 Hi guys, this is Christian from swimtofly.com. Today we are going to learn how to swim freestyle in three simple steps to master the front crawl. Remember that the front crawl is always something easy to learn. The first thing is to remember the intention. So when you swim freestyle, you need to learn how to glide, how to stretch forward and how to relax. It's all about relax. Swimming is all about sensation, relax and be effective and effortless with big stroke power through underwater and the right way of movement. So there is three steps to learn how to swim front crawl which are really easy. We're gonna start now with the first step. Before everything, you need to learn how to kick in the water correctly and you need how to feel the gliding sensation, the correct posture when you are in the water. So we're gonna start on the shallow side just to show you how to practice the kicking. So I'm here. The freestyle kick needs to be done with your feet like straightened here, your knees like not bent, no, I think I like straightened. And it's just the kick like this, one after one. Try to avoid to bend your knees and do biking in the water. This is completely ineffective. So what you want to do is just do small and fast movement with kicking legs and you kick faster on the surface. You see my foot here on the surface, I kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick and I can see the water on the surface. Of course when you swim freestyle, you are on the other side. So for the freestyle since we are on the other side, my leg needs to be on the surface of the water. At least some things. Don't bend your knees. Kick small and fast. Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick. And you need to stand behind me to pump, pump, pump, pump, pump, pump. This is the sound of my kick kicking in the water. So your kicking, remember, need to be on the surface fast with the sound behind you, okay? Once you are able to do your kicking to master step number one, which is the arrow position, you need to learn how to put your head and your arms correctly to glide on the surface. So the arrow position is to be able to start, push on the wall, glide with your hand correctly position and kick, kick, kick, kick and that's it for five meters. So if I want to practice the arrow position, I need to go always deeper. So I'm gonna do the arrow position for like maybe five meters only. So I'll put my feet on the wall. I will kick the way I have shown and I will straighten my hands like this on the surface of the water. Remember then your hand here need to stay on the surface side by side. You can practice like this straight on your arms or you can if you want to learn from a simple way you can be side by side straight on your arms. What you want to do is to stretch your arms. Remember that's the key point. You want to fly. You want to swim freestyle so you want to glide for one. If you're helpful or a band like this you're not flying. This is broken. The more you stretch for, the faster and easier you're gonna swim. Okay, so step number one to learn how to stretch your arrow position. I glide. Take my big breath, five second bubbles in the water, kick, kick, kick, kick with my feet and glide for one. And that's it. Okay, pretty easy. I go back on the other side. Remember when you do your bubbles try to look straight down at the bottom of the swim. Chin on your chest, your head below your arms. Don't be like this. Your head's back. You want to look down so we cannot see your head all the way. You are in the perfect gliding position. Remember that position is called arrow position. Show again. Okay, I keep my kick on the surface, small and fast. Don't bend your knees. My head is down. I blow my bubbles. Relax five seconds. My hand on the surface don't move. One more time. When I can master my arrow position that is very good. You can now learn how to swim with paddling in the water with your hand. It's time to learn the step number two which is learn how to do the strokes, blow your hand. So freestyle is swimming with your hand, gliding, relax, blow your bubbles and gliding forward. Now you need to learn how to paddle inside the water with your hand by being able to still glide in the water. A lot of people will fight in the water. They swim, they spend so much energy to try to swim faster and they swim so slow and they are so exhausted after just 10 meters of swimming because they don't try to feel what is the gliding position. A big stroke with the other hand gliding forward. Every stroke needs to be big, strong in the water and relaxed outside the water. So to learn how to swim with the step number two, we'll just repeat the step number one. We'll just repeat the arrow position one, two, three, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, blow your bubbles but this time you will have a little board in your hand. Okay, when you have a board like this, it's a small board. If I push the board down, it's gonna drown. Okay, a lot of people they learn how to swim with the board but they push the board down because the board is huge, the board stays up but that's not the way because you never want to go down. You want to go forward, you want to glide, right? So you do your arrow position five seconds. One, two, three, four, five, do your bubbles, your kick on the surface. This is all good. Okay, the step number one is perfect. Okay, all right. So now you need to learn how to do the same with paddling in the water. One big stroke paddle. Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, two big stroke bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, paddle and then at the third stroke you need to breathe. You're gonna learn how to swim freestyle by taking a big breath every third stroke. Why third and why not two because you will learn how to swim both sides left and right. Later when you compete you can do only learn every two stroke, brief every four strokes, whatever you fit you well but when you learn you learn both sides left and right. So you blow bubbles for your five second and during your five second bubbles you do one big stroke go back to the board. Two big stroke go back to the board. Three big stroke breathe. Go back to the board and continue. One big stroke go back to the board. Two big stroke blow your bubbles, go back to the board. Three big stroke breathe. Go back to the board. Okay at the beginning if you are a beginner don't focus so much on turning on the side. Learn the rhythm. One, two, breathe at number three. The rhythmic is very important for the step two okay. So I don't want to learn how to breathe on the side yet it's a bit too advanced so I will go very easy with learn how to just move my hand and go up at number three. I have my board. One big stroke, two big stroke, go up at number three. Go down and continue. Okay this is the arrow position with the ball and moving the hands. Let's practice. Same position. Head down big bubbles. Let's go. Okay as you can see when you go up with your head you lose a bit balance. When you go up with your head you start to drown a little bit. This is normal. That's why when you go up you try to breathe fast. Okay and try to cool and breathe at the beginning. If you are a beginner it's much easier because your hand pulling in the water will give you power to go up and breathe and then after time to go down and blow your bubbles. So we repeat this skill again. The bubbles, two stroke bubbles, two stroke, go up, breathe and go down. Be careful when you go up. Let your legs behind you, drown. Keep your legs on the surface kicking quick and fast. Okay with kicking doing this little sound on the surface. Blow your bubbles and be relaxed. It's much easier if you turn your head because if you go up you lose your balance and your lower body starts to drown. You go up you go down. That's why every streamer when they learn the correct freestyle stroke they're gonna turn the head to breathe instead of going up and look forward. To turn the head is very easy. You just need to turn at the right time with your half face in the water. The closer you are the better you are. Don't stress. You need to keep your half face in the water when you breathe here and breathe your mouth here outside the water. Most of people they believe then if they turn up like this is good but this is wrong. My head is up, my lower body gonna drown behind you. You don't want to do that. You want to go down with your head, with your eyes inside the water. Half of your face inside the water here. And then I go down. Okay so the stroke is very simple. But remember when you want to breathe from the side half face cut by the water. One eyes inside, my mouth outside breathe. Blow bubbles go down again. And to keep pushing the body you want to pull and turn at the beginning. Remember pull and turn in the same time. Don't pull first and turn after especially when you are a beginner because it will be more complicated. Okay so feel the power, turn your head. So I have my board. I do my arrow position. I repeat my stroke but this time instead of going up I'm gonna turn my head. But when I turn my head I make sure that I turn down in the water with my arms here. Never use a pillow here. Don't put your head on your arms. Put your arms forward and put your head in the little hole here. Here's in the water, half face in the water, over there. Not on your hands. This is the mistake to do. Okay going up. Go down in the hole here. Here. What? Here. Okay. And remember you look on the side here. It's pretty easy. Now let's try. Up here. Take my big breath. You have to see something because I hold that board. When I turn my head I keep my hand with the board on the surface. I don't want my hand when I turn my head to go down. That's the thing. You need to learn how to swim freestyle by keeping your hands on the surface of the water. To glide for. To fly. Okay. So always make sure your hands are on this case. When you turn your head, don't let your hand go down. This is missing. You see my hand is down. I lose. I keep my hand up. I push myself to glide until the other one is going back. Okay. So one, two, three. Turn at number three. Move your hands on the surface catching the board all the time. This board never goes down. Okay. Practice step number two last time. I blow my bubbles. I can swim into the arrow position, which is to step one. I do my strokes underwater. Relax, big catch my board forward. The board stays on the surface. I turn at number three. I can turn now with half face in the water. Excellent. He starts to learn how to swim freestyle at step number three. So I don't need the board anymore. Okay. Now we are at the last step for the freestyle. So to learn freestyle with the last step, you just need to remember you need to keep your hand forward. And on the same things, on the same things, you need to be able to keep your hand on the surface and imagine you have a magic board with your hand. Imagine you have a magic board in hand. So it's the same point. You want to learn how to swim with your hand gliding on the surface, but never going down. One stroke, two stroke, keep the magic board on the surface. Three, turn your head with my hand. Don't go down. You see my hand here? Don't go down, don't go down, don't go down. Good touch your hand. Back. And again, one stroke. Go back. Two stroke. Go back. Turn at number three. Go back. Okay. For the step number three, you learn how to swim on the first part, the freestyle touch with your hand staying on the surface of the water. So one big touch, two big touches. We turn at number three and touch means your hand never goes in the water. Never let your hand drop in the water. Especially when you turn your hand, don't drop your hand. Keep it on the surface here and touch your hand. Okay? Can you see my hand here? Yeah? Keep