FREESTYLE SWIM STROKE
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Learning any of the most common swim strokes is very difficult for many people to accomplish. Whether it's the backstroke, breast stroke, butterfly, or front crawl, they all come with a certain degree of difficulty and with necessary techniques that have to be mastered on order to be proficient at that particular stroke.
When given the option to swim "freestyle" a swimmer can choose any of the strokes the basic strokes they want. A triathlon is a great example. A triathlete can swim "freestyle" or in other words use any stroke they want in a triathlon. I've seen most swim strokes used in a triathlon over the years except I must admit I have yet to see anyone use the butterfly swim stroke in a triathlon. Thank goodness. THE BACKSTROKE However I have seen plenty of people swim the backstroke in a triathlon. If someone is perhaps taking on their first triathlon open water swim, then the backstroke might be relaxing for them, but ultimately it's not the best choice because it's very hard to navigate when you can't see where you're going.
Often the backstroke is the stroke of choice for some new triathletes because they have not quite mastered the front crawl and find it a struggle at first to maintain. The backstroke allows a bit of a respite and often new triathletes (and swimmers) will alternate between the two. If there is one element that stops many, many people from taking up the sport of triathlon for instance, it's the fact that they can't imagine themselves ever learning how to swim using a proper freestyle swim(front crawl)stroke. There are people who will do an entire short triathlon doing the backstroke because it seems easier to them. Of course you can swim the backstroke in a triathlon if you like, but it's really not the best swim stroke for economy, speed, or simply keeping track of the direction you are heading. This is especially true in the open water. Besides, if you do the backstroke, you tend to keep running into people.
THE BREAST STROKE Some people feel the answer to protecting their own space in the water is to use the breast-stroke. It's not so much the stroke with the arms that create the space, but rather the "whip-kick" that goes along with it. Using the breast-stroke whip-kick takes an area up behind you about three times larger than a flutter kick. I would not recommend using this kick out on a crowded triathlon swim course. The first time I ran into one of these "whip-kickers" out on an Ironman swim course it struck me as being a very "selfish" way to swim. It's crowded enough out there and the last thing you need is someone taking up the space of three swimmers. The whip-kick can also be a bit dangerous to other swimmers as it can catch them unawares if they are swimming behind you. The last thing you want to do it catch someone on the side of the head out in the open water. LEARN A PROPER FRONT CRAWL FOR TRIATHLONS It's difficult to learn how to swim and of course it feels awkward in the water. People are not in their element once they leave solid land and the way to overcome that is to emulate a fish and how they swim and glide so effortlessly.
You never see a fish thrashing and splashing around(unless it's on a hook)or swimming with it's head out of the water and it's tail-fin pointing toward the bottom of the river. Just watch a fish in an aquarium. They are relaxed and stream-lined and can go faster than a speeding bullet with seemingly very little effort. A fish has learned how to use it's natural buoyancy and is always relaxed and using as little effort as possible to get to where they want to go. That should be your goal when you are learning the freestyle swim stroke. I used to move my arms as fast as possible when I swam freestyle because if I ever stopped I was pretty sure I would sink. I did my first few Ironman triathlons like that. Picture by art.com I can't even imagine the enormous amounts of energy I burned up by using such a poor swim technique. This is energy that would really come in handy later on out on the marathon course, but unfortunately, once it's gone, it's gone for the day. My swimming never really improved until I found a swim program that taught me how to relax and use the natural buoyancy that we all have. There is a swimming book called "Total Immersion"(get your 10% discount code below) that I would recommend to anyone, triathlete or not. This is the program that changed my swimming stroke forever and the program that really taught me how to swim. It teaches you to "relax" and get comfortable in the water. Struggling to breathe is a natural reaction, and swimming is not natural to people, so we have to teach ourselves to relax. TOTAL IMMERSION is the perfect system to incorporate into your swim training as your career develops. If you are completely new to swimming, then you have the advantage of developing a great freestyle swim stroke from the very beginning without having to break bad swimming habits. TOTAL IMMERSION....Simply one of the best swimming techniques in the world today for triathletes of any level. TOTAL IMMERSION is offering all ironstruck visitors a 10% discount on Books, DVD's, and all other TI teaching tools. Simply click on this link totalimmersion.net/store/go to the store page and type ironstruck(all small case)into the shopping cart coupon box and you receive your 10% discount automatically. The trick is to develop a long, smooth swimming stroke. A stroke that takes little energy and is more efficient than 3 short, choppy strokes. Once you can swim to the end of the pool, work on making your freestyle swim stroke longer and smoother and teach yourself to get to the other end of the pool with fewer and fewer strokes. Whether you have an Ironman finish line in mind, or just want to enjoy the relaxation and fitness level that swimming provides, learning how to become one with the water is the key to learning how to swim.
Freestyle Swim Stroke Back To Triathlon Swim Training Page
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