Sprinting freestyle

Sprinting freestyle is different than pacing yourself in practice. (Don't pace yourself in practice!) This may seem obvious, but the main difference is that you should be moving your arms faster. You should take more strokes. Check out this video and notice the difference in rhythm between the way these guys swim and the way Phelps was swimming in the other video.

The other big difference is that starts are absolutely critical in a short race like the 50. This video is from US Nationals in 2009. Cullen Jones and Garrett Weber-Gale are competing in a swim-off, which means that they tied during a previous race. What this really means is that they swim at essentially the same speed.

How did Jones win this race if they both swam the same speed? He won it at the start. Notice how he is ahead from the very beginning. Even his reaction time was faster than his opponent's. He entered the water ahead of Weber-Gale and maintained this advantage for 50 meters. This is why we sometimes do jumps before practice. Powerful starts win races.

Now, go back and watch the video one more time. This time, pay attention to the finish. Both competitors charge the wall with their heads down - no hesitation, no gliding, no slowing down - AT ALL. Please try to be more like this in your swimming - for all speeds and distances.

Breaststroke part 2

Kosuke Kitajima was the best male breaststroker in the world when he was competing. This is a great underwater video and you can clearly see how he did it.

Watch the video 5 times.
1. Watch his kick. It's not that wide but it snaps powerfully.
2. Watch his pull. It's bigger than Meilutytė's, but his hands do not ever go behind his shoulders. Observe how quickly he pushes his hands forward after the pull - no pause under his body.
3. Look at his body and how he uses it to generate power and momentum in the stroke. It almost looks like he's doing butterfly.
4. Pay attention to his head position during the glide. Even though this is a sprint, he glides visibly after every kick with his head down.
5. Watch and try to feel the rhythm of the stroke as you watch.

This is also a good video for observing pull-outs and open turns. Notice how he does not pull himself up out of the water on the turn. He just touches and then with lightning speed reverses direction and pushes off the wall.

Unfortunately, Kosuke Kitajima is also famous for screaming wildly after he won his races in the Olympics. In my opinion, this kind of behavior is unnecessary. It brings to mind a great quote from Vince Lombardi, the famous football coach: "When you get into the endzone, act like you've been there before."

What your fans should see when they watch you swim freestyle

I like this video because it shows a wall of churning white water trailing these competitors. This is what your kick should look like when you sprint freestyle!

Personal story: I once swam next to Natalie Coughlin in a meet warm up. For those who don't know, Coughlin was, at the time, the greatest all-around female swimmer in the world. She was frequently compared to Michael Phelps in that regard. I didn't know it was her at first. I was just confused how this tiny woman in the lane next to me was blowing by me like I was sitting still.

The moral of the story is that technique and conditioning matter more in the sport of swimming than size or strength. But not too much more. Coughlin is actually 5'8'' and 140 pounds - not that tiny after all!

Freestyle technique

This is an excellent video of Michael Phelps swimming freestyle. I like it because it's shot from several useful angles. The last segment especially, where the camera is half underwater and half out of the water, shows the stroke mechanics very clearly.

Watch the video 5 times.
1. Watch his kick. It's consistent and powerful.
2. Watch his arms. Note the high elbows, both during the recovery (out of the water) and the catch. The catch refers to the very beginning of the stroke when a swimmer "catches" hold of the water in front, before the pull. See how he fully extends his arms to get the most distance out of every stroke.
3. Watch the shape his hands make during the pull. His hands do not cross over the center of his body. The first segment of the video is best for this.
4. Observe how the rotation of his body syncs up with his pull.
5. Watch and try to feel the rhythm of the stroke in your body and limbs.

There's a lot going on in this video. I've watched it at least a dozen times myself. This is also a fantastic video for observing near-perfect technique for the following things:

- his start. Notice how he goes fairly deep underwater and then ascends gradually to the surface. Do not try to go this deep on your start, however. Even among Olympic freestylers, Phelps has an extremely deep start. He can get away with it because his dolphin kick is so powerful.
- his exceptionally tight streamline off of EVERY start and off of his turn. This is something you should absolutely emulate in practice and in meets!
- his breakouts, which are the transitions between his streamline and his stroke. Pay attention to how shallow he is when he begins the breakout.
- his flip turn and his push off the wall. See how he takes an extra stroke to propel him into the flip.

Breaststroke technique

The first video is the women's 100m breaststroke race from the 2012 Olympics. Rūta Meilutytė, a 15 year old from Lithuania, won the gold. In this video it's a bit harder to really see her technique, but pay extra attention to the underwater footage at around the 6:30 mark.

In particular, notice how small her pull is. She moves her hands in really tiny circles. This just goes to show that you don't need to take big huge pulls with your hands to have a fast breaststroke - Meilutytė won the Olympics at 15!

Also, notice how fast all the swimmers push their hands forward after the pull. You don't want to let your hands get stuck underneath you in the breaststroke - or any other stroke.

Butterfly technique

Michael Phelps was the best butterflyer who ever did it. He can move his body in ways that most of us cannot. In particular, his shoulders are really flexible! Don't worry about what you can't do, though. Focus on the rhythm of Phelps' stroke and the timing of his kicks and pulls.

Watch the video 5 times:

1. Watch his kick - how do his chest, hips, and legs move during the fly?

2. Watch his arms over the water - see how straight they are when he swings them around.

3. Watch his arms underwater. Note how high his elbows stay during the first part of the pull. See how close together he brings his hands as they move underneath him.

4. Pay close attention to the timing of his hands and feet. Phelps kicks twice for every stroke. Where are his arms when he does his first kick? Where are his arms when he does his second kick?

5. Watch the whole stroke and try to feel the rhythm of the butterfly in your body while you watch.

Backstroke technique

Ryan Lochte has phenomenal backstroke technique. His kick is bigger than I usually recommend - he can do this because his legs are very powerful. Experiment in practice to find the kick that works best for you.

 

Watch the video 5 times:

1. Watch his kick.

2. Watch his head position.

3. Watch his arms. How does he move his arms above water? How does he move them below the water?

4. Watch the way his hips and shoulders rotate from side to side as he swims.

5. Watch the whole stroke. Try to feel the rhythm of the backstroke in your body as Lochte swims. Rotate your shoulders from side to side along with Lochte as you watch.