In the individual medley races, there are a lot of transitions between strokes: fly to back, back to breast, breast to free where each swimmer could either gain or lose time on the opponents. Usually, the most complex turn is the one from backstroke to breaststroke. In the history of swimming,...

When it comes to learning your swimming start, there needs to be room for experimentation. Without trying new things, you will never improve. With that in mind, let’s examine some key aspects of the track start. As I discussed in the grab vs. track start post before, the track start is bec...

Everyone is different, but some commonalities arise when it comes to right-handed or left-handed swimmers. The majority of us have one side of our body stronger than the other and this also shows during swimming specific movements and exercises, especially when deciding which foot to put forward...

Should I do a track start or a grab start? That is a question I get asked quite a lot. My answer usually is that it really depends on many things. Such things could be your body agility, what type of event you swim, how deep you want to go on a dive and what you feel comfortable with. If yo...

This is the second post in the series of articles regarding what constitutes a great swimming start. If you have missed the first post, please click on the link below to get caught up and then come back. Let's recap what are the 5 key elements of a successful start from a starting block. 1) Fast...

We have now discussed the basics of diving at the beginning of your swim. So if you are comfortable with sitting dives lesson and then mastered the standing dives exercises or if you are already a competitive swimmer who just wants to improve at the start of your race, you can move on to more...

Last time, we were discussing the proper streamline during a dive and also some basic exercises to get you more comfortable jumping and diving into the water. Today, we'll build on top of what we have learned and add a few more diving steps before we move onto a proper start off a diving block.  ...

Learning to swim with the correct technique can be quite challenging during the first attempts, however, do not get yourselves discouraged. Many have learned to swim before you and many will follow. In fact, what seems like an impossible task to master is, with a little patience and perseveran...

I've been swimming and coaching for many years and one thing that I see the most room for improvement, even in competitive swimmers, is the butterfly and breaststroke turn. Let me give you a few tips and tricks on how to improve and speed up your butterfly or breaststroke turn. 1) Do not be...

Here are a few special tips and tricks if you are already a flip turn professional :) and you have mastered both phase 1 and phase 2 of the flip turn school. 1) Let's focus on the glide into the turn first: When you start your glide, you should be slowly submerging yourself underwater, so...

Alright, let's bring the flip to the wall. Now that you know how to do a flip from a glide, you can easily do a similar feat by the wall. Step back about 2-3 meters from the wall. Push off the bottom into a glide, however, this time you will have one arm by your side and one arm in front...

Most beginner swimmers find it quite challenging to perform a flip turn at each side of the pool. If this is you, just stay with me for a bit and in the next few posts, I'll get you flipping in no time. However, you have to promise to practice, practice, practice, otherwise, you are just wastin...