A faster freestyle usually comes from removing drag before adding power. These freestyle tips focus on the small technical changes that make the stroke cleaner, calmer, and faster when the pool length starts to hurt. I am looking at body position, the catch, the kick, breathing, and the parts of a race where easy speed is usually left on the table.
Key points to focus on first
- Keep the body long and level; a lifted head or dropped hips create drag immediately.
- Build pressure with the forearm and hand together, then drive the pull straight back.
- Use the kick to stabilize rotation and balance, not to make splash.
- Exhale underwater and inhale quickly so the breath does not hijack the stroke.
- Adjust rhythm by event; sprint freestyle and distance freestyle reward different breathing and kick patterns.
- Choose one technical cue per practice so you can tell whether it actually works.
What actually makes freestyle faster
Freestyle speed is mostly a balance between propulsion and drag. In simple terms, the stroke gets faster when you push more water backward without letting your body leak energy sideways, upward, or through unnecessary motion. That is why I do not start with “swim harder”; I start with “swim cleaner.”
| Priority | What it changes | Common mistake | Quick fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body line | Reduces drag | Head up, hips low, body wobble | Look slightly down, press chest, keep hips near the surface |
| Catch and pull | Creates most propulsion | Dropped elbow, pulling across the body | Set the forearm and hand early, then pull mostly straight back |
| Kick | Balances and supports the stroke | Big knee bend, noisy splash, feet leaving the water | Kick from the hips with a small, fast flutter |
| Breathing | Keeps rhythm intact | Lifting or twisting the head | Turn the head just enough for air and exhale underwater |
| Wall work | Gives free speed | Lazy breakout or slow turn | Streamline tightly and surface with purpose |
Once you see the stroke this way, the next step is obvious: clean up body position first, because every later fix works better when the line is already stable.
Fix body position before chasing speed
The most efficient freestyle starts with a long, narrow body line. I want the swimmer to feel as if the crown of the head, the hips, and the heels are all traveling through one lane line of water instead of wandering around the pool. When the head lifts, the hips usually sink; when the hips sink, the pull and kick both have to work harder just to maintain the same pace.
Rotation helps, but only in the right amount. Enough roll makes the recovery easier and gives the shoulder room to work; too much roll starts to bury the elbow and stretch the stroke out longer than it needs to be. I like to think of rotation as a steering aid, not a license to wobble.
- Keep the eyes angled down, not forward.
- Let the chest press slightly into the water instead of lifting the chin.
- Rotate enough to recover the arm smoothly, then stop before the stroke feels loose.
- Keep the kick inside the outline of the body rather than scissoring wide.
- When you breathe, keep one side of the face close to the surface instead of rolling the whole head up.
If your body position feels “heavy,” do not try to fix it by muscling through. A small adjustment in head and chest position usually pays off faster than a harder pull, and that leads naturally into the part of the stroke that creates real propulsion.
Build a catch that holds water
The catch is not a grab. It is a quick repositioning of the arm so the forearm and hand can press backward against the water as one larger surface. That is why I care more about whether the arm is oriented well than whether the swimmer is trying to look aggressive underwater.
The useful sensation is pressure on the forearm, not just the palm. If the elbow drops and the hand does all the work, the stroke loses force and the shoulder often takes over. If the hand crosses too far across the body, the pull wastes energy sideways instead of back.
- Enter around shoulder width.
- Set the hand and forearm early so they face backward.
- Pull mostly straight back instead of sweeping wide.
- Accelerate through the underwater phase instead of keeping one pace.
- Finish just past the hip so the recovery can stay relaxed.
I usually tell swimmers to imagine pushing a big, stable paddle past the water behind them. When that idea clicks, the stroke stops feeling like a scramble and starts feeling like a sequence. Next comes the part that keeps the stroke balanced while the arms are busy: the kick.
Use the kick to stabilize the stroke
The flutter kick is not there to look busy. Its job is to hold the stroke together, keep the hips from sagging, and support the side-to-side rhythm that freestyle needs. Most swimmers kick too big, too bent, or too loud. None of those problems make the stroke faster for long.
