Teaching The Strokes to

Freestyle
Developmental Swimmers
Very basic skills and progressions for coaches of What to look for
novice swimmers. Establish Alignment And Balance And A Stabilizing Kick At
The Beginning Of Every Swim/Drill
 Head in line with spine

 Head steady

Guy Edson  Recovery not affecting alignment

 No splash entry
American Swimming Coaches Association.
 Length of stroke

 acceleration

 Rolling to breathe

 Steady kick, good alignment

Freestyle Essential Skills Freestyle Keywords

 Kicking – from lots of quality kicking  Splash equals slow;
 Body position and alignment – from side glide  Reach Roll Breathe;
 Steady head – from side glide, snorkel, no breath  Fingers down,
swimming  Elbow up,
 Rolling to breathe – from side glide, one arm free
 S-l-o-w quick,
Thumb your thigh,
 High elbows on recovery – zipper drill


 Touch turn breathe,

 No splash entry – partner coaching
 Elbow high,
 Anchoring the hands in water – fingers down  Fingertips first

Brooke Bennett – Distance Swimmer,

Styles of Freestyle Oppositional Arms
 On the next four slides are examples of two basic
styles of freestyle
 Oppositional arms
 Front quadrant
 Which is best?
 Which do you teach?

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 1
 Scott Tucker – Sprinter Scott Tucker
Oppositional Arms

Thanks to
Glenn
Mills at
Go Swim

From Glenn Mills at Go Swim

Erik Vendt – Distance Swimmer,

Front Quadrant “Good” Age Group Freestyle
47

From Glenn Mills at Go Swim

Building Freestyle Progressions?

49

 Build freestyle on a foundation of:  Is there a best progression for any of the strokes? NO.
 Kicking  Is there a straight line progression for any of the strokes? NO.
 Streamlining  Sometimes we build the strokes from several directions at once.
 Alignment
 Free and back must have great kicking – start there. Breast
and fly need correct timing – start there.
 Reducing resistance is more important than  In some cases there are clearly some things that need to be
increasing propulsion. done before others. DON’T RUSH. Do the basic fundamentals
 The kick, while it is propulsive, serves primarily to better than basically well. .
stabilize and align the body

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 2
 In general we build the strokes from body
position (alignment and stabilization) to whole Freestyle “Progression”
50
stroke.
For Free and Back Practice the posture and movements on the deck before each
drill. Repeat key words.
1. Body Position – posture, line and balance
2. Kick – with correct body position  Kicking strength, with board
3. Arm Action – proper extension, catch or anchoring,  Streamlining
exit, recovery, and entry  Streamlining with kicking, no board

4. Timing – rhythm and coordination  Streamlining, one arm pull to sideglide

 Sideglide
5. Breathing – when to breathe, how to breath
 Sideglide with switching
For Breast order is: 1/2, 4/5, 2, 3.
 Three strokes to sideglide, repeat
For Fly order is: 4, 3, 1, 5, 2
 Perfect Full stroke without breathing, then add
breathing

Types of Kicking Basic Fundamental Kicking w/Board

52

 Kicking with a board

 With hands holding board near the top and head up Key words:
Toes pointed
 Changesbody position but this is about the legs more than Fast feet
alignment. Plus you get to talk to them. Boil the water
 With hands holding board at the bottom and with head 3 by 3’s
in the water To the cone
Catch-up
 Closer to proper body position Chase backs
 Kicking without a board is best for working on body All very fast
position, alignment, streamlining

Finis “Streamline Board” Learning to Streamline

Shape shifting
Novice Streamlining 

on deck with
help
 Shape shifting
on deck oyo
 Shape shifting
standing in the
water
 Holding the
shape into a
streamline kick

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 3
 Novice Streamlining After Expert
Coaching Unacceptable Streamlining
57

Hands
not
stacked
one on
top of
other;
arms not
straight;
space
between
arms and
head;
head too
high.

Streamlining Streamlining Key Words

Head below the arms Hide the head.
 Poor steamlining Arms straight Look Down
Arms locked Chin on your chest
No space between the ears and arms.

Better Steamlining
Shape Shifting
Looking for Head
below the arms

After “Learning” Streamlining…

Streamlining
61

 (not that the swimmer has truly mastered it…)

 Learn to sideglide
 The sequence off the wall is:
 Streamline
 Kick
 Pull one stroke to side
 “touch, roll, breathe.

