Drill: One arm Only Free

April 1, 2025 by Jeff N

I found this video on YouTube today and it is a perfect little clip showing off how to do the drill “One arm only Freestyle” with weak side breathing. This drill is excellent for promoting hip rotation, anchoring of the stroking arm, and a good head roll to the side to promote better breathing. This …

Freestyle Drills: One arm, Long Dog, Sculling

December 13, 2024 by Jeff N

This video from Effortless Swimming is a great example of 3 effective drills for developmental and advanced competitive age group swimmers. One Arm Free: Streamline first like normal, then, put one hand next to your side in soldier. Swim Freesytle with the other hand, breathing on every stroke and turning your face towards the arm …

Backstroke Kick Drill: Titanic

December 5, 2024 by Jeff N

From the Olympics Channel; Elizabeth Beisel explains an awesome drill. Elizabeth Beisel came to our pool to work with our Age Group and Senior swimmers. It was awesome. She taught this drill to our swimmers and it is still in the toolbox of approved drills for Age Group. This is an excellent drill for swimmers …

Tips on swimming butterfly; an AI written article in the style of this site

December 6, 2023April 4, 2023 by Jeff N

I’ll try to create that. Here is a short article about butterfly swimming using the style of swimminglessonsideas.com: “` I read through and listened to this article before posting. It’s accurate. I’m impressed and a little terrified. How to Swim Butterfly: A Beginner’s Guide Butterfly is one of the most challenging and rewarding strokes to …

Body Line and Positioning

November 15, 2021 by Jeff N

The last few weeks I’ve been teaching a parent at class while training new staff. It’s giving me some insight into why we do the things we do. Why are we spending so much time on body position and how to hold the child? During swim lessons why do we spend the majority of the …

BR Arms Drill – Sitting on kickboard and sculling

March 18, 2021 by Jeff N

This is another drill I picked up from the ASCA Level 2 class. Sit on a kickboard and scull. Here is a decent quick video. A few rules:– Arms must remain in front of your body. No pulling.– Press with your palms and move in circular motions. For most beginners they’ll have a hard time …

BR Kick Drill – Breathe, Kick, Glide

March 18, 2021 by Jeff N

Using a kickboard, have your swimmers do 25’s or short distances (from the wall to 1/2 way). Start in position 11, holding the bottom of the board. Breathe: take a breath. Put your head back in the water. Kick: do a breaststroke kick. Glide: using the strength of the BR kick glide through the water …

Why its important for lap swimmers to streamline

January 21, 2020 by Jeff N

Aquatic professionals have a love hate relationship with lap swimmers. They show up at 5am thirty minutes before the pool opens. When you’re covering the morning shift for a guard that called in the night before at 11pm you’re not happy to see their expectant faces and scowls when you rub the sleep from your …

Drill – HLBw/R FR and BK

June 11, 2019 by Jeff N

Freestyle Drill – 0, 2, 5 (Fists progression)

June 10, 2019 by Jeff N

Drills for swim teams you might be skipping

April 17, 2019 by Jeff N

I get the feeling sometimes when I’m coaching or teaching a swim lesson that I’m wasting time. Sometimes I feel like when parents see me doing “floats” with their advanced swimmers, or doing a challenge where they do a front float, flip, then do a handstand we’re playing games without a purpose. If you’ve followed …

Variations on standard techniques for better swimming

September 14, 2019January 9, 2018 by Jeff N

At Swimming Ideas we’re all about ability, skill, and learning over endurance. I’d rather see someone swim well than swim sloppy for 200 yards. Perhaps I should say that we’re in the business of “fun and effective” swimming. In fact, I wrote a whole book about creating “fun and effective swim games.” Through our swim …

Swim Drill – Breaststroke Under Lane Lines

October 22, 2014July 1, 2014 by Jeff N

Swim Drill – Breaststroke Under Lane Lines

Need a great drill for your advanced swimmers for Breaststroke?

This is an excellent drill to focus on getting into the Line, or completing the kick and extending into streamline.

Swim Drill – Three Flips Drill

November 7, 2014May 20, 2014 by Jeff N

3 flips activity for swim practice

How to teach Beginners to Flip Turn

October 25, 2017April 1, 2014 by Jeff N

Competitive swimming training is usually done in a swim pool, and that means endless laps! Every time we get to the wall, the most efficient and fast way to turn around and continue swimming is the Flip Turn. Lets break it down into 5 steps: The approach The Flip The plant Take-off Streamline What we …

Swimming Game – Champion Swimmer

November 6, 2024January 23, 2014 by Jeff N

Advanced swimmer game: Have each lane pick one “champion” that will participate. Do not tell the swimmers what stroke or activity they will be doing. After each lane has chosen a Champion, tell them what they will do. EXAMPLE: Champions must swim a 50 Freestyle with flip turn and correct streamline. If the champion passes …