A small kick from the hips is usually more efficient than a knee-driven kick. The downbeat matters most, but the upbeat matters too because it resets the leg for the next downbeat. If the knees start breaking the surface, the kick is usually too large and too expensive.
| Kick pattern | Best use | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|
| Two-beat | Longer swims and efficient pacing | Less raw propulsion, but easier to sustain |
| Four-beat | Middle-distance racing and mixed effort sets | Can drift if timing is sloppy |
| Six-beat | Short races and high-speed work | Costs more energy and fades quickly |
For most swimmers, the real question is not which kick is “best,” but which kick fits the event and the pace they are trying to hold. That brings us to breathing, because an efficient kick is wasted if the breath throws the whole stroke off rhythm.
Breathe without breaking the line
Good breathing should look almost boring. The head turns just enough to get air, the exhale happens underwater, and the stroke stays close to its normal rhythm. The biggest mistake I see is swimmers waiting too long to exhale, then forcing the breath all at once. That usually leads to panic breathing and a messy recovery.
The fix is simple, but it takes discipline: breathe out underwater in a controlled way, then take a fast inhale as the mouth clears the surface. Keeping the breath low matters because lifting the head changes the whole body angle and makes the hips drop.
- Exhale underwater instead of holding air.
- Rotate the head, do not yank it sideways.
- Keep the mouth close to the surface so the inhale is short.
- Use bilateral breathing in training sometimes to keep both sides honest.
- For sprint work, breathe less; for longer repeats, breathe often enough to keep the stroke controlled.
| Race length | Common breathing approach | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| 50 free | As little as practical | Protect stroke rate and keep the body line flat |
| 100 to 200 free | Every 2, 3, or 4 strokes depending on pace | Balance oxygen with rhythm |
| Longer freestyle | Usually every 2 or 3 strokes | Keep technique stable under fatigue |
In U.S. racing, the legal underwater distance is up to 15 meters after the start and each turn, so the breakout should be deliberate rather than rushed. That matters because the wall is one of the few places where you can gain speed without adding effort.
Treat starts, turns, and breakouts as free speed
Freestyle racing is not only about what happens in the middle of the pool. A strong push-off, a tight streamline, and a clean breakout can save more time than a small arm adjustment in the water. I pay close attention to this because sloppy wall work quietly ruins otherwise good swims.
- Push into a narrow streamline with the arms locked and the head neutral.
- Stay compact underwater long enough to keep the line fast, but not so long that the breakout becomes desperate.
- Surface into the stroke with rhythm already established, not with a frantic first pull.
- On the turn, finish the wall decisively and leave it with the same body tension you had at the start.
If your pool training never includes wall work, you are giving away easy speed. Once that part is reliable, the last step is making sure your drills and practice structure are actually teaching the stroke you want.
Drills and practice habits that make the changes stick
I like drills that exaggerate the problem just enough to make it obvious. A drill is useful only if it teaches a specific feeling and then shows up again in full stroke. Otherwise it is just busywork in a different lane.
- For body line: side kicking or streamline kicking, so you can feel where the hips sit.
- For the catch: sculling, fist swimming, or short-pull freestyle to feel forearm pressure.
- For the kick: vertical kick or kicking on the side to remove the temptation to bend the knees too much.
- For breathing: breathing every stroke for a short repeat, then every 3 strokes on the next repeat to keep the rhythm controlled.
- For integration: short race-pace 25s or 50s with plenty of rest so technique stays intact while speed rises.
The other habit that matters is restraint. One cue is enough for a repetition set; two is usually the limit; more than that and the swimmer starts practicing confusion instead of skill. I also like simple checks such as stroke count per 25, how many breaths a repeat required, and whether the stroke still feels smooth at the end of the set.
A realistic order for your next practice
If I were planning the next session from scratch, I would work in this order: body line first, breathing second, catch and pull third, kick fourth, then race-specific speed and wall work. That sequence is not glamorous, but it is efficient, and efficiency is the whole point of freestyle.
The most useful freestyle tips are the ones you can repeat under fatigue, not the ones that only sound good on a calm warm-up length. Pick one fix, give it a few honest sessions, and keep the version of the stroke that leaves you faster without making you tense.