 Ear is attached to leading arm on the breath

 Cheek is attached to leading arm on the streamlined
Why Streamlining is so difficult Why streamlining is so important sideglide
Why the ability to swim/kick underwater is important  “no space between head and arm”

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 4
 Basic Side-glide Sideglide Kick
Key Point: Establish streamlining and kicking first – stabilize
the body. THEN begin the drill.

But notice This is a pretty

separation good example
between for a
head and developmental
arm. swimmer. The
body stays on
the side and
just the head
is rolling.

Sideglide Kick Sideglide Kick

Key words: Touch-roll-breath, thumb your thigh, head is glued to your arm

Shoulder is not
very steady
here. Notice Nice
bending the steady
knees too much shoulder
on the kick – but
which leads to lifted
the movement in head on
the shoulders. first
stroke

Sideglide Kick Sideglide with a Tennis Ball –

Head out of Position 67
Rolling too far here.
This is a deliberate
“over correction” to
help this swimmer
We want to with two
take ONE difficulties: 1) not
breath then rolling enough, and
roll head 2) tends to lift
back down. head. Tennis ball
helps keep head in
Try to line with the spine.
establish
streamlining
first.

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 5
 Sideglide after Using Tennis Ball Multi-Use Drill?
68 69

For Swimmers
having difficulty
kicking
backstroke and
maintaining
body position,
this “freestyle”
drill is a nice
transition to
backstroke
kicking.

Clearly, We Have Not Worked on

More Tennis Ball Kicking
70 71
Recovery Yet.
Note on drills:
with many drills,
some things are
temporarily
given up, in
order to teach
something else.
In time, we will
add a recovery
drill to this
exercise.

Arms Short List of Drills for Arms

73

 Common mistakes  Before arms: streamlining, alignment, kicking,

 Rushing into arm recovery before stabilizing kicking stabilization
 Thumb first recovery  Arms “progression”
 Single stroke to sideglide
 non alternating arms
 Three stroke switch to sideglide
 Straight arm recovery (not always a problem)
 Full stroke breathing every 3
 Tips  Also of value:
 Out of water practice  Catch up stroke with and without board
 Kinesthetic teaching  Pro: work on recovery
 Pro: introduce front quadrant swimming
 Shadow swimming
 Con: swimmers often stay flat
 Key words: “pinkie, elbow,” “reach for the sky,” “thumb up  Con: front quadrant swimming is NOT for everyone
your side”  One Arm Freestyle, opposite side breathing
 Using FINIS Tempo Trainer  One Arm Freestyle, same side breathing

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 6
 More Drills for Arm Stroke? Shadow Swimming
74

 Hundreds…
Ask
 Nice to have a bunch in your toolbag so you can swimmers
pull one out for a special need to watch
 However, for developing swimmers it may be better themselves
to have fewer drills done properly and every drill is – watch the
head for
aimed at getting them to swim basically well. Basics alignment
first, hold the exceptionals for a bit later. and
stillness.

Shadow Sideglide Drill Learning Sideglide Switch

Practicing
the drill on
the deck
increases
the
likelihood
that the
drill will be
done
“nearly”
correct in
the water.

Well, maybe not learned… Sideglide with Single Arm Switch

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 7
 Sideglide with Single Arm Switch Sideglide with Single Arm Switch

Sideglide to Switch Three Stroke Switch

83

Sideglide with Three Stroke Switch Sideglide with Three Stroke Switch
84 85

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 8
 Sideglide with Three Stroke Switch Sideglide with Three Stroke Switch
86 87

Catch-Up Freestyle Learning Catch-Up

88 89

This is a
good drill for
thinking
about one
stroke at a
time; for
working on
recovery; for
working on
length and
alignment.

Well, maybe not learned… Learning Catch-Up

90 91

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 9
 Learning Catch-Up With KickBoard Catch Up Free with Tennis Ball
92 93

Purpose is to learn
to keep head down.
The kick board
offers a temporary
“crutch” to allow the
swimmer to focus on
the head position.

Catch-Up Free with Tennis Ball More Catch-Up With Tennis Ball
94 95

You only need

to use the
tennis ball one
or two times.
After that you
can say,
“Pretend you
are holding a
tennis ball
under your
chin.”

