Teaching Freestyle

Freestyle Drill 1: Streamline kick (Focus head position, eyes down)

Freestyle starts with good body position, and the body goes where the eyes look. By streamline kicking, it forces the head down and eyes look down. We want kids to remember this head position as they progress through the drills.

Freestyle Drill 2: Single Arm Streamline kick (Keep eyes down)

Keep the good body position even with one arm back. By streamline kicking, it forces the head down and eyes look down. We want kids to remember this head position as they progress through the drills.

Freestyle Drill #3: 6'n Roll (Focus head position while arms move)

Speed up the arm movement a bit, but keep the focus on head position and returning to a streamlined body position.

Freestyle Drill #4 - Triangle Hold (Focus high elbow recovery)

This is a deceptive drill, having a high elbow recovery is not really that important to me. What I want kids to do here is pause and hold the triangle so their arm recovery is directed forward and not a swing around like butterfly.

Freestyle Drill #5 - Triangle Drill (Focus high elbow to straight arm entry)

Going from holding to the triangle to actually taking strokes, but still pausing at the triangle. Still focusing on high elbow, in order to facilitate arm entry in line with the head and body.

Freestyle Drill #6 - Finger Drag (Focus arm recovery)

Finger Drag slows the arm recovery so kids can focus on keeping it close to their body and inline with their head.

Freestyle Drill #6 - Finger Drag (Focus arm recovery)

Finger Drag slows the arm recovery so kids can focus on keeping it close to their body and inline with their head.

Freestyle Drill #7 - Catch Up (Focus long strokes)

Kids never have enough distance per stroke (DPS). Forcing them to do catch up drills helps lengthen the stroke. This is essentially full freestyle!

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Optional drills- Optional drills are not for every day use. They can cause more problems than they solve. We use them to fix specific problems. Just a tool in the toolbox.

Fixing The Freestyle Pull With The Single Arm Freestyle Drill

The freestyle pull should start from a point of rotation and follow a gentle (shallow) S- pattern to increase distance per stroke. Practice one arm at a time can help.

Optional Free Drill - Tarzan Drill (Focus hand entry)

Tarzan drill can help kids visualize and memorize where their arm entry should be. It can also ruin head position, so be careful!

Optional Free Drill - Fist Swim (Focus forearm grip)

Getting kids to have an early vertical forearm (EVF) is crucial to a good catch. Take away their hands to force them to use their whole arm and forearm.