Correct crawl. Correct crawl swimming technique: analysis of all elements. About crawl swimming

Front crawl swimming technique: practicing an effective stroke for beginners! (Explanation for the video sent by subscription to students who purchased the Video course “How to Learn to Swim Crawl”)

When a new student comes to me, I always ask him to swim a pool or two for fun first, without paying any attention to me. And almost always when swimming front crawl (if the student knows how to swim this style), he makes the same mistake when stroke with his arms.

I will now swim approximately the same way as a beginner does, and until I have explained what this mistake is when making a stroke, try to guess for yourself.

It is likely that many of you have realized that my stroke is not efficient enough because I bend my arm at the elbow, and my hand lags behind my elbow during the stroke. Those. The so-called elbow drop occurs when rowing.

Look! With this movement, I seem to be stroking the water, rather than clinging to it. Moreover, when a beginner’s hand makes a stroke in such a half-bent position, it comes out of the water much earlier. This means that the length of the path of such a stroke is shorter than it could be. And if the stroke is short, and also does not catch the water, but only strokes it, then the swimmer’s progress is very weak!

True, in order to somehow move faster, such a novice crawler makes a second powerful mistake: he thrashes his legs through the water with all his might in order to get at least a little forward movement. What kind of rabbit is this?! Swimming crawl is so fast! But at the same time it only exhausts oneself, and progress in the water turns out to be very weak. A person gets tired quickly and there is practically no pleasure from such swimming!

So what to do? First of all, you need to understand that if you are not preparing for competitions, but want to swim for yourself, for your health, then 70-80% of progress in the front crawl occurs due to the work of your arms.

Yes Yes! Front crawl at a distance of 1-2 kilometers or more is primarily about the arms! And the strokes in this case should not be so frequent, but long, with a good grip of water.

And in order to understand and feel this not with the mind, but with the body, let’s do the following exercises. Take a look and then follow the technique from the lesson fragment in my.

Reception 1st!

Perform the strokes - attention - take turns! With one hand, then with the other hand. Don't use your legs! It's like they're connected!

Just watch the efficiency of the stroke. Make sure that your arm does not bend during a stroke underwater. Only in this case will you be able to feel that you are really clinging to the water and pulling yourself forward! If you start using your legs out of habit and thus propel yourself forward in the water, you will immediately stop making effective strokes with your arms! Take your feet off work for a while! Use only your hands in this exercise!!

Important Note: At the end of this straight stroke, slap your palm onto the front of your thigh, as if you were swatting some kind of underwater mosquito on your leg.

It is with such a slap on the thigh - attention - that you will make the longest stroke possible without prematurely pulling your hand out of the water! It is this kind of power stroke with a straight hand that will provide you with a good glide in the water!

Dedicate at least two workouts of 30-40 minutes to this technique.

At the same time, it is important not to exhaust yourself, but to remember this feeling of clinging to the water with your hands. Remember that your hand should not bend during the stroke and stroke the water underwater! If possible, practice only in the shallow part of the pool. We swam 4-5 meters, did 2-3-4 strokes, stood up and breathed. And again. I would like to add right away, my dear beginner crawlers, that we are now doing a training version of the freestyle stroke! Of course, after developing automaticity in this exercise, the arm can and should be bent during the stroke. But for now, you need to master the basic straight arm power stroke. Do what I advise, and soon your progress in the water will become powerful and effective!

Front crawl swimming technique. 2nd appointment: As soon as you feel that strokes and carries with straight arms are more or less confident, and you no longer need to constantly mentally control the movements, move on to the second part of practicing the power stroke when swimming crawl: bringing your arm above the water, bending it at the elbow, and tracing your fingers relaxed brush on the water.

Why do you need to bend your arm when passing over water? I have already explained in my other videos that the more energy-efficient a swimmer swims, the more he should bend his arm at the elbow, bringing the relaxed hand and forearm above the water. I emphasize – relaxed hand and forearm.

