BASIC SURVIVAL SWIMMING
Basic Terms
• BREATH-HOLDING
– Voluntary or involuntary stopping of breathing.
• BUBBLING
– A technique that helps swimmers to breathe
properly. When you swim you inhale through
your mouth when your face is above water and
exhale through your mouth or nose when your
face is underwater.
– Beginners often panic during the underwater
phase and hold their breath.
• FLOATING
– Something that is buoyed up by water or air, or
something that can fluctuate and change.
– The key to floating is, ironically, a major challenge
for beginners:
• You have to relax.
–As soon as you master this, you will be able
to “swim”.
• Deep breathing is not only scientifically proven
to help your body relax, but it will also bring
more oxygen into your body, which should
make you more buoyant.
TYPES OF FLOATS:
– JELLYFISH FLOAT
• Also known as dead men float.
– TURTLE FLOAT
• The knees are raised to the chest and encircled by the
arms.
– FRONT FLOAT
• Take a deep breath, hold it, and lean forward into the
water extending straight forward – keep them in the
water.
– GLIDING:
» PUSH-OFF FROM THE WALL
BASIC MOVEMENTS
– FINNING
» Is the “fish fin like” movement of the hands
while swimming. Sometimes taught as a
“movement exploration” technique to
beginner swimmers.
– SCULLING
» A technique where you use quick horizontal
movements of the arms in the water to
maintain your head above the water
surface. You float in a vertical position with
your arms extended sideways at shoulder
level, elbows slightly bent.
KINDS OF KICKS
• swimming kick -
a movement of the legs in swimming .
flutter kick -
a swimming kick; the legs are moved rapidly
up and down without bending the knees
• frog kick -
a swimming kick; knees are drawn upward an
d outward so the legs can be brought together
when fully extended
• dolphin kick -
a swimming kick; an up and down kick of
the feet together
• scissors kick -
a kick used in the sidestroke; legs are bro
ught together in a scissoring motion
TYPES OF STROKES
• Arm Crawl a.k.a Freestyle
• Breaststroke
• Backstroke
• Butterfly stroke
• Sidestroke
FLUTTER KICK
• A swimming kick used in crawl and backstroke
in which the legs are extended straight back
and alternately moved up and down with a
slight bend in the knee on the upward
movement.
• APPLICATIONS:
– Stationary flutter kick
– Front float with flutter kick
– Back float with flutter kick
THE FROG KICK
–The frog kick is where you bring your feet
out to the side, and then back in. The frog
kick also called the whip kick. Starting off
with your legs together, move your feet out
to the side and then quickly back in.
»The advantage: this kick is less tiring
than the flutter kick.
»The disadvantage: using the kick causes
you to bob up and down in the water
instead of staying relatively motionless.
Types of Strokes and Drills
• FREESTYLE a.k.a. FRONT CRAWL
• The fastest and most efficient of the
competitive swimming strokes and often the
preferred stroke of experienced swimmers
and triathletes. It is the fastest swim stroke.
• DRILLS:
– Arm crawl side breathing with kickboard
– Arm crawl side breathing without kickboard
• BACKSTROKE
• A swimming stroke executed on the back and
usually consisting of alternating circular arm
pulls and flutter kick.
• DRILLS:
• Three (3) counts arm raise alternate left and right
• BREASTSTROKE
• A swimming style in which the swimmer is on
their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the
most popular recreational style due to the
swimmer’s head being out of the water a large
portion of the time, and that it can be swum
comfortably at slow speeds.
• DRILLS:
– Breaststroke pull and kick
– Three (3) kicks; one (1) pull
– Two (2) kicks; one (1) pull
– One (1) kick; one (1) pull
• BUTTERFLY STROKE
• A swimming stroke swum on the chest, with both
arms moving symmetrically, accompanied by the
butterfly kick (dolphin kick)
• DRILLS:
– Worm drill
– Streamline dolphin kick
– Side pull: three (3) right and three (3) left with dolphin
kick
– Three (3) kicks with butterfly pull
– Two (2) kicks with butterfly pull
Sidestroke with Scissor Kick
DRILLS:
-Dry-land scissor kick
-Dry-land side stroke arm motions
-Dry-Land Sidestroke Swimming Motions
