Improving your freestyle technique can lead to huge gains in stroke efficiency and speed. Even if you’re an advanced swimmer, there is likely some aspect of your freestyle stroke that you can improve!
In this Workout of the Week, we’re focusing on increasing propulsion and reducing drag to help you swim as smooth as possible!
Watch the Video:
Listen to the Podcast:
Related: How to Swim Freestyle with Perfect Technique
The Drills
In this workout, you’ll work on two freestyle drills: the zipper drill and underwater freestyle!
Zipper Drill
Related: The 5 Most Common Freestyle Mistakes
The zipper drill is one of the easiest and most fundamental drills for freestyle. After you finish your stroke, lift your elbow up high and drag your thumb up your torso, into your armpit. The goal of this drill is to keep your body narrow, keep your elbows high and keep your fingertips dragging on top of the water.
Underwater Freestyle
This is a challenging drill that allows you to feel the resistance of the water on your whole body as you swim. Angle your body toward the bottom of the pool, drive with your legs and work on reducing the resistance you feel in the water.
The Workout:
Check out the video above for a full overview of this workout, including all of the drills! To get this workout, open the MySwimPro app to manually create a new, custom workout. Type in the sets and intervals and log it for free!
Distance: 1,600 yards or meters
Duration: 38 minutes
Focus: Smooth, efficient freestyle
Warm Up
- 1 x 200 Freestyle
- 4 x 50 Kick, 15 meters underwater on each rep
- 4 x 50 IM Order
Drill Set (2x)
- 4 x 25 Drill (Round 1: Zipper Drill, Round 2: Underwater Freestyle)
- 1 x 100 Freestyle
Main Set (3x)
Round 1: No equipment; Round 2: Add fins; Round 3: Fins and paddles
- 2 x 50 Freestyle, Negative split (this means your second 25 will be faster than your first 25)
- 1 x 100 Freestyle, Best average pace
For more swimming drills, tips and Workouts, download the MySwimPro app on your iPhone or Android! Get a personalized Training Plan and Guided Workouts designed to help you reach your goals. Save $35 on your first year of training with code SWIM35 >
