Tips to Improve Your Freestyle Swim Workouts

Mind is All

If you like to swim freestyle, you'll benefit from these reliable swim stroke exercises, all of which will strengthen your stroke and improve your times.

To improve your freestyle times, you've got to work your whole body and switch up your strokes during your workouts. You'll need to practice the breaststroke, freestyle (of course), and some kickboarding, along with using paddles. Begin your practice with freestyle laps, being sure to always reach forward, extending as far as possible with each stroke, and letting the stroke glide in front of you before pulling down. Focus on pulling through the water with force, pushing the water behind you, making sure not to cross the stroke across your body or push the water to the sides. Make sure your kicks are strong and coming from the hip, and that your knees are only slightly bent. Try to glide across the top of the water, not thrash at the water. The smoother and stronger the moves, the better the times.

Practice several lengths with paddles on your hands, which will help you move much faster and will increase the water resistance. Then try a couple lengths with your hands balled up into fists (and the paddles off, obviously). Then, resume your normal freestyle stroke, noting how different it feels. You'll be so delighted by how powerful your hands feel that you'll stroke harder and be faster.

Swim until your shoulders are feeling it (stopping before risking injury, of course), and then switch to a kickboard workout. Resting your upper body on the kickboard, kick with long, deep strokes, keeping your legs mostly straight. Push each stroke such that you feel it the entire length of your leg. Use the kickboard until you feel the burn. While still on the kickboard, switch to a breaststroke kick, exercising your legs in a new way.

Complete your workout with a last set of freestyle laps, just you, no props. Try to make these your best laps yet.