# Freestyle Drills That Actually Fix Your Stroke (And How to Use Them)

> Nine freestyle drills, from catch-up and fingertip drag to sculling and head-up sighting: what each one fixes, how to do it, the common mistake, and how to fit drills into a session.

Source: https://swimtune.com/guides/freestyle-drills

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# Freestyle drills that actually fix your stroke

Most swimmers do drills the way people floss before a dentist appointment: a few lengths, no particular reason, then straight back to old habits. A drill only works when you know which fault it targets and you carry the feeling back into normal swimming.

Last updated 8 October 2026 · 11 min read

On this page

1. [Why most drill time is wasted](https://swimtune.com/guides/freestyle-drills#why)

2. [Nine drills and what they fix](https://swimtune.com/guides/freestyle-drills#drills)

3. [How to put drills into a session](https://swimtune.com/guides/freestyle-drills#session)

4. [A 30-minute technique session](https://swimtune.com/guides/freestyle-drills#sample)

5. [How to know a drill is working](https://swimtune.com/guides/freestyle-drills#working)

6. [Common questions](https://swimtune.com/guides/freestyle-drills#faq)

## Why most drill time is wasted

A drill is an exaggerated or isolated piece of the stroke that makes one fault impossible to ignore. It is useful only if you pick it for a specific fault, do it with full attention, and immediately swim normally with the same focus.

The usual failure is variety. A swimmer does catch-up, fist, sculling, single-arm and side kick all in one session, one length each, thinking about none of them, then swims a main set exactly as before. Nothing is wrong with any of those drills. The problem is that a drill is a question you ask your body, and it needs repeating across weeks before the answer shows up in your normal stroke.

So before choosing drills, choose a fault. The common ones in adult freestyle are predictable: legs and hips riding low, a lifted head when breathing, a short and rushed stroke, a recovery that swings wide, and a hand that slips through the water at the front instead of holding it. Every drill below targets at least one of these. If you are not sure which is yours, ask someone to film you from the side for one length: the fault is usually obvious within seconds.

The short version

One fault, one or two drills, a few weeks. Alternate a drill length with a normal swimming length so the feeling transfers, and judge progress by stroke count on a consistent set, not by how the drill feels.

## Nine drills and what they fix

Catch-up and single-arm fix timing and length; fingertip drag fixes the recovery; fist and sculling fix the catch; side kick, kick on side with fins and 6-kick switch fix balance and rotation; breathing-pattern drills fix breathing; head-up freestyle prepares you for sighting in open water.

| Drill | Main fault it targets | Good starting level |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Kick on side with fins** | Low hips, no balance on the side | Beginner |
| **Side kick / 6-kick switch** | Flat body, poor rotation, lifted head on the breath | Beginner to intermediate |
| **Catch-up** | Short, rushed stroke; crossing over on entry | Beginner |
| **Fingertip drag** | Wide, straight-arm or tense recovery | Beginner |
| **Single-arm freestyle** | Lopsided stroke, timing of rotation and breath | Intermediate |
| **Fist drill** | Pulling with the hand only, dropped elbow | Intermediate |
| **Sculling (front and mid)** | Slipping catch, no feel for the water | Intermediate |
| **3-3-3 / breathing patterns** | Uneven sides, breath-holding, one-sided breathing | Intermediate |
| **Tarzan / head-up freestyle** | Sighting in open water | Intermediate to advanced |

### 1. Kick on side with fins

- **What it fixes:** sinking hips and legs, and the feeling of being unstable whenever you rotate. Freestyle is swum largely on the side, and many swimmers have never learned to be comfortable there.

- **How to do it:** wearing short fins, lie on your side with the bottom arm extended in front and the top arm resting on your hip. Kick steadily from the hip. Your face looks at the bottom of the pool; rotate your head (not lift it) to breathe, then rotate back. Swap sides each length.

- **Common mistake:** lifting the head forward to breathe, which drops the hips straight away, or letting the extended arm sink deep or drift wide.

- **When to use it:** early on, for any swimmer whose legs drag. The fins provide enough speed to stay high, so you can learn the position before your kick is strong enough to hold it alone.

