as much of a pull. When you go like an S, it's more aerodynamic, it speeds it up quicker, and you can just get a whole lot more out of your whole entire arm just making that little S movement. And make sure that your hand's always touching your butt when you finish this section of the freestyle swim. All right, now for the freestyle. This is a continuation of step seven. So, hands closed, and I showed you not to slap the water--just go at an angle--now is the pull. So when you pull, you're going to do basically--if you had both your hands like a female shape, an S-shape. So, you're going to enter your arm in the water, and just pull all the way back. Enter in the water, pull all the way back. And make an S and pull. So, the biggest thing that I want you to remember on this one is, you want to make sure that you have a strong arm and you're not just using your forearm. I've seen a lot of people just use their forearm to pull--you've got to use your whole entire shoulder. So you go in, you pull all the way back. Same thing with this arm. Goes in, you pull all the way back. And you've got to make sure it pulls all the way, completely back. And that's what you do for pulling."