Freestyle One Arm Catch-Up Freestyle One Arm Catch-Up

96 97

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 10
 One Arm Free One Arm Free
- Opposite Side Breathing - Same Side Breathing

Key words are: reach, roll, breathe Key words are: touch, roll, breathe.
The swimmer rolls to breathe after
the thumb of the stroking hand
98 touches the thigh. 99

Hose Drill Hose Drill

101

The purpose of
pulling on the
hose is to work
on alignment
during hand
entry and the
ability to keep
alignment when
breathing.

Take out a lane

line and place a
hose there
instead.

First created by
Jack Nelson.
100

“Hose Drill” Hose Hardware Freestyle Sailboat Drill

102 103
This is an
“advanced”
drill in that it
requires a
very good
kick.
Purpose of
drill: work on
recovery and
entry; and
work on
proper timing
sequence of
switching
from side to
side.

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 11
 Scooters Evolution Stroke
104
The purpose of
scooters is for
the swimmer to
watch their
entry.
Yes, it takes
them out of
proper body
position. No, it
doesn’t
permanently
ruin them. With
some drills you
temporarily give
up something in
order to gain
something else.

FINIS Hydro Swimming with Hydro-Fins

Fins

Check Alignment with swimmer

FINIS Tec-Tocs
109
swimming away from you
Watch the
hips and
check for
rolling along
the axis but no
side to site
swinging.

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 12
 Check Alignment with swimmer Full Stroke – Novice Swimmer
110
swimming toward you 111

For a novice
swimmer, this
stroke has
pretty good
balance.

Full Stroke – Novice Swimmer Full Stroke

112 113

Notice Lifting of Notice:

Head. finishing
stroke
early; lifting
head;
swimming
flat;
recovery
with fingers
leading.

“It’s not learned until it’s done under Common Freestyle Stroke Faults
114
pressure.” 115

Most stroke faults in freestyle relate to breathing and recovery

Racing is a good problems.
way to see if
young swimmers
are learning the
skills.
Breathing faults:
1. lifting the head to breathe
2. lifting head to breathe with “skating” on opposite arm
3. holding the breath
4. breathing early

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 13
 Drills for Freestyle Breathing Faults Freestyle Recovery and Entry Faults
116 117

Drills should seek to lower the head in line with the spine and use A misplaced entry creates a poor “setup”. When the setup is incorrect
rolling to breathe rather than lifting to breathe the rest of the stroke is hard to correct. It should also be noted that
there is a relationship between the shape of the recovery and the
pattern of the pull. When there is a low wide recovery of the left
1. side kicking, then side glide drill arm the right arm often has a wide pull. We have found that by
2. catch up drill using a kickboard correcting the recovery many pulling problems are also corrected.
3. one arm freestyle, opposite arm down, opposite side 1. high straight arm recovery
breathing 2. low wide straight arm recovery
a) “reach, roll, breathe”
3. cross over entry
4. one arm freestyle, opposite arm forward, same side breathing
4. “crushing water molecules” entry
a) “touch, turn, breathe”
5. bobbing 5. no extension entry

Correcting Freestyle Recovery and

Backstroke
118
Entry Stroke Faults
Drills seek to correct the movement of the arms and the  What to look for
placement of the entry. Establish Alignment And Balance And A Stabilizing Kick At
1. zipper drill or fingertip drag The Beginning Of Every Swim/Drill
 Steady head, in line with spine
2. Scooters
 Alternating arms
3. Sailboat Drill  No splash entry

4. hose drill  Entry above the shoulder

 rolling
 Deep arms
 acceleration
 Steady kick

Jeff Rouse, note depth New Trend in Backstroke?

121

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 14
 “Good” Age Group Backstroke Backstroke
122

Skills
 Kicking – from quality kicking
 Body position and alignment – from quality kicking, side
glide
 Steady head – from kicking

 Rolling – from one arm backstoke

 Alternating, deep arms: steady rhythm

 No splash entry – partner coaching, shadow swimming

 Anchoring the hands in water – fingers down and deep

 Deep stroke pattern – at least at the beginning

Backstroke Progression Overview Backstroke Progression Suggestion

124 125
o Streamline kicking with a board
 Kicking strength with proper body position is the o Toes up, belly up, head back
o streamline kicking no board
key. Work on this first. o push belly to the sky
streamline kicking to one arm pull to sideglide and hold
 OK to use fins with weak kickers so that you can o
o arms straight, palm down, deep arms, roll
work on arms. o streamline kicking to one arm pull to sideglide hold, to switch and hold
o opposite arms, head steady, deep arms, roll
 Work on rhythm and roll – steady straight arms – o arm brushes your ear
o little finger first
with a steady head. o streamline kicking to one arm pull to sideglide hold, to three arm cycles and
hold
 Arm details last. o opposite arms, head steady, deep arms, roll
o arm brushes your ear
o little finger first
o streamline kicking to three opposite arm cycles
o Streamline kicking to full stroke