### 2. Side kick and 6-kick switch

- **What it fixes:** a flat body that does not rotate, which shortens the reach and makes breathing harder, and the head lift that pulls the hips down.

- **How to do it:** side kick is the drill above without fins, or with them if you still need them. 6-kick switch builds on it: six kicks on one side, then one full stroke to roll onto the other side, six kicks, stroke, and so on. Breathe during the kicks, not during the switch.

- **Common mistake:** rotating the shoulders but not the hips, so the body twists in the middle, or rushing the switch so it becomes a scramble rather than a smooth roll.

- **When to use it:** once kick on side with fins feels stable. It is one of the best drills for teaching that rotation comes from the hips and core, not from the arms.

### 3. Catch-up

- **What it fixes:** a short, rushed stroke where the hands chase each other like a windmill, and entries that cross the centre line.

- **How to do it:** swim freestyle, but one hand waits at full extension in front until the other hand arrives and touches it, then the waiting hand starts its pull. Keep the kick going throughout. A softer version, "three-quarter catch-up", starts the pull just before the hands meet and is closer to real timing.

- **Common mistake:** letting the waiting hand drop or sweep inwards while it waits, and stopping the kick, so the body slows and sinks during every pause.

- **When to use it:** for beginners and anyone whose stroke falls apart into a fast spin. Use short fins if you sink during the pause.

### 4. Fingertip drag

- **What it fixes:** a wide, straight-arm recovery and a tense shoulder during the part of the stroke that should be relaxed.

- **How to do it:** during the recovery, drag your fingertips lightly along the surface from the hip forward to the entry, with the elbow leading high and the hand close to the body. The forearm and hand hang relaxed from the elbow.

- **Common mistake:** leading with the hand instead of the elbow, or staying flat. Without rotation there is no room for a high elbow, and the drill becomes awkward for the shoulder.

- **When to use it:** when your recovery swings out to the side. Pair it with side kick if rotation is the underlying problem.

### 5. Single-arm freestyle

- **What it fixes:** a lopsided stroke, and poor timing between the pull, the rotation and the breath. It exposes which side is weaker very quickly.

- **How to do it:** swim with one arm while the other stays still. The easier version keeps the resting arm extended in front; the harder version keeps it by your side, which forces you to rotate to make room for the working arm. Breathe to whichever side keeps you smooth, and switch arms each length.

- **Common mistake:** staying flat and muscling the pull with the shoulder, rather than letting the body roll with each stroke.

- **When to use it:** once you can rotate comfortably. Fins help while learning the arm-by-side version.

### 6. Fist drill

- **What it fixes:** pulling with the hand alone and dropping the elbow at the front of the stroke. With a closed fist the hand provides almost no grip, so you have to use the forearm.

- **How to do it:** swim normal freestyle with closed fists for a length or half a length, then open your hands and swim normally. The open hand should suddenly feel like a paddle.

- **Common mistake:** spinning the arms faster to compensate for the lost grip, which teaches the opposite of what the drill is for. Keep the same rhythm and feel for the water on the forearm.

- **When to use it:** for intermediate swimmers with a reasonable body position whose stroke count stays high despite good effort.

### 7. Sculling: front and mid

- **What it fixes:** a catch that slips. Sculling builds the feel for holding water with the hand and forearm, which is the skill behind a strong pull.

- **How to do it:** face down, with a pull buoy or a gentle flutter kick. *Front scull:* arms extended in front about shoulder-width apart, fingertips angled slightly down, small in-and-out sweeps of the hands and forearms that move you slowly forward. *Mid scull:* the same sweeps with the elbows near the surface and the hands below them, forearms pointing down, roughly under your head and chest, which is the position of the catch itself. Breathe by lifting the head briefly or using a snorkel.

- **Common mistake:** big sweeps driven from the shoulder, or flat hands that push down instead of pressing the water. The movement is small, from the elbow and wrist, and you should feel pressure on the palm and forearm.

- **When to use it:** early in the session, in short reps of 15 to 25m. It is slow by design, so judge it by feel, not speed.

