How to Swim the Freestyle and Butterfly Strokes Essay

How to Swim the Freestyle and Butterfly Strokes - Essay Example The freestyle is perhaps the simplest and fastest among the three swimming strokes because it simply involves long stretches of the arms and kicks in order to move the swimmer to the intended destination. However, the arms are not simply stretched to the greatest distance they could reach but they actually involve five components which will be discussed as the instructions are explained in detail. So first, you stretch both arms above the head, with the back of your palms facing you. Make sure that your fingers are together and not spread apart because this will help to propel you to the next distance. This position of having your hand stretched is called the ‘reach’. Obviously, the name suggests that you are to reach out your arms in preparation for the next component called the ‘catch’. To do the catch, you twist your hand forward, slightly forming an â€Å"S† as you pull your hand toward your hip. The third component called ‘pull’ happ ens when you exert effort to make the final stroke for the â€Å"S† shape as you pull your hand toward your mid-section. This is followed by the ‘push’ which is the force that will help determine the distance to move forward to. The final component would be the ‘recovery’ which basically brings the arm to the original position. When you are in the water, you will find out that it is actually difficult to start right away with the instructions mentioned above. What you need to do is to stretch your arms.