Backstroke Drills Backstroke Key Words

126
 Kicking streamlined on belly rolling to back, 127

 Kicking, one hand up, one down  Splash equals slow;

 Sideglide with head up and steady  "freestyle and backstroke are the same stroke,"
 Alternating arms  Palm down - Fingers out;

 Sidestroke backstroke  deep and straight;

 One arm free, one arm side, one arm backstroke  Deep, up, and over
progression  Roll shoulders, Snap the hips, Head steady
 Shadow swimming or mirror swimming
 Laying on the deck, practicing arm placement at
entry, with partner coaching.

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 15
 Backstroke Progression Backstroke Kicking, Hands down, tennis
129
ball for steady head and alignment
 Streamline kicking with a board
 Toes up, belly up, head back
 streamline kicking
 push belly to the sky
 streamline kicking to one arm pull to sideglide and hold
 arms straight, palm down
 streamline kicking to one arm pull to sideglide hold, to switch and hold
 opposite arms, head steady
 arm brushes your ear
 little finger first
 two cycles of above
 deep arms
 streamline kicking to one arm pull to sideglide hold, to three opposite arm cycles
and hold
 opposite arms, head steady
 arm brushes your ear
 little finger first
 streamline kicking to three opposite arm cycles

Backstroke kick drill or Freestyle Kick

Backstroke Kick from Freestyle Kick
130
drill? 131

Free Kick Rolling to Back Kick Free kick to back kick

132 133

For those For

less swimmers
buoyant, with a weak
this is a back kick,
difficult rolling form
drill. free to back
to free to
back can
help them
add
strength
and
distance to
their back
kick.

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 16
 Backstroke Kicking – Fashion Model
Backstroke Kicking with Fins
134 135
Backstroke
This drill requires a very good kick.
Streamline, Hands placed on the hips.
then Alternately roll the elbows out of the
dolphin water. Roll whole body – not just a
kick, then shoulder shrug. Purpose is to work
backstroke on body roll and strengthen kick.
kick.

Less skilled kickers can keep arms

at side.

Streamline to One Stroke One Arm Backstroke

136 137

Begin with
streamlining,
then a
stabilizing
kick, THEN
take one
stroke.

Back: One Stroke Hold, Switch Switch and Hold

138 139

Begin with
streamlining,
then a stabilizing
kick, THEN take
one stroke.

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 17
 3 stroke to hold Three stroke Hold
140 141

Working on Entry Using Shadows

142 143
(or mirrors)
“Hands up.
Fingers out. to check alignment
Right arm
down. and entry position.
Fall back and
go.”

One Arm Back 3 Stroke Switch Free to Back

with and without
144 145

Nice drill
Fins for relating
free to
back;
and for
working on
good
alignment

Fins make it
difficult to roll
but make it
possible for
weaker
swimmers to
do backstroke.

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 18
 Back: 2-2-2 Drill -- 2 strokes OA Free, 2 Side Stroke,
Sidestroke Backstroke 2 One Arm Back
146 147

Good drill for

feeling the A very good
water. Fingers drill for
go down, up, transitioning
and through, from free to
accelerating back.
through the
range. She does 2-
Recovery is up 2-2 here but
the side of the 3-3-3 or 4-4-
body. The real 4 is better.
purpose of this
drill is to
prepare for the
next drill.

Backstroke Faults Backstroke Faults

148

The most common problems in backstroke are in four areas: weak kick, misaligned Entry stroke faults Drills for entry problems
entry, no body roll leading to shallow pull, poor pulling pattern.
 1. over reaching  1. water shadows
Drills for legs  2. wide entry  2. dryland practice with

 1. for flexibility, plantar flexion before practice  3. back of hand entering partner
 2. for strength, kicking:  4. “crushing water  3. recovery around the

 a. arms down, one arm down, both arms up molecules” clock

 5. non alternating arms  4. over correction
 b. arms down with rotation
 5. swimming next to wall or
 c. side kicking
lane line
 d. side kicking with stroke to switch sides
 e. fashion model backstroke
149

