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Intro to Freestyle Advanced
Once you have established the foundation of the freestyle stroke in Freestyle Fundamentals, you are ready to build the skills for more effective whole body propulsion upon it in Freestyle Advanced. In his course you’ll learn how to form a more effective catch to get a better grip on the water, then to connect this to the power of the torso rotation, and smoothly transfer force from the catch-side of the body into the streamline-side of the body. You’ll learn how to connect the action of the legs to support and enhance the torso rotation, to complete the whole body propulsive system.
In addition, you’ll learn how to start using basic forms of metrics – stroke counting and tempo – to begin training in a logical, measurable way toward a specific skill or achievement goal.
Preview of the Catch and Hold
It is commonly believed that the underwater stroke – the arms pulling on the water – is the main action of the freestyle stroke; hence, the old name for this was the ‘crawl stroke’ after all. What the arm does underwater is important, but it only has its intended effect if that action is coordinated with what the rest of the body is doing. In fact, the catch is not the main action, but a supporting action. The main action of the stroke is channeling force into the streamline position so that your body slides forward, and does so most efficiently.
Like getting traction under your shoe, you are aiming to get a solid grip on the water in order to rotate around that point and lever the streamline side of the body forward. It is not about pushing water back, but about sliding the body forward – a seemingly small, but profoundly important difference in how your body directs its energy.
Preview of the 2-Beat Press
And, once you have learned the skill of creating balance in the body (keeping it parallel to the surface) using the entire body as frame, you’ll not need to use the legs for lots of kicking to hold the rear of the body up at the surface. The legs take on new roles: first (as you’ve learned in the Freestyle Fundamentals course), the legs are an extension of the torso, a long fuselage that holds its shape firmly; second, the legs can move in a way that coordinates with and enhances the power generated by the torso rotation.
Your work on these two skills – the catch and the leg action – have been waiting until the fundamental skills are in place so that these each can support what those fundamental skills are intended to achieve in your swimming. The stronger you are with those fundamental skills the easier it will be to work on these advanced skills and get the effect from them that you seek.
Preview of Synchronization
Now that you have all the main features of the foundation and propulsion in place, it is time to connect the moving parts into a finely synchronized whole. In this lesson you will practice connecting and timing the entry action, the catch action, the torso rotation and the leg action. Synchronization offers the most satisfying discoveries and improvements in the smooth efficient flow of force through the body, resulting in more acceleration on each stroke.
Preview of Basic Metrics
As you continue work on the catch, the legs and synchronization, you’ll be able to measure your progress in more nuanced ways than just seeing if you are ‘swimming faster’. Your stroke count – the number of strokes it takes you to get across the pool, is an important indicator of your skillfulness and efficiency. There is an optimal stroke count that you’ll be ultimately aiming for, and over the weeks, months and years ahead, you’re developing skills and fitness will bring you into that optimal zone. And, as musicians train with a metronome to hold a steady beat, at tempo appropriate to the type of music they are playing, your skill and efficiency in movement will improve greatly when you add the use of a swim metronome to your training activities. This will provoke great refinements and automation of your movements – you’ll build great neural fitness.