How2Day: Drills to Learn How to Swim

Keeping balanced in the water helps when learning to swim. Kathy Quirk-Syvertsen/Photodisc/Getty Images
Do you sit on the sidelines at pool parties or at the beach because you never learned how to swim while others dive right in and make it look effortless? Learning to swim is possible at any age by learning a few techniques. Like any other activity, it requires practice. A few basic drills can help you learn to swim the basic freestyle, or crawl, stroke. Always practice with a buddy who can watch and help you correct and improve your technique.

For the freestyle stroke, begin with the flutter kick. Grab the edge of the pool with your hands. Extend the body until it is straight and horizontal in the water and begin to kick the legs alternately up and down in the water with the ankles relaxed. Put the head down in the water as you kick lifting the head to breathe. As you continue to kick, release the side of the pool gradually and notice the balance of your body in the water.

Push off from the side of the pool in a horizontal streamlined position with the arms extended out in front of you and hands on top of each other. Keeping your head down, glide in this position and begin to flutter kick. Continue to kick in this streamlined position until you need to breathe and stop.

Next, practice the flutter kick using a kickboard. Grasp the kickboard with both hands extended out in front of you. Assume your horizontal streamlined position and flutter kick with the face in the water. Lift your head as you need to breathe. Practice your flutter kick until you are comfortable with your balance in the water.

Stretch out in the water with the face down and the head aligned with the body. Arms should be at your sides this time. Begin to flutter kick. If your legs and hips seem to sink, press your upper body down a bit in the water which will cause your legs to rise up. Keep your body horizontal in the water. When you need to breathe, raise your head up, get a breath and put your head back in the water as you continue to kick.

While practicing your flutter kick with your body horizontal and your arms at your sides, roll your body to one side. Roll your whole body keeping it as streamlined as possible until your head is turned far enough to get a breath. Roll back to your balanced position and continue to kick. Continue to practice this rolling technique while working on your flutter kick and balance.

Begin by flutter kicking in your balanced position with arms extended, head down and body horizontal and streamlined in the water. Pull one arm down towards the side of your body. As your arm comes down to your hips, roll your body to the side. Take a breath when your mouth clears the water. Roll back to the horizontal position as you bring your arm out of the water and return to the original position in the water. During this drill, use only one arm. The other arm remains extended out in front of the body. Repeat as you swim one length of the pool. On the next length of the pool, practice using the other arm and roll to the other side.

Combine the rolls with alternating arms to get the feel of being balanced in the water and breathing. Many swimmers breathe on alternating sides when swimming the freestyle or crawl stroke. Others choose a favorite side and just breathe on that side. Choose whichever you feel most comfortable with, and practice the breathing and rolling with your arm strokes to master this basic swimming stroke.

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