Freestyle Technique Help Please!

If you have the patience and desire to "start from scratch" and build an efficient stroke from the ground up, I can recommend the Total Immersion technique. Just to give you an easily quantifiable stat, when I started several years ago, at the pace you are swimming in your video, I was taking about the same number of strokes per length that you take - 17 - 19 or so (I'm assuming that's a 25 yd pool). Now I can hold a pretty steady 13 SPL at that moderate pace. SPL isn't everything, but it is a pretty good measure of efficiency, which is what TI emphasizes. Check out their website: www.totalimmersion.net/home If you don't want to go that route, I'm sure you can get many good suggestions for modifying your stroke on this site. Good luck!

Try to pull your arms besides or just under your body, your hands are way to much under, even besides your body at the wrong side. This causes unbalance and this has impact on your flutterkick.

Agreed. Your stroke will vastly improve once the "cross over" is fixed. The recovery looks relaxed and smooth and you have the beginnings of a very good freestyle. What needs fixing: The pulling arm underwater is 'crossing over' the mid section of your torso. It should stay on the same side that you are pulling on. (see attached) The underwater arm is not pulling under your torso. It's almost sideways. How to fix: Imagine a glass wall which separates the left side of your torso from the right. Never let your hand pass this barrier. Also, try imaging an underwater ladder directly beneath your torso. Pull on the rungs as you head down the pool. Best drills for this: Keep one hand straight out and paddle down the pool with the other. It's called one arm freestyle. Keep an eye on the pull and make sure it stays under your body. Not passing the centerline.

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Hi V, I am not qualified to help with your stroke issues (there are lots of very qualified folks here though) but I can tell you that, with respect to your breathing - with practice comes comfort. I spent the first 4 years swimming (35 years ago) breathing only to the left and mostly every 4th stroke. My masters coach badgers me to breathe every third stroke. I still end up sucking water a bit on the right hand breathes but it is getting easier and is slowly becoming "normal". Bill

Thanks everyone for your comments and help. GregJS: Will have to pass on TI. BTW, always liked Shinji's video and would love to emulate his stroke. But without a pair of friendly discerning eyes to watch over me (say like a buddy or a coach) I am afraid it would be a futile exercise for me. Quicksilver: I have been doing (1) one-arm freestyle, and also, (2) leg kicks on the side. One thing I have found is after an exercise set of one-arm freestyle when I resume normal swimming feel like I want to do catch-up drill type swimming rather than regular swimming! I hope this is natural because of the one-arm freestyle. Also, should I not be correcting my breathing, especially the right-side (uncomfortable side) which I seem to over rotate? Doesn't this also cause instability in my stroke? Or you feel the cross over so over the top that we need get that first? Curious. BTW, during the one-arm freestyle I seem to have discovered the "pocket" for breathing and breathe OK on both sides! I can see the water surface from below from one eye, whereas with the other eye I see the edge of the pool. Weird! Maybe the slowness/deliberateness of the drill allows me to observe this that I never seen before! (Previously I used to watch my elbow with both eyes while breathing, and hence, much held a much higher eye sight-line). Anyway, now, during regular swim I go back to the same old bad habit of higher sight-line and over rotating. Any tips/drills to incorporate the new-breathing in the "pocket" routine into regular strokes to prevent over rotation? Thank you for your critical eye and helpful suggestions. Everyone: comments/tips welcome. Will post how all this turns out V.

Congratulations on taking the step to improve your stoke. It can be very intimidating to video yourself and put it up for display! You look very relaxed in the water and your movements are smooth and controlled which is very nice to see. A good mantra to keep in mind is recovery=relaxed, pull=power A couple of things that I noticed. 1) You need to engage your core more when you swim. The next time you are in the pool, I want you to swim a set of 8x25s where you try to bring your belly button to your spine but don't over exaggerate it. This should feel slightly uncomfortable but not impossible. These are easy 25s where you need to dial into the feeling of having your core engaged and stable. This will promote keeping the hips more in line with the shoulders. This is also reduce your need to 'lean' on that extended arm when you breathe as your body will be more in line and closer to the surface. 2) You are over reaching out in front on your recovery. The last 10-20% or so of the hand recovery should be done underwater and involve the extension of the shoulder and the rotation of the elbow to a more vertical position. This puts the hand in a much fuller 'catch' position at the start of the stroke. Back to our set of 8x25s, focus on having your hand enter the water middle and ring fingers first, with a smooth relaxed entry and try to reach forward slightly before you start your pull. 3) You kick is a little too wide. You are compensating for being out of balance in the water (see #1) by counterbalancing yourself with a wider kick. You want to narrow that down by trying to tap the big toes together when you kick and keep your kick smaller and faster. But work on #1 first and better balance in the water will alleviate the need for a wider kick. Having a solid foundation by being balanced in the water is critical to being able to make other technical corrections and the 'flaws' that I see are driven by a lack of balance. Work on the feeling of engaging your core more when you swim and making the other corrections will become easier.

Or you feel the cross over is so over the top that we need get that first? Curious. Firstly, you are very welcome. And secondly to answer your question....yes. Once the cross over is eliminated things are going to fall in place much better. Like Paul just posted in his very thoughtful reply, balance is key. Although this isn't typical advise, you may want to focus on swimming slightly more flat to help subside the tendency to roll too much. Here's a drill which may help refine your particular stroke: www.goswim.tv/.../freestyle---water-polo-wide-catch.html

Vtesh: you've got some great advice from others. However, this video might help as well as watching the Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen video. Notice how KPN keeps her lead arm extended when she breathes. Also note the breath and stroke timing: her face is back in the water when she starts her stroke. Her elbows are always close to the surface. When her elbow bends for the catch it is close to surface level and outside her body line. Great freestyle swimming tip - YouTube Good luck. mjm

The scissor kick may be a counterbalancing reflex that happens when we try to rotate for a breath without engaging the entire torso. I noted your shoulders rotating seperately from your waist, and at greater degree. Watch the video of Karlyn that swimosaurus posted. Note how her entire torso, hips, legs and shoulders rotate as a solid unit like a vessle. A wider catch might be used as a drill to help