### 8. 3-3-3 and breathing-pattern drills

- **What it fixes:** one dominant side, holding your breath underwater, and only ever breathing to one side.

- **How to do it:** 3-3-3 is three strokes right arm only, three strokes left arm only, then three strokes of full freestyle, repeated down the length. For breathing patterns, swim lengths breathing every 3 strokes, then every 5, then every 3 again, exhaling steadily through the nose and mouth the whole time your face is in the water.

- **Common mistake:** holding the breath and then trying to exhale and inhale in the brief moment your mouth is clear, which leaves you gasping. Extending the pattern so far that you lift your head to grab air also defeats the point.

- **When to use it:** for swimmers who can breathe comfortably to one side and want both. Bilateral breathing is also very useful in [open water](https://swimtune.com/guides/open-water-swimming-training), where waves or sun may rule out your favourite side.

### 9. Tarzan and head-up freestyle

- **What it fixes:** nothing in your pool stroke, and that is fine. It prepares you to sight in open water, where you need to look forward without losing your rhythm.

- **How to do it:** full Tarzan is freestyle with the head held up and eyes forward the whole length, a slightly shorter and quicker stroke, and a strong kick to keep the hips from sinking. The more useful race version is a sighting drill: swim normally and every six to nine strokes lift just your eyes above the surface ("crocodile eyes") as one arm extends, look, then rotate to breathe as normal.

- **Common mistake:** lifting the whole head and chin to sight, which drops the legs, and doing long stretches of full Tarzan, which is tiring for the neck and lower back and does nothing for your normal stroke.

- **When to use it:** in the weeks before open water season or a [triathlon](https://swimtune.com/guides/triathlon-swim-training), as short 25s mixed into normal sets. A little goes a long way.

## How to put drills into a session

Do drills straight after the warm-up, while you are fresh, as short repeats with enough rest to think. As a rough guide, drills take about 10 to 20 percent of a normal session.

A few rules make that time count:

- **Early, not at the end.** Technique learned tired is technique learned badly. A drill block after a hard main set mostly rehearses fatigue.

- **Short reps.** 25m, sometimes 50m. A drill falls apart after a length or so, and a falling-apart drill is just a bad stroke.

- **Rest that lets you reset.** Typically 15 to 30 seconds. The rest is not for breath; it is to decide what you will focus on for the next length.

- **Drill, then swim.** Alternate a drill length with a normal swimming length holding the same focus. This is the step most people skip, and it is where transfer happens.

- **One or two drills per session.** Pick the drills for your current fault and stay with them for a few weeks. Variety is for keeping things fresh once a fault is fixed.

- **Carry one cue into the main set.** "Elbow high on recovery", "rotate from the hips", "exhale out". One cue, not five.

For full sessions with a drill block built in at each level, see [swim workouts by level](https://swimtune.com/guides/swim-workouts-by-level). Drills are one part of getting quicker; the other part is structured pace work, which [how to swim faster](https://swimtune.com/guides/how-to-swim-faster) covers.

## A sample 30-minute technique session

The session below is about 1,100m in a 25m pool, roughly 30 minutes for a swimmer around 2:00 per 100m including rest. It focuses on body position and the catch, and is drill-heavier than a normal session because technique is the whole point of the day.

### Technique session · 1,100m total

- Warm-up · 200m200m easy freestyle, breathing every 3 if comfortable.

- Balance · 150m6 × 25m, 20 seconds rest: 2 kick on side with fins (one each side), 2 side kick, 2 6-kick switch. Fins optional on the last four.

- Drill / swim · 200m8 × 25m, 20 seconds rest, alternating drill and swim: catch-up, swim, fingertip drag, swim, front scull, swim, fist drill, swim. On every swim length, keep the feeling from the drill before it.

- Transfer · 200m4 × 50m, 20 seconds rest: first 25m the drill that felt most useful today, second 25m normal freestyle. Count your strokes on the swim length.

- Apply · 300m3 × 100m at a steady, comfortable effort, 30 seconds rest. Count strokes on the second length of each 50 and try to hold the count without slowing down.

