Basic Swimming Techniques To Learn
Posted by - 16/03/09 at 06:03 pmSwimming is a universal sport. During swimming, the movement of body relieves joints and struggle against water makes the muscles strong and work hard. It is an exercise which can be learned in less than few days. To make this exercise beneficial, one must learn the basic swimming techniques and maintain them even when the muscles feel tired.
Swimming and its basic strokes take a lot of energy; therefore the swimmer should know the proper way to breathe in water and also to hold breath under water. This can be practiced by keeping the head turned to one side and raised a little to breathe. This can be done less or more frequently, depending on the stamina of the swimmer.
Before jumping in water it is advised to streamline first by tightening the body and squeezing the hands between the ears. The legs are used to kick and push way from the wall and to increase the momentum of the stroke. If the leg and hand movements are according to proper technique then it can help to maximize the distance achieved per stroke.
In order to excel in swimming, a person should have knowledge about the basic strokes and their technique. There are four strokes taught in swimming:
* Freestyle
It is the basic stroke learned in swimming. There are two techniques involved in Freestyle:
- Arms go forward. Then one hand goes down, catches water in front, and exit passing by the thigh. This hand touches the other one which in turn repeats the same movement.
Fingers are kept open and relaxed so that more water is caught in each stroke and also helps to maximize the distance each lap.
- Legs are used to kick and propel through water. Hips supply the power because they have stronger and bigger muscles as compared to calves.
The feet don’t need to come out of water as the forward movement is achieved by kicking or fluttering in the water.
* Back Stroke
Back stroke is done while lying on the back, therefore it is referred as opposite of freestyle. The techniques followed in this stroke are:
- The head is kept faced towards the sky. The movement of the hands is from the thigh towards the person’s ears. Both hands move alternately.
- Along the movement of hands, legs keep fluttering with force coming from the hips. Swimmer can achieve body roll and body tilt while using the arm. This causes less drag in water.
The correct performance of this stroke can be checked by placing a small donut shaped plastic on head. If it doesn’t fall than the person is following the technique rightly.
* Breast Stroke
Breast stroke is more similar to frog swim. The technique used here is that:
- Hands form a smaller circle to catch water instead of a wide area. This has proved to be more helpful. The arms push the water downwards
- Legs are kept close together and they kick side wards. This creates less drag and fast movement in water.
* Butterfly Stroke
It is considered as the easiest stroke to learn but requires lot of stamina. The technique involved to perform this stroke is:
- Both hands are used to enter and exit the water.
- The feet are kept close and used to kick simultaneously with the hands’ movement. The butterfly stroke resembles the movement of a dolphin.
Swimming is all about following the strokes properly and then practicing the basic swimming techniques to improve and making them beneficial to move faster and smoothly in water. After learning the basics, one only needs to practice and drill the required techniques.