Backstroke Faults Breaststroke

Pulling stroke faults Pulling Drills  What to look for
 1. no rolling resulting  1. sidestroke Establish Alignment And Balance At The
in shallow pull/splash backstroke Beginning Of Every Swim/Drill
 2. straight arm  2. 3 one arm free, 3
Timing: pull, kick, stretch
 3. dropped elbow sidestroke backstrokes,
3 one arm Swimming up AND downhill
 4. no acceleration
3 dimensional kick
Wide arm stroke
Slow-quick
150

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 19
 Amanda Beard – Gold Medalist Novice Swimmer – Not a Breaststroker
152 153

Note that
What is the
she pulls a
biggest issue
streamlined
here? NO
lower body
TIMING
through the
(among about
water.
a hundred
THEN she
other things. )
kicks a
Fix the timing
streamlined
FIRST.
upper body
through the
water. 2
engines,
alternately
working.

Alas.. There is hope… Acceptable Novice Breaststroke

154 155

This is
same Timing: Pull,
swimmer, Kick, Stretch.
after Head is a little
about 2 high. Arms pull
weeks. a little too wide
and too far
back. Kick is a
little wide.

“Good” Age Group Breaststroke Breaststroke Progression Overview

156 157

 Teach the timing first

 Teach kicking all the time
 Don’t wait for a legal kick before teaching arms or
timing. Be patient on errant kicks.
 Teach the arms
 Teach advanced lunge breaststroke “later”

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 20
 Breaststroke Progression Breaststroke
158 159

 Timing: kicking with board, coach shouts  Progression:

"breathe, kick, g-l-i-d-e"  Kick on wall, kick on back, kick on belly
 kicking without board, hands in front,  kicking with board, coach shouts "breathe, kick, g-l-i-d-e"
 kicking without board, hands in front, breathe, kick, glide
breathe, kick, glide
 kinesthetic teaching of arm stroke on deck
 Kick sitting on edge of wall, then kick on  crescendo breaststroke
back, then kick on belly  Skills
 kinesthetic teaching of arm stroke on deck  Kicking
 Various arm drills in water  Timing
 Beautiful arms

Breaststroke Drills Breaststroke Key Words

160 161

 Sit on side of pool and kick - "up to the wall, toes out, around  “Up, Kick, stretch”
and together"  for kicking with or without board, timing drill
 Kick on back using board, Switching, kick on back, kick on belly
 “What come up on the word up?”
 Hands, heels, head
 Kick with board, face in: "breathe, kick, stretch"
 “out, up, kick, stretch”
 Kick on front, hands down, touch heels. "up, kick, dive"
 For whole stroke
 Kick on front, hands out front: "up, kick, stretch"  Hands go out, then hands come in as head comes up, heels come up, kick,
 Sitting on the board, sculling
stretch
 Cobra, "strike"
 Describing the kick: “out, around, and down”
 Float: coach shouts "up-kick-down"
 Describing the arm stroke: “S-l-o-w, quick”
 Crescendo pull
 Describing the arm stroke: “out, up, and forward”
 Noodles in the arm pits
 “Chest down, hips up”
 Y breaststroke

Breaststroke Kick Suggestions Breaststroke: Kick from side

162 163

 Swimmers with illegal kicks with one foot turned in are usually
not kicking FLAT on their bellies. They are kicking a bit on their
side.
 Have them kick down the side of the pool, pointing their belly
button toward the wall (in the opposite direction they are
currently kicking) and ask them to pretend to “brush the side of
the pool with the big toe.” This turns the foot out and flattens
them out.
 The coach can lie on the side of the pool and hold the
swimmer’s feet in the proper position while the swimmer, using a
kick board, moves through the kick motion. After three motions
holding on to the feet, let the feet go and have the swimmer
perform about 3 kicks. One or two will be good. Repeat.

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 21
 Breaststroke -- Kicking on back,
Breast Kick With Board Timing Drill
switching to belly

“UP,
KICK,
GLIDE”

Most novice swimmers can perform a “legal” kick on their back, even if they cannot
do a legal kick on their belly. In this drill we are transitioning from back to belly in
hopes that it will allow them to learn how to feel the 164
water on their belly. 165

“Brush the Wall” “Up, Kick, Down”

“Brush the “Up, Kick,

Down”
Wall” with the becomes
toe will turn “Up, Kick,
the hips, Glide”
becomes
allow the foot “Up, Kick,
to be “out” Stretch”
and change a becomes
“Out, Up,
sidestroke Kick,
kick to a legal Stretch”
breaststroke (when the
arms are
kick. added.)