- Cool-down · 50m50m very easy, any stroke.

If you are short on time or newer

Cut the steady 100s to two and drop the fist drill and sculling until side kick and catch-up feel stable. Fewer drills done well beat more drills done once.

## How to know a drill is working

Count strokes per length on a repeatable set at a consistent effort. If your stroke count drops over a few weeks while your time holds or improves, the drill is transferring. If the count drops but you are slower, you are probably gliding.

How a drill feels is a poor guide. Drills often feel good and change nothing, or feel awkward for weeks before something clicks. Numbers are more honest, as long as you keep the conditions the same:

- **Stroke count.** Pick a set such as 4 × 50m at a steady effort you could hold for 400m, on generous rest. Count strokes on the second length of each 50, since the first includes a push-off from a standing start. Repeat it every couple of weeks.

- **Time on the same set.** Stroke count only means something next to speed. Fewer strokes at the same time is a real improvement; fewer strokes at a slower time is usually a longer glide.

- **SWOLF trend.** SWOLF combines the two (time plus strokes per length), so a falling SWOLF on the same set at the same effort is a good sign. Compare it only against yourself and at consistent effort; the [SWOLF guide](https://swimtune.com/guides/what-is-swolf) explains why.

- **Under fatigue.** The final test is whether the change survives the back half of a main set. If your count climbs sharply as you tire, the drill has not finished its job yet.

A watch that logs every length takes the counting off your hands. **SwimTune** records stroke count and SWOLF per length from your Apple Watch for free, so you can compare the same set across weeks, and its guided drill library includes catch-up, fingertip drag, sculling and fist drill with a short description of each.

## Common questions

### What is the best freestyle drill?

There is no single best drill, only the best drill for your biggest fault. If your hips and legs ride low, start with side kick. If your stroke is rushed and short, catch-up. If your recovery swings wide, fingertip drag. If you slip at the front of the stroke, sculling and fist drill. Pick the drill that targets the one thing most holding you back and stay with it for a few weeks rather than rotating through ten.

### How much of a swim session should be drills?

As a rough guide, 10 to 20 percent of a normal session, placed after the warm-up while you are fresh. A dedicated technique session can go higher. Swim drills as short repeats, usually 25m or 50m, with enough rest that every length gets your full attention, and follow each drill length with a length of normal swimming so the feeling carries over.

### Should I use fins for drills?

For some drills, yes. Short fins add enough speed to keep your body high, which makes balance drills like side kick and 6-kick switch, and slow drills like catch-up and single-arm, learnable for swimmers whose kick is weak. The aim is to need them less over time: once a drill feels controlled with fins, try it without.

### Why do drills not seem to change my normal swimming?

Usually because the drill never gets connected to full stroke. Doing a block of drills and then swimming a main set with your attention elsewhere leaves the new movement trapped in the drill. Alternate drill and swim lengths, keep the same single focus on the swim length, and carry one cue into the main set. Doing too many different drills in one session has the same effect.

### How long does it take for a drill to fix my stroke?

Typically weeks, not sessions. A change usually feels strange for the first few sessions, then becomes something you can do when you think about it, and only later becomes what you do when you are tired. Working on one fault for three to six weeks, two or three sessions a week, and checking stroke count on a consistent set is a realistic way to judge it.

## Drills, built into the plan

SwimTune's guided drill library covers catch-up, fingertip drag, sculling, fist drill and more, and its plans place technique work inside your sessions instead of leaving it to chance. Stroke count and SWOLF for every length are tracked free.

[Download on the App Store](https://swimtune.com/go/app)

## Keep reading

[ What is SWOLF? Swim efficiency in one number, what a good score is, and why lower is not always better. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/what-is-swolf) [ How to swim faster Where speed actually comes from: technique first, then structured pace work. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/how-to-swim-faster) [ Swim workouts by level Complete sessions for beginner, intermediate and advanced swimmers. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/swim-workouts-by-level) [ Open water training Sighting, bilateral breathing and building to event distance outside the pool. ](https://swimtune.com/guides/open-water-swimming-training)