Swim Drill – Butterfly continued with Water Drills

November 18, 2014December 13, 2013 by Jeff N

Butterfly continued with Water Drills Head Lead Body Undulation– Arms In the Saddles. Grow the Neck, keep the ribs down, the bellybutton in and up, and the shoulders away from the ears. Do not kick or use legs. Press the Lungs slightly down into the water and let the energy flow through the body. Head …

Swim Drill – Butterfly continued with Land Exercises and Vertical Drills

November 18, 2014December 10, 2013 by Jeff N

Butterfly continued with Land Exercises and Vertical Drills Land Exercises: Angel Drill-This is a drill to overstress the muscle tissue needed for Recovery in The Line. Lay prone with arms folded and the forehead on the hands. Press the chest and hips into the mat, and suck the bellybutton in. Extend arms, keeping the forehead …

Swim Drill – Butterfly

November 18, 2014December 6, 2013 by Jeff N

Butterfly Butterfly is a Short Axis Stroke and the Power comes from Rhythm especially Rhythm in Front. We must first establish The Line by making our spine as long as possible. We then manipulate Posture, Line and Balance slightly above and slightly below the line, manipulating the extended spine by flexing. Caution must be …

Swim Drill – Breaststroke drills continued

November 18, 2014December 3, 2013 by Jeff N

Breaststroke drills continued Triple Kick – Conditioning Drill! 3 kicks per arm cycle. Hold Ttfe Line! Breathe in The Line! Breaststroke Kick on Back – Arms over head, keep hips at The Line and hip angle wide open, drop heels towards the bottom of the pool. Don’t let knees come out of the water (hips …

Swim Drill – Breaststroke with Water Drills continued and Cobra Drills

November 18, 2014November 29, 2013 by Jeff N

Breaststroke with Water Drills continued and Cobra Drills Head Lead Body Undulation – Arms In the Saddles. Grow the Neck, keep the ribs down, the bellybutton in and up, and the shoulders away from the ears. Do not kick or use legs. Press the Lungs slightly down into the water and let the energy flow …

Swim Drill – Breaststroke continued with Land Exercises and Water Drills

November 18, 2014November 26, 2013 by Jeff N

Breaststroke continued with Land Exercises and Water Drills LEGS: When you Slam Hips forward, let the knees bend and the heels will follow along the surface of the water towards the hips. Keep the angle from the shoulders to the knees as open as possible. A common mistake is to try to lift the body …

Swim Drill – Breaststroke

November 18, 2014November 22, 2013 by Jeff N

Breaststroke Breaststroke is a Short Axis Stroke and the Power comes from Rhythm especially Rhythm in Front. We must first establish The Line by making our spine as long as possible. We then manipulate Posture, Line and Balance slightly above and slightly below the line, manipulating the extended spine by flexing. Caution must be taken …

Swim Drill – Backstroke with Water Drills continued

November 7, 2014November 19, 2013 by Jeff N

Backstroke with Water Drills continued Arm Lead with “L” Drill – Positioned on one side, with one arm straight forward and the other arm above the water at the halfway point of the recovery phase. The armpit is the Balance point. Try to Grow the Neck, keep the ribs in, Press the. armpit into the …

Swim Drill – Backstroke continued with Water Drills

November 18, 2014November 15, 2013 by Jeff N

Backstroke continued with Water Drills Head Lead Balance Drill on Back-Arms In the Saddles (elbows in and next to the ribs, hands hang down relaxed). Try to Grow the Neck, keep the ribs down, the bellybutton in and up, and the shoulders away from the ears. Press the Lungs slightly down into the water to …

Swim Drill – Backstroke continued with Land Exercises

November 18, 2014November 12, 2013 by Jeff N

Backstroke continued with Land Exercises Be more aware of the Core Area than the extremities. Core Area will determine bodyline, extremities are for Balance, Transfer of Energy, and Propulsion. Establish The Line before you focus on what the extremities are doing. Key points in establishing The Line include Growing the Neck, look towards the feet …

Swim Drill – Backstroke

November 18, 2014November 8, 2013 by Jeff N

Backstroke Backstroke is a Long Axis Stroke and the Power comes from hip Rotation. We must first establish The Line by making our spine as long as possible. Unlike freestyle, the spine in backstroke is not perfectly straight, but slightly curved like a Frozen Banana. To achieve the Frozen Banana position Press the breastbone into …

Swim Drill – Freestyle Continued

November 18, 2014November 5, 2013 by Jeff N

Freestyle Continued Power comes from Rotation! Just like walking, we set an Anchor, then we Vault our body past the Anchor, Rotate on to the other side, then release the Anchor and repeat. This should make freestyle a light, Rhythmic stroke. The arms are an extension of The Line first, and tools for Balance second. …

Swim Drill – Freestyle

November 18, 2014November 1, 2013 by Jeff N

Freestyle Freestyle is a Long Axis Stroke with emphasis on the Front Quadrant and the High Side. In a Long Axis Stroke the Power comes from Rotation. We must first establish The Line by making our spine as long and straight as possible. The longer and straighter we make our spine, the more Power we …