166 167

Breast: up, kick, glide Breast Kick, no board

She is
“cheating” a
little here by
using her arms
a bit. Not a big
issue… and
good to see
them figuring
out how to use
their hands.
(Head is a little
high though.)

168 169

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 22
 Breaststroke Timing Drill: Breaststroke: kick with hands down
up, kick, glide 171

“Touch you
heels with
your hands.”

“Chest down,
Hips Up”

“Up, Kick,
Dive.”

Purpose of
this drill is to
With Board make the kick
Without Board
more 3
dimensional
and to add
dolphin action “3 Dimensional Kick” means out, around, and DOWN. Width,
170 to the body. length, and depth.

Breaststroke Kick Drill:

Touch Heels with Hands – another view.
On Deck Arms
172 173

Key words:
“Out, up and
forward.”
Watch the
hips go up as Here, we are
the legs kick asking them to
down and the pause after the
head goes “out” just as a
down. temporary
overcorrection to
emphasize the
width. We do
not want
swimmers to
pause at this
point during the
normal stroke.

Breaststroke Shadow Arms Breaststroke Pull: Standing on Bottom

174 175

We are asking her

“Out, Up
to watch her
AND
shadow to see if
Forward.”
she is pulling back
too far. We want
the pull out in front
of the shoulders.
(She doesn’t turn
her head until the
second stroke after
her sister steps in
to remind her!)

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 23
 “Y Breaststroke Arms” One Arm Breaststroke with Board
176 177

Float, hands out, Here we are

wait for the words, isolating one
“Up and forward.” arm at a time,
working on the
Purpose of this outsweep.
drill is to work on
the quick Head is too
insweep. high and there
isn’t enough
stretch
between each
stroke.

“Little Circles” Breaststroke “Handcuffs” w/Free Kick

178 179

Purpose is to
isolate the
arms – not to
worry about
the timing.

“Handcuffs” is
a mind picture
image to
remind the
swimmer to
keep the arm
stroke out in
front. Over-
correction.

Breaststroke w/handcuffs Breaststroke Faults and Drills

180
Timing Faults Timing Drills
1. pulling and kicking at same time 1. drill on deck, arms extended, “up, kick,
2. not finishing kick down”, “what two things come up on
the word ‘up’?”
3. breathing early
2. kicking with board, arms extended
holding board out front, face in water;
listening for coach, “up, kick, glide”,
doing same with coach.
3. kicking without board, hands out front,
same drill.
4. kicking with hands at side, “up, kick,
dive” touching heels with hands
5. full stroke, “out, up, kick, stretch”

181

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 24
 Breaststroke Faults Breaststroke Faults
182 183

Pulling Faults Pulling Drills

1. pumpkin pulls, big wide circles finished under belly
2. flat, dropped elbows
3. climbers, pulling too hard too soon, then dropping
the water
1. drill on deck: swimmer faces coach, bent forward, head down,
offering outstretched arms, coach holds wrists and forearms making
movements and saying words, “out, in, and forward” adding
acceleration, asking swimmer to pop head and lift shoulders on the
“up”
2. noodles in the armpits to keep the stroke out front
3. standing on bottom, practicing arm patterns in unison with the coach.
4. sitting on board, sculling across pool.
5. using the washtub sweep on the deck then into the water
6. cobra
7. crescendo

Breaststroke Faults Basic Butterfly: What to Look For

185

Kicking faults
1. knee and foot turned in
2. Not finishing kick
3. dropping knees
4. not getting toes out
Kicking drills
1. deck manipulation
2. swimmer holding board,
coach holding feet moving
in correct pattern
3. sitting on the edge of the
pool, bring feet to wall,
turn toes out, kick out
around and together
4. kicking on back with kick
board
5. stretching exercises
184
Establish Alignment And Balance And A Stabilizing Kick At The
Beginning Of Every Swim/Drill
 Set up – hands enter outside the shoulders
 Stroke width and pattern matches athlete’s “swimming
strength”
 Stroke pattern is drag oriented with a slight taper inward
 “fingers forward, fingers back”
 Chest down, hips up
 Head out before the hands, in before the entry
 End of stroke “rounded out” for novice
 kick hands in, Kick hands out (kick in, kick out)
 Little finger first on recovery
 Minimal splash
 Chin plowing the water

