How to Introduce Freestyle Arm Strokes

Freestyle, also referred to as the crawl or front stroke, is typically the first stroke that a beginning swimmer learns. This stroke tends to propel swimmers through water at a faster rate than other strokes because the continuous movement of the arms and legs increases momentum. The overhead arm movement and the way in which the hand cups makes the arm simulate an oar, allowing freestylers to push the upper body forward while cutting through the water.

Things You'll Need

  • Shallow pool
  • Flotation devices
  • Kickboards
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Instructions

    • 1

      Instruct swimmers to stand outside the water. Demonstrate the freestyle hand position by keeping all fingers touching without space in between them, similar to a fin. Bend the fingers downward at a 45-degree angle to create a slight cup in the hand. Ask students to practice cupping both hands in the correct freestyle position.

    • 2

      Show students the motion of the arm out of water. Reach the cupped hand of your right arm above your head. Bring the arm down to your chest area so that the elbow is bent, creating a 90-degree angle. Bring the arm down to the side of your legs.

    • 3

      Ask students to practice the three motions with the right arm and then with the left arm a designated number of times. Ask students to practice the motion by staggering the arms right-left-right-left, as they would in the water.

    • 4

      Inflate and put a life vest on a beginning swimmer or floaties on the arms of inexperienced swimmers. This helps them stay afloat while practicing the float and prevents drowning.

    • 5

      Tell swimmers to enter the shallow end of a pool and to stand on the pool floor. Repeat the same stroke motion, as when outside the pool, while standing in the pool. Ask swimmers to practice the motion while standing in the pool to feel the movement of the arm, wrist and hand through the water.

    • 6

      Give each swimmer a kickboard. Advise swimmers to pull their upper bodies and one arm onto the kickboard and to place their head sideways at the top of the kickboard.

    • 7

      Show swimmers the freestyle motion of pivoting the wrist so that the palm of the hand faces the back of the pool. Pull your arm backward and out of the water by pivoting the shoulder and slightly bending the elbow before reaching above the head and thrusting it back through the water.

    • 8

      Instruct swimmers to position the free arm straight down, pointing their fingers at the bottom of the pool. Tell them to move the arm backward while bending the elbow up toward the sky and out of the water while pulling their lower arm out of the water and reaching overhead.

    • 9

      Advise swimmers to reach overhead with the cupped hand and back into the water, pulling back the water with the hand as they repeat the motion. Instruct students to repeat the motion with one arm for 10 to 20 strokes before switching and repeating the motion on the other side.

    • 10

      Ask one swimmer at a time to float front-side down while you prop them slightly out of the water by placing your hands underwater and underneath the swimmer on the torso and knee area.

    • 11

      Tell the swimmer to alternate arms to practice the freestyle motion of one arm reaching above the head and out of the water while the other arm pulls backward underwater. This helps a swimmer synchronize the arm motion, which creates balance, strength and speed. Follow the swimmer as she moves forward in the water.