Swim Direct Blog

Freestyle is generally the favourite of most swimmers as a warm up stroke. It is one of the easier strokes, for technique to learn and perform well. With the freestyle stroke you are going to concentrate on your arm cycles over the legs. In fact the leg kicks only count for 10% of the total speed through the water. With the freestyle you’re elbow is going to leave the water first. The elbow should be high, with the fingers relaxing under the elbow as you bring it out of the water. The fingers are the last to leave the water, but as the arm is out of the water you will begin to extend it allowing the fingers to cup as they move through the water. The force of the move will create the speed as you sweep and drop the shoulder. Then your other arm will start the movement. In other words for freestyle you are moving one arm and then the other. As the first arm is about to hit the water, your other arm should be moving out of the water. The legs are going to balance your body and provide a little speed as you have a momentary lapse during the strokes.