How to Improve Your Swimming Skills

Like many sports, swimming can be either casual or serious, but even the most relaxed swimmer hopes to improve over time. It takes regular practice to improve your swimming skills, but they won't get better if you simply repeat the same mistakes every time you step into the pool. You need to apply principled techniques to start swimming your best.

Things You'll Need

  • Waterproof watch
  • Flippers
  • Video camera
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Instructions

    • 1

      Swim regularly. Routine practice several times a week helps improve swimming skills more quickly than longer sessions which take place with less frequency.

    • 2

      Use specific drills in your practice sessions. Try to swim the same amount of distance each practice session and utilize the same methods and drills. This should apply to the way you leave the wall and conduct your turns as much as it does the particular techniques of the strokes you want to improve.

    • 3

      Time your swimming with a waterproof watch or by watching the clocks visible at most public swimming pools. Set goals for yourself depending how quickly you can swim a given distance, and then work on improving those times.

    • 4

      Incorporate flippers in your practice. While you shouldn't use them all the time, they do help perfect your body position and strengthen your leg muscles. When you remove them, try to maintain the position they give: you'll find that your speed and technique both improve.

    • 5

      Record your swimming with a video camera. It allows you to study your form and identify areas which can use improvement. Some swimming pools (especially those in universities or with serious swimming programs) are set up to record swimmers, but even if they aren't, you can still tape your sessions with just a hand-held recorder and a helpful friend.

    • 6

      Watch your hand movements as they enter the water while you are swimming. You want to slice them in like knives and drive them in right about at your eye-line, then drive them forward through the water from there. This will improve the efficiency of your stroke. Cupping your hands also allows you to pull yourself through the water--if you leave your fingers spread out, you lose valuable traction.

    • 7

      Work on minimizing your kick in the water. A lot of energy is wasted when your kick is too broad, but if you want keep the movement to a minimum, you'll improve not only your speed, but the balance of your body in the water as well. The less you splash, the better.