How to Improve a Crawl Stroke

Swimming laps, though a challenging workout, is a terrific way to stay in shape. The most important element to getting through a lap routine is to adopt good form with the crawl stroke. Whether you are training for an endurance event like a triathlon or a marathon, looking for a good aerobic workout, or trying to become a competitive swimmer, thinking about the following steps might help target what you can do do enhance your crawl strategy.

Instructions

    • 1

      If you are a beginner to swimming, consider taking a few minutes initially in each workout to do some "mock breathing." In this exercise, you would stand in the pool and move your arms in the stroking motion while your lower body remains stationary. The purpose of this is to see how your arms and head move together. Your arms should move, at the top of the stroke, in the formation of an S, and your head should only come out of the water far enough to take a breath of air.

    • 2

      Do a few laps in which you experiment with breathing. What do you notice about your stroke? Some people feel comfortable breathing only on the left, or breathing only on the right. It's also possible that you are most comfortable if you breathe on both sides. Your stroke would then look like: stroke, stroke, breathe right; stroke, stroke, breathe left; so on and so forth. Capitalize on what is the natural technique for you.

    • 3

      Head placement during breathing is key. Many people are inclined to overturn their heads while taking breaths of air. Resist this urge. Important to remember is that the less movement your body makes, the less energy you expend. Turn your head only as far as is necessary to keep your water-side cheek parallel to the bottom of the pool. Have you ever noticed how Olympic athletes breathe when they swim? It looks as though they are hardly sipping air when they turn their heads.

    • 4

      Familiarizing yourself with the water can only enhance your success in swimming. Treading water for one to three minutes at a time is a terrific tool for building up your core and upper body strength, and can build your overall confidence in the pool. Also consider using "paddle paws" to boost your arm strength. These accessories are available in many public pools; they look like small boards with rubber rings that attach to your fingers and wrists. You can swim the crawl stroke for 100 meters while you wear these paddles.

    • 5

      Lower body strength is also important in that your legs are responsible for half of the stroke. In each swim workout, make sure to do some work with the kick board. Try swimming 100-300 meters with the kick board, and alternate kicking your feel above the water and below the water every 50 meters. Wearing flippers for several laps is another great way to build lower body strength, and to power the overall stroke. Have fun.