Proper Stroke Technique is Critical to Fast Swimming!
The following drills and stroke analysis can be used to swim more efficiently at faster speeds. Drills help isolate specific portions of a stroke. The analysis of the top swimmers (Dressel, Phelps, Murphy and Peaty) show how the fastest in the world are getting it done with proper technique.
| Freestyle Drills |
Techniques Emphasized |
| Overall Efficient Freestyle |
Numerous |
| One Arm |
Wide hand placement, catch, high elbow underwater pull, shoulder/hip rotation |
| Catch Up |
Wide hand placement, catch, high elbow underwater pull, shoulder/hip rotation |
| Tarzan |
Wide hand placement, length of pull |
| Streamlining |
Proper streamline off walls and while swimming |
| Caeleb Dressel Freestyle |
Analysis of Dressel freestyle |
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| Butterfly Drills |
Techniques Emphasized |
| Overall Efficient Butterfly |
Numerous |
| Angels in the Water |
Catch, hand placement, proper pull |
| Soft Hands |
Catch, chest press |
| One Arm Fly |
Catch, undulation, hips, arm recovery |
| Michael Phelps Fly |
Analysis of Phelps fly |
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| Backstroke Drills |
Techniques Emphasized |
| Double Arm Backstroke |
Proper hand placement |
| Backstroke Rotation |
Proper shoulder / hips rotation |
| Backstroke Spin |
Improve hand speed |
| Streamline Kick |
Balance, body position |
| Ryan Murphy Backstroke |
Analysis of Ryan Murphy backstroke |
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| Breaststroke Drills |
Techniques Emphasized |
| Breath every other stroke |
Body position when breathing |
| Single stroke streamline |
Streamline, long stroke |
| Double kick, single pull |
Body position |
| Breaststroke pull with flutter kick |
Arm speed, proper pull, streamline |
| Adam Peaty Breaststroke |
Analysis of Peaty Breaststroke |
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