21 top laws of swimming

1. Three of the most important components of swimming are: technique,technique, technique.

2. Strive for optimum, not maximum, performance.

3. Learn to balance, align, and stabilize your body first. Everything else will become easier.

4. Seek the path of least resistance.

5. Find the path of most resistance.

Read more: Laws of swimming

The initial position in freestyle is on the breast, with both arms stretched to the front and the legs extended to the back.

Arm movement

The arm movement in freestyle is alternating, i.e., while one arm is pulling/pushing, the other arm is recovering. The arm strokes also provide most of the forward movement in freestyle. The move can be separated into three parts, the pull, the push, and the recovery.

From the initial position, the arm sinks slightly lower and the palm of the hand turns 45 degree with the thumb side of the palm towards the bottom. This is called catching the water and is in preparation for the pull. It also gives the muscles a brief rest during swimming. The pull movement follows a semicircle with the elbow higher than the hand and the hand pointing towards the body center and downward. The semicircle ends in front of the chest at the beginning of the ribcage.

Read more: How to swim the freestyle

The coach is an important person with his or her ability to observe and make subjective assessments of performance. But there is also a need to have objective measurements, being more valuable in giving some dimension to the result, e.g. time, distance, score (McLatchie 1993). The physiological tests are designed to follow the swimmer's physical capabilities, improvements achieved, and to assist in planning the training program (Costill, Maglischo and Richardson 1992). Total fitness consists of strength, speed, flexibility and endurance, and all of these aspects should be evaluated.

The following points should be considered before assessing fitness:

• pre-test procedures
• the purpose and intention of the test
• the suitability of the test and the equipment used
• the statistical criteria for the test
• the use of the test results (McLatchie 1993).

Read more: Physiological Testing of Swimmers