it on the surface. Okay? Never forget. Let's practice. You have the magic boards the same things. I just don't pull the board. I just imagine it's the board. Big stroke. You see my hand here? Stays on the surface. When I turn my hand, my hand don't drop. Okay? I do one more time. Freestyle touch. Turn at number three with your hands on the surface. Don't forget your bubbles and swim into the arrow position looking down. So this is the step number three. Freestyle touch. This is not yet the real freestyle. The step number three is having three portions. When you can do that, when you can blow your bubbles, do your big stroke, touch your hand every time. Keep your hand on the surface and touch your skin. Touch my skin. Go back. Touch my skin. Turn right on the side. Touch my skin. Then you can practice with a pool boy in between your legs. It will be the step number three, part number two. This is a pool boy. This pool boy will be in between your legs. You close your knees like this and you close your legs. Because you have these floaties in between your legs, it will be easier for your legs. You're going to float more. But the problem is you cannot kick anymore. You need to just close your legs. And because you cannot kick, you lose a bit of balance. Because you lose a bit of balance, you're going to practice more on your upper body to balance your body. So it's a bit more complicated, but it is great for the sensation. So part number two to learn the freestyle. The step number three is to do the same skill, freestyle touch with a board in between your legs. So you turn at number three, but you don't drop your hand. You touch your hand, but you cannot kick this time. Let's practice. So as you see, I turn one touch, two touch. Turn my head on the side. Breathe. My hand stays up and I touch. Make sure your hand always stays up. It's kind of important here. So this is the step number three. Part number two, freestyle touch with a board in between your legs. So we are going back the same skill again. So you can practice and look at the hand. The more difficult portion is to make sure your hand doesn't drop in the water. When I turn my hand, my hand here can drop in the water. You see my hand here? Hello. You need to follow my hand when I explain my hand. Okay? Two, one, let's go. So this is done. You will see sometimes when you turn your hand, because you cannot kick, your body will twist and you can turn your body in the water. That mistake might happen. So it's you to turn your head at the right time and to practice again to be able to swim straightforward. Okay? So let's do it. Now I can do my freestyle touch with a board in between my legs. This is perfect. So let's remove the full void. I can kick again. And now I'm going to learn the real freestyle. So you can do the freestyle touch one hand after one hand touching and waiting. This is a great skill to do, but that's not the real, real freestyle yet. The real front crawl will be with your hands crossing on the surface. No more touch and with crossing. When my hand is gliding forward, the other one is coming back and will not touch, but they will glide crossing on the surface. And I glide, I cross. And I cross. And I breathe. So one glide, two glide, three glide turn and breathe. Okay? Step number three, part number three, freestyle glide. You need to learn how to fly when you swim. And you will learn also how to use your elbow to relax. You will learn how to pull in the water with your elbows up. Pull to the end. Then at the end, relax. Roll your shoulders elbows up, glide with the other hand. And when this one is coming back, then change. Pull and glide. And pull. When I pull, the other one is gliding. You see, this is together. One hand is pulling the water, the other one is gliding. It's always like this. A lot of people, they focus on this end, the pulling one. But that's a little mistake because the very important portion is actually why this hand is pulling. This end is pulling to have this one. This one is the more important. This one is the gliding one. The one on the front is the one stretching forward. When you pull, you pull to make the other one gliding. Never lose that intention. You want to glide forward. You want to grow. You want to fly. You want to stretch forward. Okay? That's why we are in the arrow position. So you glide by pulling. I pull and I glide. I pull and I glide. I pull and I glide. At the number three, I turn my head at number three. And I glide. I don't go down. I go forward. And again. So freestyle glide. This time you need to touch. Just make sure you cross and you glide on the surface. Try the most important. Hit the skill again. One glide, two glide, turn at number three and glide. Remember to keep your elbows up, roll your shoulder and relax. When you can relax, we've had number three. Be comfortable. Increase the distance. Increase the intensity. Because this is great. Now you can swim your freestyle. Catch the right sensation. Remember swimming is all about sensation. You need to feel it right. You need to feel in your stretching for a while. You need to feel the glide on your skin. You need to feel it easy. It's not fighting. It's easy. All right? So to learn how to swim freestyle, just turn several steps. Remember our position. Learn to swim the arrow position with the stroke with the board forward to learn how to keep your hand on the front. And brief at number three. And step number three. You need to do without the board to learn how to glide forward. Don't drop your hand in the water. Always make sure your hand stays on the surface to glide and glide and glide. When you feel it, you will see you're not fighting anymore in the water. Just enjoying the swim. Okay? So this is Christian from SwimFly.com. If you want to learn our method to swim freestyle, just visit our website. And for swimming lessons, you can check on the website also. Thank you.