Also dedicate 2 workouts to practicing this exercise. As before, swim while holding your breath for 3-5 meters, stand on the bottom with your feet, inhale, and again. But it is very important to remember the following: as soon as your relaxed hand enters the water, it should immediately harden, roughly speaking, freeze, turn into a stick. And with such a straight hand you should make a stroke, slapping your thigh with your brush.

With your feet you can now quietly earn extra money for yourself. Let me emphasize - quietly. For as before, all progress in the water must occur through the work of the hands!

Front crawl swimming technique. AND 3rd, final technique in this lesson

As before, swim in front crawl for 3-5 meters or more while holding your breath, but now do not touch the water with your fingers, but bring your hand very close to the surface of the water. And in the final phase of the stroke, you only need to lightly touch the thigh with your hand, and not slap it with your entire palm. In addition, keep an eye on the following: now you must swim, making strokes not strictly in order - first one hand, and then the other, but a little differently: the front one - i.e. The supporting hand must begin the stroke strictly at the moment when the hand of the second hand, after sweeping over the water, touches its surface! Look!...

It is at this moment that the front hand should begin the stroke. Not earlier, and not later. If you achieve such a rhythm when changing hands, you will get a very balanced and confident glide in the water while holding your breath when swimming crawl! And if, during such strokes, you turn your shoulders, engaging the latissimus dorsi muscles, then such swimming will become even more comfortable and effective. Try it!!

The 3rd technique should also be devoted to 2 training sessions. And as a result, in 6 workouts you will significantly improve your gliding when swimming front crawl.

In conclusion, I will repeat that, of course, in advanced swimmers, the stroke under water occurs with the bending of the arm at the elbow joint, along a zigzag path. And I discuss this movement in great detail in my training video course on front crawl swimming. But you can and should come to this version of the stroke only after mastering the basic power version of the stroke, which I analyzed and showed in this lesson.

What is crawl as a swimming style?

Crawl is a style of swimming, distinguished by its technical simplicity and high speed of movement of the swimmer, which appeared in ancient times, but has been actively used by Europeans only since the 19th century (before that, Europe knew only breaststroke). The synonymous name is freestyle.

In its most general form, the belly crawl technique can be described as follows.

The swimmer, lying on his stomach, makes swinging and rowing movements with his arms along the body and at the same time alternately raises and lowers his legs (the arms in this style are like the wings of a mill, and the legs are like scissors). When swimming, a person either lowers his face into the water or turns it to inhale.

Setting up hand technique

The basis of correct crawl technique, like most styles, begins with hand technique.
The following phases are distinguished in the movement of hands:

1. immersion of the hand under water and influx;
2. supporting and main parts of the stroke;
3. hand leaving the water;
4. raising your hand above the water.

The first phase is characterized by the entry of the arm, bent at an acute angle at the elbow, under the water. The hand is immersed first, then the forearm and shoulder. The main load during the stroke falls on the shoulder, so the upper limb should enter the water directly in front of it.

After the hand is immersed under the water, it is pulled forward, then another stage of hand movement begins.

It is very important to stretch your arm forward and reach for it with your whole body. Thanks to this, maximum streamlining is achieved, which allows you to increase speed and reduce energy consumption.

The second phase consists of the supporting and main parts of the stroke.

For the support stroke, the arm is slightly bent at the elbow until an obtuse angle is formed between the shoulder and forearm. The main stroke is performed by further bending the arm at the elbow joint until an angle of 90 degrees is formed.

The final action at this stage is straightening the arm before the phase of removing it from the water.

The third phase begins when the straightened arm reaches the position “along the body,” that is, on the side of the swimmer’s pelvis. Here it is worth paying attention to the shoulder area: due to the simultaneous immersion of the other arm under water, it comes out of the water first (then the forearm and palm should come out).

The final phase can be called the simplest: the arm bent at the joint is raised above the surface of the water to perform a new cycle of movements. A very important point is that when moving your hand above the water, your elbow points to the ceiling.

When diving, the arms are lowered not to one line in front of you, but parallel to the center line. The left one is a little to the left, the right one is a little to the right. This also reduces drag and increases speed.