Swim Drill – Land Exercises and Water Drills

November 18, 2014October 29, 2013 by Jeff N

Land Exercises and Water Drills Land Exercises: Shrink Neck, Shrink Spine – Lay on back, knees up, feet on floor, arms at sides, back arched. Grow the Neck, extend head up through the monkey bump (protruding part of the back of the head), and Grow the Spine, flatten the back, pull bellybutton in towards spine, …

Swim Drill – Balance and Natural Position

November 18, 2014October 24, 2013 by Jeff N

Balance and Natural Position There are three non-articulate (non-moving) major blocks in the body: The Head Block, The Rib Block, and the Pelvic Block… we do have a tiny bit of articulation in the Rib Block. Each block is separated by an articulate (movable) coil. The Neck Coil is located between the Head Block and …

Swim Drill – Spine and Core

November 18, 2014October 22, 2013 by Jeff N

Spine and Core We are land based creatures, with curves in our spines at the lower back and neck to absorb shock while walking, running, jumping, etc. To become successful water based creatures, we must try to eliminate our land based curves and establish proper swimming position called “The Line”. In swimming there are Long …

Swim Drill – Butterfly – Head Lead Body Undulation

September 18, 2013 by Jeff N

Head Lead Body Undulation Butterfly Drill arms in the saddle (at the hips) Grow the Neck Keep the ribs down the belly button in and up shoulders away from ears Do not kick or use legs Press the lungs slightly down into the water head does not go under Emphasize the undulation, not moving forward …

Swim Drill – Freestyle – Head Lead Balance with Rotation

September 17, 2013 by Jeff N

Freestyle Drill: Head Lead Balance with Rotation Hands at the side so the head goes first, balance flat on the surface of the water with a strong kick, and rotate along the spinal axis. To breathe, turn to the side with a rotation. Notice from the video how slowly the person moves or rotates. You …

Swimming Game – Log Roll Streamline

November 6, 2024August 7, 2013 by Jeff N

Log Roll Streamline Log Roll is a great game for both advanced and beginning swimmers. It focuses on the single most important swimming position: Streamline. You can have your swimmers do this activity by waves, individually or repeatedly in a cycle. This game/activity is very well suited to variation, and feel free to adapt the …

Swim Drill – Double Arm BK

November 18, 2014July 31, 2012 by Jeff N

A great backstroke drill for beginning and advanced swimmers. Double Arm Backstroke The first stage of this drill is double arm back with underwater recovery. Push off in streamline when at the surface, start with hands in streamline and pull them to your sides While pulling down, focus should be on the fingertips pointing to …

Swim Drill – Butterfly – Around the World

November 7, 2014July 24, 2012 by Jeff N

Butterfly drill “Around the World” This drill can be done with beginner swimmers or advanced swimmers. It is essentially a core strength building drill. Beginners: Begin from the wall Streamline and do 5 fly kicks on stomach go back to the wall streamline and do 5 fly kicks on left side go back …

Swim Drill – Fly – Undulate, Pause, Undulate and stroke

November 7, 2014July 15, 2012 by Jeff N

Butterfly Drill: Pause, undulate, pause, undulate and stroke. This drill is actually two steps. 1) P+U+P+U/stroke GO SLOW! Do not rush this drill. the Pause (P) is floating on the surface balanced, arms out straight above the shoulders, head in line, looking down. Undulate (U) is a fly body motion. Start with the chest pressing …

Swim Drill – Freestyle – Position 11

October 25, 2017June 21, 2012 by Jeff N

This drill is excellent for swimming lessons, swim teams, adult lessons, or child swim lessons. It focuses on long over the water hand entry, early catch, body posture and body balance. Updated: 3/24/17 Video of position 11 Freestyle Drill: Position 11 Start from streamline Hands should separate from streamline to directly above the shoulders (the …

Swim Drill – Breaststroke – BR arms, FR kick

June 11, 2012 by Jeff N

The best swimming lessons drills, or swim team drills are ones that are easily repeatable, worthwhile, and require a few simple parts. The more complicated it gets, the less likely they’ll be useful. Breaststroke Drill: Breaststroke Arms with Freestyle Kick After streamline, swimmer does freestyle kick. After 5 kicks in streamline or “superman” swimmer does …

Swim Drill – Freestyle – 3 Strokes and 10 kicks

October 25, 2017June 6, 2012 by Jeff N

Freestyle is one of the four competitive strokes in USA Swimming. We introduce it to all of our beginning swimmers as a front glide, or a streamline. After learning the basics, and knowing how to swim the stroke generally well, we use this drill: Freestyle, 3 strokes, then 10 kicks on your side. Push off …

Swim Drill – Chicken Wings

November 7, 2014April 21, 2012 by Jeff N

In swimming lessons and triathlon training the “Chicken Wings” is one of the classic drills exercised. The challenge of this exercise is swimming without the support of your hands and – even more difficult – with a reduced arm length; your arms are bend to short “Chicken Wings”. Shoulders and elbows have to come high …