August 19, 2025 - How to Improve Freestyle Distance per Cycle - Part 2
How to Improve Freestyle Distance Per Cycle – Part 2
To improve your Distance Per Cycle (DPC), you have choices. You can pull harder, kick harder, and expend more energy. Or…you can find clever ways to move through the water with less resistance. This week we explore EVEN MORE ways to reduce drag increase your efficiency and DPC.
Monday
James Guy: Freestyle Full Body
UK Olympian James Guy demonstrates multiple ways to move through the water with less resistance: low head, high hips, full extension, steady head, horizontal bodyline.
https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2579-freestyle-full-body
Tuesday
Free Drill: High Hips
Diving a little deeper into how to swim with high hips, one of the key ways to improve DPC.
https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1066-freestyle-high-hips
Wednesday
Building a Balanced Breath: Step 1
Here’s one of the best drills we know for teaching how to slip through water with less effort. Steady head, stable and straight arm on extension are key.
https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2369-step-1-building-a-balanced-breath
Thursday
Free Drill: Sculling Hand
Glenn demonstrates a contrast drill for teaching awareness and control of what the hands are doing on extension.
https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/3268-freestyle-sculling-hand
Friday
Freestyle Drill: Building a Longer Stroke
One way to improve DPC is to use a FINIS Tempo Trainer, gradually increasing the time between “beeps” and hand hits. If you don’t have a Tempo Trainer, counting strokes can help achieve the same goal. You can simply “slow down your internal metronome.”
https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1710-freestyle-building-a-longer-stroke
Saturday
Free Drill: Timing the Hands and Hips
Pulling harder or kicking harder can improve DPC, but at a high cost. Learn how to connect the hands and the hips through the core, allowing you to move through the water with more ease and efficiency.
https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1924-freestyle-eval-timing-the-hands-and-hips
Sunday
Free Drill: Reduced Stroke 100s
Here’s one of our favorite sets for building awareness of all the tools you can use to reduce stroke count. Yes, you can take more dolphins off each wall. You can kick harder, pull harder, work harder. But this short set will make you aware of other tools: extension, head position, connection of hand and hip.
https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1881-freestyle-reduced-stroke-100s
-----------------------------------
Freestyle Swimming Technique Optimization
Glenn discusses how to increase distance per cycle in freestyle swimming by maintaining momentum during recovery and ensuring proper body positioning. He highlights James's technique, noting how his lead hand stays parallel to the water surface during breathing, his early head rotation that begins during the catch position, and his minimal time spent with his head off-center. Glenn also explains the importance of timing, particularly the "same side connection" where the left foot kicks as the left hand catches, and the "crossbody connection" where the right leg comes down as the left hand enters, creating an efficient swimming machine with purposeful movements.
Efficient Swimming Technique Fundamentals
Glenn discusses the importance of efficiency and balance in swimming technique, highlighting how Olympic swimmers maintain a clean line through the water. He focuses on head position during breathing, noting that the head should rotate rather than pivot, and return to center before the hand enters the water. Glenn also emphasizes the value of letting the legs float after completing a kick to conserve energy, especially important for triathletes. He compares the relaxed yet purposeful hand position of elite swimmers to Michelangelo's painting in the Sistine Chapel, appreciating the beauty in the soft, rippling fingers that maintain purpose without force.
Swimming Technique Analysis at Different Speeds
Glenn analyzes a swimmer's technique, pointing out how the swimmer maintains proper form with an early catch and good body rotation when swimming slowly, but adjusts his technique at higher speeds. He explains that as tempo increases, the hands get further apart while maintaining the same basic actions, and contrary to what might be expected, the head position actually gets lower in the water at higher speeds because water flows past more quickly. Glenn emphasizes the importance of mastering fundamentals like balance, rotation, and length before adding power, noting how the swimmer demonstrates a "loping action" and becomes completely submerged underwater during freestyle at faster speeds.
Swimming Technique and Video Analysis
Glenn explains how separating fingers slightly while swimming creates turbulence between them, increasing the effective surface area and allowing for better propulsion through the water. He notes that while hands start relaxed, they typically tighten during intense swimming. Glenn then discusses a video showing a normal swimmer's body position, emphasizing the importance of hip positioning. He mentions that he has started adding short quizzes to his daily swimming videos, which are receiving about 50 responses per day.
Freestyle Swimming Body Position Technique
Glenn discusses the importance of proper body position in freestyle swimming, emphasizing that swimmers should keep their hips at the surface of the water without arching or pushing their butt up artificially. He explains a five-step process for teaching freestyle, with step one being learning the correct starting position where the hand is directly forward and parallel to the water surface, the body is rotated, and the head is in a neutral position. Glenn emphasizes that coaches should praise swimmers when they execute what's being asked of them, even if other aspects of their technique still need improvement.
Efficient Swimming Breathing Technique
Glenn discusses techniques to increase distance per cycle in swimming by eliminating purposeful balance during breathing. He explains that swimmers often develop an out-sweep habit where they extend their arm to the side when breathing, seeking support and power. Glenn demonstrates a corrective drill where the hand goes directly down without extension or gliding, helping swimmers unlearn the bracing habit. He emphasizes working with water momentum rather than forcing power, showing contrast drills where swimmers alternate between the incorrect out-sweep and the preferred straight-down motion. Glenn notes that proper head position is crucial, with the head returning to center before the hand enters the water.
Tempo Adjustment for Swimming Technique
Glenn explains the concept of gradually changing a swimmer's tempo over time to improve their technique. He recommends finding a swimmer's natural tempo, then slowing it down by 2/100ths of a second each week while maintaining the same speed, which teaches skills that last a lifetime. Alex shares his developmental progression plan for teaching distance per cycle to age group swimmers, emphasizing that it takes a 27-week structured approach to properly develop this skill. Both coaches stress the importance of patience and long-term planning when teaching fundamental swimming techniques.