To bring movements to automaticity and improve hand technique, it is necessary to perform a number of exercises (both with and without the use of special equipment). As part of learning the technique of crawl swimming, a swimming board, a stick and wide paddles for the hands are used.

Legs in crawl

As mentioned earlier, the leg technique consists of performing up and down movements alternately. The movements are smooth from the hips, the knees bend only to create a slight wave-like movement of the leg. The sock is always pulled away from you.

The amplitude of the swing should be approximately a quarter of the swimmer's height. When moving correctly, only your heels are visible from the water.

It is very difficult to swim with very submerged legs. If your feet are drowning, there can be two reasons:

• the body in the water is not elongated enough;
• low frequency of leg movements or too large amplitude.

Exercises to improve crawl leg technique. The necessary equipment is a swimming board, desirable - fins and weights.

Breath

The swimmer's movement will be correct only with proper breathing.

The main characteristic of breathing when swimming crawl is rhythm.

Inhalation is carried out through the mouth while turning the head to the side, towards the rowing hand (this creates a so-called air pocket). Then the face is lowered into the water, where exhalation occurs (first through the mouth, then through the nose).

The number of breaths on each side should be the same, since it is in this case that the rotation of the body will be correct, which will ensure a high speed of movement.

It is best to inhale every 3rd or 5th stroke with your arms. This way you will practice turning your head in both directions. But when learning to swim crawl, it is permissible to take air every second stroke - the main thing is to alternate (one pool of breathing on the left, the second on the right).

When taking air from the right side:

1. The left arm is extended forward.
2. The right one is extended back along the body, while the right shoulder begins to move out of the water.
3. The head turns to the right side, the gaze looks back - inhale.

Same for the left side.

Coordinated crawl swimming

Leg movements are usually 2-3 times faster than arm movements. Depending on how many leg movements occur in one cycle of changing hands, a two-, four- or six-fold crawl is distinguished.

However, in order to learn to swim crawl, there is no need to monitor this; it is best to concentrate on the correct position of the body and head when inhaling, and, in fact, on the breathing itself. If you feel that you are getting tired quickly, do 2 leg swings for each hand stroke.

An important point in swimming with any style is the gliding effect. To do this, in the crawl you need to fully stretch out, tuck your shoulders and reach for the arm that is currently extended forward.

The number of competitive disciplines in freestyle is the largest - 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m for men and women, 800m for women and 1500m for men. They also swim marathon distances in open water. It is also called freestyle swimming.

In general, front crawl and freestyle are two different things. Usually, at competitions, distances are called, for example, 100 m freestyle, which means you can swim in any style, but everyone chooses freestyle swimming, since it is the fastest.

Briefly, crawl swimming can be described as alternating movements of the arms and legs.

There are 2-impact, 4-impact and 6-impact front crawl, this is when one cycle of arm movement involves 2, 4 or 6 kicks. Two-strike swimmers are typically used for long-distance swimming and long-distance finishing, while four- and six-strike swimmers are used for short distances.

But when learning to swim, you should not pay attention to this, so as not to get confused.

Crawl swimming technique

Body position

The swimmer's body is in a horizontal position at the surface of the water, the shoulders are slightly higher than the pelvis - this forms an angle of attack. Thanks to the angle of attack, lifting forces are created, making it easier to move forward. When swimming front crawl, the optimal angle of attack is 3-5 degrees.

Breath

When swimming crawl, one breath is taken per cycle of movement (under the right or under the left hand). There are also swimming options with inhalation every 3 strokes or 5 strokes, so inhalation alternates between the right and left hand. This breathing is called 3x3 or 5x5.

When swimming a distance of 50 m, professional swimmers do not take a single breath.

The breathing technique itself while swimming can be described as follows:: inhalation is performed above the water through an open mouth at the beginning of raising the hand above the water, then the face is lowered into the water and a long exhalation begins through the mouth and nose, which ends with a sharp exhalation at the moment of turning the head to inhale. The exhalation ends above the water. The exhalation itself is longer than the inhalation.

