Swimming Technique for Beginners

I admire your decision of choosing swimming to maintain your overall fitness! Certainly, swimming is one of the very few exercise forms, that exercise each and every part of your body, right from your head to the tip of your toenail. It is also one of the most popular and effective exercise forms, after muscle building and strength training. Be it weightlifting, running and jogging or any other exercise, I have always emphasized on learning the right techniques. Swimming is not an exception to it! It is really good to know that. Many of you are interested in swimming, but on the other side, some of you make a mistake by not learning the techniques and therefore do not get the desired results. Considering this fact, I have compiled some of the best swimming techniques for beginners, so that you can use the potential of swimming to the fullest!

Basic Techniques of Swimming for Beginners

The following text would prove as an overview of beginner's guide and workout for swimming, as it discusses some swimming techniques for beginners. These are actually different types of strokes involved in swimming.

Technique # 1
Freestyle crawl is the most basic and also the easiest swimming technique for new entrants. In freestyle crawling you need to swim in a horizontal position on your belly, move your hands in a windmill motion and legs in the flutter kick style. Hands should move freely, head should be positioned inside the water and while moving the legs, there should be a slight bent in the knee. The most difficult or probably the most challenging part of this swimming technique is breathing. This is because, most of the time the head is inside the water. Move your head sideways so that only your nose raises above the water level. This should be a simultaneous action, when you raise your shoulder above the water.

Technique # 2
Although not the easiest, but certainly you could learn it, once you practice it for some time! Backstroke is quite similar to freestyle crawling, as in this case you move your arms in a windmill motion and legs move in a flutter kick manner. The only difference over here is that, you need to move your body in the backward direction. To put it in simple words, you need to move in the opposite direction of your face. Move your hands to form a 'S' pattern. Bend your knees a bit and keep the face towards the sky while swimming. Breathing is not a problem over here, as throughout the activity, your head is raised above the water level.

Technique # 3
You can also try butterfly, breaststroke and freestyle flip. I know, this swimming technique is not meant for beginners, however once you gain expertise over the above two, you can certainly move on trying this. These techniques are completely different from the ones mentioned previously. These include difficult arm and leg movements and also you need to be strong and quick enough to cut water and move ahead! Breathing is a bit challenging in these techniques. In butterfly, you need to breathe at the end of your arm movement, in breaststroke you keep on moving your head in and out of the water, so whenever you pop your head out, you have to breathe in. Breathing in the free style flip is quite similar to the one in freestyle crawl. Read more on breathing techniques for swimming and swimming technique: breast stroke.

Swimming Instructions for Beginners

The more beneficial the exercise is, the more careful you need to be about it! Same is the case with swimming, especially when you are a new entrant. You need to take care of some things before and while swimming, so that neither you get exhausted, nor would you injure any of your muscles. Here are some instructions that must be followed by beginners.

• Give a good warm up to your body, before you start swimming, with some stretching exercises.
• Get a good workout prescribed from a qualified trainer.
• Always wear your swimming safety gear, to avoid injury and ease the activity.
• While swimming, see that your head is in line with your spine. In simple words, keep your body straight and do not bend it sideways.
• Legs also should be in a straight position. Keep your toes outwards and continue kicking throughout the activity.
• Use your entire body strength to move ahead in the water.
• Breathe while swimming. Do not stop your breathing activity in the pursuit of swimming fast.
• Rest in between sets, so that you gather enough energy to complete the next one.

Swimming is an exercise as well as a fun activity! Following the above said instructions and swimming technique for beginners would make it more beneficial and most importantly you would enjoy the activity a lot! All the Best!