Benny Neilson – Olympic Bronze

Butterfly
186 187
Medalist and “classic butterfly”
 Key words
 Kick in, kick out
 Out before, in before
 The chest goes down, the hips go up
 Chest before the hands
 Fingers forward, fingers back

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 25
 Misty Hymen – Gold Medalist “Good” Age Group Butterfly
188 189

Einstein and Butterfly Do not overcomplicate the stroke

190 191

 Einstein said, “Make everything as simple as  Do not overload the swimmer

possible, but not any simpler.”
 Do not ask the novice swimmer to swim
 Therefore…(next slide)
with an advanced stroke pattern
 The result might be…Fonzi Butterfly

Fonzi Butterfly Teaching Strategies

193

 Teach kicking all the time

 Teach all kinds of dolphin kicking
 Upside down, on the side, underwater, on top, with board,
without board, hands up, hands down, with fins, without fins
 Teach the timing first
 Teach the arms “later”

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 26
 Kicking Butterfly Kick – “wigglers”
194 195

 All ways, all the time

 Starting with wigglers, building to holding the line

examples next…

Butterfly Kick, “Wigglers” Fish on Vacation

196 197

Similar to
wigglers
except
under
water.

Try to go
4 or 5
kicks on
one
breath.

Fish on Vacation Fish on Vacation with Fins

198 199

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 27
 Kick with Board, head down Kick with Board, head down
200 201

We also kick
with head up.
It changes
body position
but: it moves
emphasis
away from
head
movement to
chest and hip
movement…
AND I can talk
to them!

Teaching: the fine print Timing Progression – Keep it Simple!

203
 This progression violates all known swimming principles 1. "pull up, stop"
 This progression gives Terry Laughlin heartburn.

 This progression leaves Bill Boomer speechless.

o no kick, maybe use pull buoy for the sinkers,
 But Bill Sweetenham likes it.


And for me… it works.

So I humbly present this as a suggestion.

o one stroke at a time,
o breathe every stroke.
o Helps keep from stopping at the end of the stroke

o Goal is timing only.

o Maximum of 3 strokes
o Do not worry about length of stroke.
o Do not worry about body position
o Because it is really ugly!

--- continued

Fly: Pull up, stop Pull up - Stop

204 205

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 28
 Pull Up - Stop Pull up, stop – three times
206 207

Interspersed with Water Time… Deck Practice - Arms

208 209

Do Lots of On Deck Drills with Arm Strokes,

Recovery (especially little finger forward), and
Timing.

Shadow Arms Timing Progression

210 211

2. "pull up, dive" –

o the dive or chest down brings the hips up,

o which creates the kick

o But don’t talk about the kick – yet.

o Maximum 3 strokes

--- continued

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 29
 Pull Up -- Dive Pull up -- Dive
212 213

Pull up -- Dive Pull up - dive

214 215

Progression - 3 Progression - 4
216 217

3. alternately work on all types of dolphin 4. Slowly add length to the arm stroke. Too
kicking. Do not introduce kicking as part of much length too early leads to recovery of
the whole stroke too early. head and arms at same time.

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 30
 Progression – 5, 6 Fly: Chest before the hands
218 219

5. One arm fly “chest before the hands,”

o Key words
o “Kick hands in, kick hands out,”

o Kick in, kick out

o “head comes out before the hands, in before”

o Out before, in before

Butterfly Drills Fly – One Arm

220 221

For the Developmental Swimmer, fewer drills is probably

better. Again, avoid over complicating it.
 Kick underwater, hands up / down

 Kick on top, no board

 Kick with board, different positions

 pull over the lane line with head leading way

 One arm butterfly with opposite arm down

 “chest before the hand”

Avoid drills that require the hand to stop at the sides. One of
the worst stroke difficulties to correct is the butterfly stroke that
gets stuck at the hips. Short strokes at first. Lengthen with gain
in strength.

Fly – One Arm Fly from Dive

222 223

Having novice
swimmers do
butterfly from a
dive gives
them some
speed which
helps the
stroke.

If we can get
half way down
the pool on 3
or 4 strokes,
that’s a good
butterfly start
for a young
butterflyer.
This young swimmer doesn’t quite make the middle on 4 strokes.

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 31
 Fly from Dive
224

This 10 year old

novice makes
the middle of
the pool on 3
butterfly
strokes!

School for Coaches of Novice

Swimmers 32