This freestyle swim stroke drill lets you practice balance in a prone position while having both arms extended forward. It shows you how extending your arms forward affects your balance. It also lets you notice how using your arms to assume a streamlined shape decreases drag.
Note: This drill belongs to an older sequence of swimming drills to learn the freestyle stroke. Please consult the Learn How To Swim The Freestyle Stroke article to read about our current sequence of swimming drills.
Swimming Drill Instructions
Try to assume a horizontal position in the water, with your head and body turned downward.
Your head is in line with your spine.
Extend your arms forward, having one hand resting on top of the other one.
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Look straight down toward the bottom of the pool.
Kick with a relaxed flutter
kick.
When you need to breathe, extend your chin forward so that your mouth
clears the water, and take a quick breath. You should notice that your hips and legs have the tendency to drop.
Bring back your head in line with your spine as soon as you have taken your breath, and apply downward pressure on your head and sternum. Keep your body horizontal though. You should notice that your hips and legs have the tendency to rise through a lever effect.
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Swimming Drill Benefits
When you practice this drill should notice that you move forward faster
and
with more ease than in the balancing
on your front drill because your arms
are now extended forward. This is because extending your arms forward in the water makes the shape of your body more tapered and decreases drag.
This drill reinforces the habit of applying downward pressure on your upper body and head to force your hips and legs to rise up to the water surface.
