Analysis of Swimming Styles - Coursework Example

Analysis of Swimming Styles Analysis of Swimming Styles Introduction Swimming is among the leading water sports that individuals can enjoy as it is easy to learn and practice. In swimming, an individual has to move or glide through water by kicking his or her legs and using his or her arms to move forward. As such, swimming stands out as a competitive sporting activity considered an appropriate all round exercise for all individuals, irrespective of their ages or levels of fitness. Swimming is good because it exercises the entire body of a human being by working out on all the muscle groups, as well as going easy on the joints. In addition, swimming is instrumental in development of cardiovascular strength. In some special cases, swimming is used for physical therapy, especially for the injured and disabled persons. There are different styles of swimming that an individual can use to move through water, majorly referred to as swimming strokes. These include breaststroke, backstroke, freestyle and butterfly. Analysis of Different Swimming Strokes As mentioned above, swimming has four main basic styles that individuals can apply or use while swimming. A good swimmer needs to learn how to use each of the four swimming strokes effectively in order to be a competent swimmer, as well as meet some of the key goals of swimming, which are burning more calories, and being a fast swimmer. 1) Freestyle Another name of freestyle swimming is the crawl. This is the simplest techniques of swimming and easy to learn. An individual doing freestyle swimming has to float on his or her belly in the water, and then propel himself or herself in the water by using his or her arms by rotating them in a windmill like motion. At the same time, the swimmer has to kick his or her legs in a fluttering motion in order to move forward. However, the hardest part of this swimming stroke comes when the swimmer has to coordinate his or her breathing while performing the stroke. This is because the face of the swimmer remains in the water during most of the time that he or she is swimming Biomechanical Principles of Freestyle The key principle that governs freestyle swimming is the art of breathing while swimming. Having mastery while swimming using freestyle technique empowers a swimmer to become an expert in what he or she does. Some of the tips provided by professional swimmers to guide amateur swimmers in learning how best to control their breathing include the necessity for a swimmer to focus on his or her exhalation rather than his inhalation. Other tips include maintaining ones head still while not breathing, breathing into the trough, and not lifting one’s head while swimming, or over rotating ones head while swimming. Swimmers are advised not to breathe bilaterally. Once a swimmer learns how best to control his or her breathe, then he or she is on the right path to become a perfect freestyle swimmer. Apart from learning how to control ones breathe. It is also instrumental for a freestyle swimmer to learn how to coordinate the movement of both legs and hands in order to glide forwards speedily. 2) The Backstroke The backstroke is another style of swimming that a swimmer can use. It is a more technical swimming style than the crawl because it involves a person lying on his or her own back and then uses his or her own arms to propel the body and at the same time kicking the legs just as it is the case with the crawl. When a person is using the backstroke, he or she will have to conform to some of the simple guiding principles that will keep him or her afloat. The two simple principles are that an individual has to roll his or her body from side to side. This gives an allowance for the hands to stretch out maximally hence, they catch enough water. Secondly, the arms should be rotated using equal force to allow the swimmer to move in a straight direction, or otherwise he or she will move on one side if the force is not equal. Biomechanical Principles of Backstroke The key to being a professional backstroke swimmer is to balance once body parallel on the water surface. As such, the position of the head plays an imperative role in controlling how every movement takes place. Therefore, one needs to create a straight line from the head, all the way to the spine in a parallel position, whilst the nose points upwards towards the ceiling. The body position is very important in backstroke swimming technique as this facilitates other procedures. A swimmer also needs to master the backstroke kick. One needs t kick with relatively straight legs, and kick mostly from his or her hips while relaxing his or her ankles. This kicking movement creates a lot of water bubbles around the legs as water boils by the swimmer’s toes, thereby propelling him or her forwards. Body rotation also makes one a good swimmer especially after learning how to lie parallel on water and kicking. In order to perform a body roll, one needs to lift one shoulder from water while dropping the other under water and maintain a parallel line. Some of the drills used by learners to improve their expertise in backstroke swimming technique include the 7 by 7 drill, the blind drill, the one arm backstroke drill, the three stroke switch drill, and the titanic kick drill. 3) Breast stroke This is the most complex swimming style of all the three styles and as such, it is not advisable for a beginner to choose the style in swimming. This swimming technique involves alternative body bobs up to take breath and down for propulsion. When the swimmer bobs up, he or she pulls the arms through water as he or she picks up breath. On the other hand, when he or she bobs down, the swimmer kicks through water to propel himself or herself forward. As such, a swimmer has to alternate between arm pulling and leg kicking in order to glide forward speedily. This swimming style is used by veteran swimmers and is definitely more ornamental than the first two styles. Biomechanical Principles of Breaststroke In order to become a professional swimmer in breaststroke style, one has to learn how best to place his or her body in a prone position that will facilitate efficient gliding over the water. Once in a prone position, a swimmer then has to move his or her arms synchronously in order to execute short, half circular movements underwater. At the same time while moving the arms, the swimmer also has to move his or her legs in a similar synchronous manner in order to execute a whip kick. A good strategy that any swimmer can implement in order to improve his or her performance in the breaststroke swimming technique is by maintaining his or her head more in line with his or her trunk, or the rest of the body. As such, a swimmer should look more downwards towards the floor of the pool rather than forwards towards the end of the pool. Some of the drills used by learners to improve their expertise in breaststroke swimming technique include kick drills, arm drills, and timing drills. Critique on Freestyle Technique Freestyle swimming is my most preferred technique of swimming because it is easy to learn, and consequently, much easier to execute. Furthermore, the biomechanical aspects associated with freestyle swimming technique are easy to grasp and execute. The key to being a perfect swimmer in freestyle technique comes in the ability of a swimmer mastering the breathing technique while in water. However, in order to improve speed, I recommend that the swimmer kicks his or her legs much harder and faster, like is the case in back stroke kicking, as this would propel him or her to move faster in water and become a star swimmer. Additionally, such a swimmer must be able to coordinate both the hands, as well as the legs movements in a simultaneous motion that would facilitate faster movement in water, and guarantee speed and professionalism in freestyle swimming. Drills or Exercises to Improve Freestyle Swimming Drills and exercises enable an amateur swimmer to be an expert swimmer when performing a given technique of swimming. These drills work on the speed of the swimmer, and as such, propel him or her to move faster while under water. As such, some of the best drills that an amateur swimmer can practice in order to improve his or her speed include the thumb to thigh drill, the closed fist drill, the balance and rotation drill, and the touch and go drill, also known as the catch-up stroke drill. While practicing these drills, it is advisable for amateur swimmers to use fins in order to master each movement in the drill perfectly so that they can be able to execute each one of them appropriately while they are not on wearing these fins to gauge their improvement and mastery of the technique. Conclusion In conclusion, it is imperative that swimming is an art that needs training in order for one to master all the necessary techniques involved. As such, one can learn all the swimming techniques in order to be a pro swimmer, or concentrate and perfect his or her expertise in one of the swimming strokes suggested above. However, for leisure and recreational swimming, one is free to select any of the three swimming techniques and use it for his or her swimming sessions. References USA Swimming videos - http://www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=1891&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en American Swim Coaches Association - http://swimmingcoach.org "Journal of Swimming Research"? Swim Swam - http://www.swimswam.com US Masters Swimming - http://www.usms.org/articles/articlesearch.php Read More