Front Crawl Swimming Drills – Hand-Lead Side Balance

The next set of front crawl swimming drills let you practice balance while having one arm extended forward. You need to practice this position because you will have one arm extended forward for the most part of the stroke cycle, and you need to maintain good horizontal balance in that position. You start with the Hand-lead side balance drill:

By the way, an additional advantage of properly extending your arm forward while floating on the side is that it effectively opens a hole in the water through which the rest of your body can pass through while moving forward, thus reducing drag.

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Drill Instructions

The starting position (Sweet Spot) is the same as the one used in the Head-Lead Side Balance drill:

• You are floating on the side. The angle between your body and the water surface is around 45°.
• Your head is still and your face is turned upward. You are looking straight at the ceiling.
• Your arms are at your sides.
• You use a supple flutter kick to move forward.

Once you feel balanced and comfortable, it’s time to elongate yourself in the water:

• Extend the bottom arm forward under water until it is straight and in an overhead position.
• Your palm may be up, to the side or down, whatever feels more comfortable to you.
• Your arm should be parallel to the water surface or slightly angled down.
• Adjust your balance to take into account the changed weight distribution.
• Continue to flutter kick on the same side for the rest of the length, then repeat the exercise on your other side, and so on.
• Practice until you feel completely comfortable floating on the side with an arm extended overhead.

Once you are comfortable floating in this position, you should notice that you move forward with more ease and speed than if you don’t extended an arm overhead. This is one of the secrets to learn how to swim faster.

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Swimming Drill Tips

• Experiment with palm rotation and arm angle in relation to the water surface to find out what feels most comfortable.
• Normally, it should be easier for you to press your upper body down in the water with the arm extended to make your hips and legs buoy up.
• It is ok to use swimming fins (especially Zoomers) in the beginning if your kick isn’t propulsive enough.

• A nose clip can help keeping water out of your nose.

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