Crawl Swimming - Learn to swim crawl step by step

Mastering crawl as a swimming style actually just requires you to follow these 9 easy and basic steps – shown with underwater videos. With them, you can go from barely getting out of the water to mastering the crawl technique in a few weeks. Read along and get my tips from a career as an elite swimmer over 10 years.

Crawl basically consists of four things: A leg kick, breathing, a rotation and an arm grab. All these four elements must be combined to achieve the natural position and propulsion in the water with Online Lifeguard Training. I will go over with you exactly how you achieve this in 9 concrete steps below:

1. First you need to have an idea of ​​what the crawl looks like

Quite simply, crawl is one of four swimming styles - and actually the one you swim the fastest in. As written above, the style is about combining arms, legs, breathing and a rotation in the body.

Here the legs kick naturally and automatically behind, the arms are alternately guided through above and below the water all the while the body rotates when the arms change. Meanwhile, the breathing is done to the side.

But at least now you know what it's all about - and how you should optimally swim crawl

2. Start by learning to float

In order to achieve the natural position high above the water surface for both legs, hips and head, the first thing you need to master is just being able to lie up there on the surface.

This is called "flowing".

A good way to practice this is by pushing off the edge with your feet and then floating through the water with your arms and hands together and extended in front of your head. You do this all the while looking down towards the bottom.

If you can only lie there for 3 seconds without your legs starting to sink towards the bottom, then there is a bit to work on. If, on the other hand, you can lie there for 10 seconds, then you're in really good shape.

3. Get started with the leg kick

The first thing I would go into once you get the hang of floating is definitely the leg kick. Because without a natural leg kick, your legs sink towards the bottom with the speed of light, and you can't move forward from that.

Therefore, you should start by grabbing a swimming plate (alternatively an aqua worm to lie under your armpits) and hold it outstretched in front of you with your arms. Then you start kicking your legs back and forth.

Quite naturally, the legs will move upwards.

4. The leg kick must come from the hip - and not be too big

When many people do the above, they do what is called "bicycle leg". That is, where you bend your knee when you kick.

That is the worst mistake you can make.

Instead, the knee should be as good as naturally stretched, while the leg kick itself should instead come from the hip, which is moved back and forth.

In this way, the most powerful leg kick is achieved while avoiding injuries and knee problems after a short time.

5. Combine leg kicks and breathing

In order to get a good start on breathing correctly in crawl swimming, you start with a swimming plate that you place in front of you.

The difference now is that instead of having two hands on top of the plate, you leave one arm down by the side. It doesn't matter which one it is - you choose the one that is most natural for you.

After this, you take off from the edge, get your legs moving, or otherwise turn your head up to the side where the arm hangs down from the body, draw in air and exhale underwater.

Here the important detail is that you turn your head rather than lift your head.

Because when you lift your head forward, you quite naturally end up in the wrong position in the water, where your upper body lifts, while your legs end up on the bottom. You won't be able to swim strong from that.

This breathing to the side then also affects that you will rotate the upper body, which is what you should.

6. Then the crawl arm roof must be put on

Here it gets a little more difficult. For now, you must both keep up the leg kick, ensure a breath to the side and maintain the rotation in the upper body - and now put the arms on.

The way it happens in crawl is that the arms rotate like two mill wheels on opposite sides of the body in turn.

You put your arms in front of you, drive your arm under the water and press this down towards your often and then bring your hand back forward in front of your head above the water. This happens alternately for the arms.

In relation to breathing, you draw air in when the arm on the breathing training side is above the water and when it is below, you exhale the air under the water. This means you always have a breathing arm and an exhaling arm.