Hand movements

The movement of each hand consists of the following phases:

• hand entering the water
  

The hand enters the water at an acute angle, the palm is facing downwards and backwards, the fingers are connected. Immersion of the hand in water is carried out in the following sequence: hand, forearm, shoulder. Having entered the water, the hand begins to capture.

The hand enters the water close to the longitudinal axis of the body or between it and a parallel line drawn at shoulder width. At the moment the hand touches the water, the angle of body roll to the opposite side is still 10–15°; at the moment the entry into the water is complete, it is zero.

• capture
  

The grip begins by moving the arm forward and down, slightly bending at the elbow joint. Next, the arm continues to bend at the elbow joint and changes directions to a downward-inward movement, moving under the longitudinal line.

• pull-up

The phase begins with internal rotation of the arm and flexion of the forearm by gradually increasing the pressure of the hand on the water.

• repulsion

the most energetic part of the cycle. The hand moves with acceleration under the abdomen and pelvis from front to back and slightly outward, maintaining a position close to the front. The arm is extended at the elbow joint. The swimmer, due to good support in the water, accelerates the forward movement of the body. The subphase ends with a sliding movement of the hand up and back and slightly outward, mainly due to the extension of the forearm. Optimal completion is facilitated by the beginning of the body roll to the opposite side.

• hand coming out of the water

coincides with the roll of the body to the opposite side. When the hand reaches the thigh, active muscular efforts aimed at moving the body forward cease, and the elbow rises out of the water. At the next moment, the shoulder, forearm and hand rise out of the water in sequence and the movement (carrying) of the hand above the water begins. The brush comes out of the water behind the pelvic line, at the hip.

• raising your hand above the water

The bent arm, without undue tension, quickly sweeps over the water in the shortest possible way and enters the water. During the sweep, the elbow is in a high position and directed up and to the side, and the hand is kept at the surface of the water.

Leg movements

The legs perform alternating movements up and down. Footwork ensures a stable horizontal position of the body and maintains forward speed. Footwork can be divided into two phases: preparatory and working. When one leg makes a kick, the other begins a preparatory movement. The working (or shock) movement is made downwards, and the preparatory movement is made upwards.

General coordination of movements

The overall coordination of movements is ensured by the continuity of working movements of the arms and legs, clear coordination of movements with breathing.

Video of swimming in coordination with breathing:

Common Newbie Mistakes

• The head first rises up, then only turns to inhale
• There is no body roll (rotation)
• Socks are not pulled down when swimming (pinched foot)
• The legs bend strongly at the knee when swimming
• Incorrect entry of the hand into the water (with a slap, flat)
• Elbow drop during stroke
• Bringing your hand over the water to the side

Education

There is no particular importance in the sequence of teaching swimming methods. Many trainers begin to master the crawl first. The first thing a beginner should do is learn proper breathing and leg movements. Therefore, the first lessons are devoted to swimming on your feet with a board and exhaling into the water.

The next stage of training will be hand movements - carrying over the water and rowing in coordination with breathing. First, practice the work of one hand (for example, the right), then change hands.

Next - Coordination of hand movements and breathing. Correct swimming technique is always combined with breathing. It should be performed smoothly, nowhere, at any stage of the stroke, without causing difficulties. Above the water, the student swimmer inhales, lowering his head into the water - exhales through the nose and mouth.

And don’t read a bunch of articles with unprofessional recommendations, where it is described that you exhale first through the mouth, then the nose and vice versa. This is such nonsense written by amateur copywriters.

On our website there is a special section dedicated to teaching all methods of swimming, where all the exercises are described in detail. They can be performed both with boards and with other equipment.

Where to learn to swim is your choice. But only a professional coach is able to correctly teach the freestyle swimming technique to a student. To achieve results, you need to exercise at least 2 times a week.

Outstanding Russian and Soviet freestyle swimmers: Vladimir Salnikov, Alexander Popov.

If it's time to devote yourself to sports or improve your physical development, swimming is the ideal solution. Overcoming a water obstacle uses all muscle groups, and most importantly, everyone loves to swim. The fastest and most popular swimming method is crawl. To learn this technique of moving in water, let's get acquainted with the theoretical basis and practical instructions.

