5 Step Freestyle Swimming Technique

The freestyle stroke in swimming is sometimes called by different names --- such as the American crawl or the front crawl --- but regardless of what you call it, the freestyle is one of the most fundamental strokes in swimming. It is an Olympic swim stroke and is powerful due to the mechanics of the stroke, which feature little wasted motion and the incorporation of the legs and arms to help propel your body. Children can be taught the fundamentals of the freestyle stroke, but even Olympic swimmers still work to fine-tune their mechanics and eliminate all wasted motion.
Step 1
Perform the flutter kick to propel yourself with your legs. The kicking motion will remain constant throughout your swim. Keep your knees slightly bent and flexed, and move the legs back and forth opposite of one another, keeping your feet outstretched to use as flippers. Avoid bringing the feet out of the water as you kick.
Step 2
Place both of your arms straight out ahead of you, parallel with the water. Keep your head down to reduce drag resistance.
Step 3
Bring your left hand down through the water, flattening your palm and facing it in the direction the arm is moving --- this will maximize how well you pull your body through the water.
Step 4
Bring your left arm out of the water, keeping your head down. As the arm exits the water, bring your right arm down through the water in a motion identical to that of the left arm. Your right arm should arrive all the way back, parallel with your legs, as your left arm moves to the front and enters the water straight out ahead of you once again.
Step 5
Repeat this motion continuously so that the arms are always opposite one another --- at any point you should have one arm in the water and one arm out of the water. Keep your head in the water and slowly exhale. When you need to take a breath, turn your head to the side of the arm that is raised out of the water and breathe in quickly -- do not crane your neck to get air, as this will break your streamline in the water. Breathe only as often as is necessary.