Even if you are an elite swimmer, you can always benefit from doing drills. That is because your stroke will never be perfect.

There are some common mistakes that most of us make during our freestyle technique. So, we will go over some drills to fix them.

1. Finger Tip Drag

This drill will help you keep a high elbow when you recover the arm. This will also help you feel the water and give you immediate feedback as to where your hand is entering the water. You should also keep a relaxed wrist and fingers to save energy.

This high elbow recovery is the most effective way to carry your arm back in front.

2. Three Strokes and Glide

Gliding is an important part of the stroke, especially in distances over 100. Doing 3 strokes and gliding for about 6 kicks will help you improve your gliding position.

Notice the position of your hands and head and adjust if they are causing frontal drag. 

3. Glide – Rotate – Glide

Some of us don’t rotate enough. This goes hand in hand with gliding. You need a good rotation in order to glide and grab more water with each stroke.

So practice gliding and rotating your shoulders, then come back and rotate again before taking your next stroke.

4. Underwater Recovery 

This will help you feel the frontal drag. It will help your body understand the importance of the pull. Try to optimize your pull by grabbing all the water you can while reducing the frontal drag of your other arm by positioning your hand to always point forward. 

5. Sculling High Elbow

To pull water backward from the beginning of your stroke, you must have a high elbow in the first part of the stroke. So try sculling three times without moving your elbow. Just use your forearm and hands, then do a normal stroke to change arms.

Try each one of the skills and tell us how works for you!

Thank you!