Guidelines from instructors:

• perform the swing/stroke with a bent arm, one might say, perpendicular to the direction, leaning on the water;
• fingers connected, palm flat;
• legs are as straight as possible, performing vertical movements;
• with each swing, you need to maintain the rhythm, eliminate pauses, so each hand, having completed the next stroke, must accelerate in the next movement;
• when the stroke is completed (the hand is located at the hip), you need to remove parts of the arms from the water in the correct sequence - the shoulder, then the forearm and hand;
• At the very beginning of the rowing movement, point your palm back and slightly up.

• When making strokes, catch up with one hand with the other straightened in front of you.
• Find a training partner. It will be great to play catch-up. At the same time, maintain the required distance and, of course, swimming technique. This way you improve your speed skills.
• Set yourself a goal to swim as far as possible in a few seconds. Your partner will need a stopwatch. It is advisable that he be a professional and can, by observing you, point out your mistakes.
• If a “high elbow position” becomes a problem in your technique, attach special shoulder blades to your hands. They will help raise your elbow as high as possible.

Remember, in the matter of “taming a rabbit” the main points are important: watch your breathing, technique, and most importantly – enjoy the process. Therefore, immediately try to learn this correctly so that in the future you can move in the water quickly and easily.

Or breasts. Like many other sports, it has its own subtypes. The chest crawl technique involves using your arms to make strokes, while your legs make movements from bottom to top and vice versa. In other words, the movements of the swimmer’s arms resemble a kind of impeller, and the legs resemble scissors. When swimming with this style on the back, everything happens in a similar way. The only difference is that in the first case, the hands move from behind the head and under themselves, and in the second - in the opposite direction.

Breath

The key element for such a discipline as crawl swimming is breathing technique. In this case, inhalation must be carried out through the mouth at the initial stage of the swing when a triangle is formed: forearm, shoulder, edge of the water. This is explained by the fact that the water in front of the face at this stage parts. In this case, the head must be turned towards the hand that is located under the water. As for exhalation, it is correct to do it through the mouth and nose. According to this, new breaths are taken through three strokes of the hand above the water. Thus, they will be carried out alternately on the right and left sides.

Exercises

In order to feel more confident, it is recommended that the crawl swimming technique be previously practiced. There are a number of exercises specifically for this that allow you to improve movements, increase speed and bring everything to automaticity. The stroke must be done with one hand first. The second one should be in front. Thus, one seems to be catching up with the second. After practicing this way, you should change your hands. To increase speed, you can catch up with your partner, while at the same time maintaining technique and swimming distance.

Freestyle swimming technique can be significantly improved if you use wide shoulder blades on your hands. This will force the swimmer to raise their elbow higher. This exercise is recommended only for adults.

The ideal solution would be to involve an experienced professional in this discipline for training. When using a variety of strokes and constantly changing body position, the expert will immediately point out fundamental errors and draw attention to the ideal combination to use.

To train endurance, you can try an exercise with high energy expenditure. Alternatively, push off from the side of the pool and perform the stroke with one hand. Then it needs to be carried over the water. The other hand should remain motionless. After the next stroke, the working arm is extended back and swimming continues for several seconds. The crawl technique can also be practiced on land. The so-called “mill” is ideal for this, when swimming movements are simulated directly on the bench.

Basic mistakes

The biggest mistake when swimming crawl is incorrect breathing. This includes its delay or failure. In addition, beginning swimmers often seem to sit on the water, pressing their chin to their chest and keeping their legs bent. It is wrong if your head is thrown back, because this leads to water getting on your face, which makes it difficult to breathe. Body tilts in different directions should not be strong. Well, the last common mistake, which significantly reduces the efficiency of swimming, is straight arm strokes.

conclusions

From all this we can conclude that the crawl swimming technique is not so complicated. The main thing is to learn how to position your body correctly and not forget about breathing techniques. With an experienced coach or partner, everything becomes even easier and the swimmer can only enjoy this technique.