widget
Some research suggests that the term Freestyle is not the original name of the stroke.
According to some sources (the original of which I cannot lay my hands on at this time) originally this swimming stroke was called a crawl or front stroke.
Whether it was originally called the Australian crawl is one of those subjects that will forever be debated as it seems that everybody wants to lay claim to originating it.
As an Australian I like the idea that it was invented by an Australian and so that is my story and I'm sticking to it.
The stroke gained the name Freestyle from, as I understand it, the Olympics.
There was a section of the swimming events in which the competitors were allowed to use whatever stroke they preferred. Along comes the crawl and so easily defeats everything else that everybody starts to use it and over time the stroke becomes known as Freestyle.
Some teachers insist on teaching the breathing part of this stroke first. I can't for the life of me figure out why. People come to swimming lessons to learn to swim. Therefore you should teach them to swim first. Trying to teach breathing first only leaves the student frustrated, asking "why is it taking so long before I can swim".
When the inexperienced try to teach freestyle the first thing that they try to teach is a bent arm action. Some people get it straight away but many don't and the result is a very poor stroke that has to be fixed afterwards. Often with great difficulty.
Many people who learn to swim with the bent arm action first, never learn to complete their stroke. The result is incorrect entry of the hand into the water, insufficient power to breathe properly and week swimming often resulting in exhaustion over very short distances.
Your first steps towards freestyle should therefore be a straight arm action out of the water. I say out of the water because it doesn't matter if your arm is a little bent under the water as long as it doesn't go past the centre of your body. But your arms should be as straight as you can make them when they leave the water.
For the time being straight arms out of the water with your face in the water and No attempt at breathing, is what you should be practicing. Next we need to establish a good torpedo.
Dropdown
Subject Search Bar
Amazon Link Only Ads
Learn How To Swim - Beginning Freestyle
Some research suggests that the term Freestyle is not the original name of the stroke.
According to some sources (the original of which I cannot lay my hands on at this time) originally this swimming stroke was called a crawl or front stroke.
Whether it was originally called the Australian crawl is one of those subjects that will forever be debated as it seems that everybody wants to lay claim to originating it.
As an Australian I like the idea that it was invented by an Australian and so that is my story and I'm sticking to it.
The stroke gained the name Freestyle from, as I understand it, the Olympics.
There was a section of the swimming events in which the competitors were allowed to use whatever stroke they preferred. Along comes the crawl and so easily defeats everything else that everybody starts to use it and over time the stroke becomes known as Freestyle.
Some teachers insist on teaching the breathing part of this stroke first. I can't for the life of me figure out why. People come to swimming lessons to learn to swim. Therefore you should teach them to swim first. Trying to teach breathing first only leaves the student frustrated, asking "why is it taking so long before I can swim".
The Order Of Teaching
I teach the stroke first. Once the swimming student has enough power in their stroke that's when you should introduce breathing. So I am going to start by introducing the stroke.Freestyle Arms Progress in The Water |
When the inexperienced try to teach freestyle the first thing that they try to teach is a bent arm action. Some people get it straight away but many don't and the result is a very poor stroke that has to be fixed afterwards. Often with great difficulty.
Many people who learn to swim with the bent arm action first, never learn to complete their stroke. The result is incorrect entry of the hand into the water, insufficient power to breathe properly and week swimming often resulting in exhaustion over very short distances.
Your first steps towards freestyle should therefore be a straight arm action out of the water. I say out of the water because it doesn't matter if your arm is a little bent under the water as long as it doesn't go past the centre of your body. But your arms should be as straight as you can make them when they leave the water.
Straight Arm Action |
The Leg Movement
You are probably going to splash a lot. That's OK, we'll fix that later.For the time being straight arms out of the water with your face in the water and No attempt at breathing, is what you should be practicing. Next we need to establish a good torpedo.
Enjoy
Richard
Richard
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
When you are teaching young children and infants you have to make it fun and the best way to make it fun that I know of is to sing song...
-
Now I Want To Change It The breaststroke kick is possibly the most difficult kick for many, if not all swimmers. And now to make it w...
-
The Survival Backstroke Technique I recently had a question: "The survival Backstroke Technique. It looks like the elementary ba...
-
There are three Survival Strokes: Side Stroke Survival Backstroke Breaststroke Survival Stroke Modification All these str...
-
If you would like to talk to me directly or ask a question please feel free to contact me at: richard_roper@swimteaching.com I can...
-
Recovering From That Float To learn Back Float Swimming is critical to people who are learning but you will only have confidence in d...
-
Is your child at risks? Hypothermia, children and swimming pools Are you a bit too blissful in your ignorance about your child them g...
-
A Request On How To Teach The Eggbeater Kick Treading Water For Beginners I have had a request for an article on how to teach the egg...
-
Comments I am Very happy to receive comments on any of the posts on this site. Just keep in mind that all comments are moderated and theref...
-
Don't use Blu-Tack* For Ear Plugs! Lots of swimmers use Blu-tack as substitute earplugs because of its flexibility and it's e...
No comments:
Post a Comment