FIVE COMMON STROKE FLAWS
1.
Arched Back
Coaches often notice freestylers arching their backs, a crucial indication that their body isn’t in its most efficient position. Focus on keeping “your head, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles aligned.” Tightening your abdominal muscles will help prevent your back from bowing.
2.
High Head Position
Breaststrokers sometimes keep their heads raised during their recovery glide, causing drag and throwing off timing. To help correct this error, Coaches suggest doing one-pull-two-kicks breaststroke drill to encourage neutral head position during your glide.
3.
Over-Rotation in Backstroke
Coaches notice that age-groupers are especially prone to “over-doing the side to side motion” in backstroke, which leads to a less powerful stroke. By swimming with a kickboard held upright between your legs, you can help develop a balanced rotation.
4.
No Upbeat on Dolphin Kicks
While most swimmers have a strong downbeat on their underwater dolphin kicks, Tierney sees many relax on their up-kick, losing power by doing so. The solution? Practice vertical- or side-kicking to emphasize both motions.
5.
Shallow Streamlines
After completing a freestyle turn, swimmers often go too shallow, breaking to the surface quickly and losing the opportunity to swim under the rough water near the wall. Coaches encourage swimmers to complete a set amount of underwater dolphin kicks after flip-turning to take advantage of the push off.
