Freestyle Stroke Correction Exercises

Freestyle swimming is made up of leg kicks, arm movements and proper breathing. These motions can go off-kilter and reduce your performance, so you should focus on drills that focus on the separate elements of the freestyle stroke to correct your overall performance.

  1. Breathing Correction Drill

    • Breathing correctly is critical to doing an effective freestyle stroke. A drill you can do to correct and improve your breathing is the 500 freestyle drill. You will do 50 strokes and breathe on every third stroke. Do the next 50 strokes by breathing on the fifth stroke. For another 50 strokes, breathe on the seventh stoke. You'll then go back to breathing on every fifth stroke, and then every third. Then repeat the pattern by going back up until you have done 500 strokes. This will strengthen your lungs and improve your cardiovascular capacity as well. You will have to maintain a proper breathing technique while changing your arm stroke to breath ratio.

    Leg Kick Corrections

    • A correct leg kick when swimming freestyle should barely come out of the water. Your kick should be powerful enough to keep you horizontal in the water without your legs dropping downward. A common mistake with the leg kick is bringing the leg out of the water. To correct this, you can do a simple drill to focus solely on perfecting the leg kick without worrying about timing it with the arms. Either use a kickboard or extend your arms in front of you without a kickboard and breathe while looking forward. Swim by kicking, but do not let your legs or feet break the surface of the water. Once you can do this, work on allowing them to come just a little bit out of the water like they should be when kicking correctly.

    Arm Correction Drills

    • The arms are what pulls the body forward when freestyle stroking. Making the most of your arm circles is important for speed and proficiency. The arm catch-up drill will force you to focus on your arms individually so you can watch their movements. Extend your arms in front of you as you swim. Do your freestyle circle with your right arm but do not move your left arm. Once your right arm has completed its stroke and touched your left hand, then do your left arm stroke. Your right arm stays extended in front of you.