Learning the American Crawl
Begin by working on the leg kick which for the American Crawl is called the” flutter kick” because the feet in this kick appear to flutter by one another through the water. In the American Crawl the flutter kick provides the bulk of the propelling force and so should be learned first and practiced regularly to build endurance and strength. This kick can be learned and practiced independently from the full stroke by lying on your stomach, braced by placing your hands on the bottom with legs fully extended on a straight line back from the hip. The flutter kick requires the swimmer to drive the legs separately in alternating kicks from the surface of the water to about a foot or more below the water’s surface. Kicking should be done rhythmically and legs should pass each other moving in opposite directions. When you kick, your heels should barely break the surface of the water while your knees and ankles should be relaxed but not bent. Continue practicing your kick in shallow water or bracketed to a dock or at pool side until you feel comfortable enough to try it in slightly deeper water.
An easy way to practice the flutter kick and simulate its use in the full American Crawl stroke is to use a kick board or other flotation device. Holding the device directly in front of you, with your arms fully extended and your body your body in a prone glide position, begin to kick rhythmically. Holding the board or flotation device with arms out straight in front of you will help maintain proper body position while you execute the kick. Remember when practicing , for safety sake, begin your practice in chest deep water and always head toward shallow water. Never kick from shallow water into deep.
IF you wish to practice the kick but have no flotation device simply assume a prone glide with face in the water and begin your kick. Lift your head periodically to the front or side to breath. Obviously this is a more demanding routine but it will accomplish the same goal of allowing you to practice and experience the kick in open water and in the appropriate body position.
While many novice or untrained swimmers will try to swim a version of the American Crawl by propelling themselves almost totally with the power of their arms, they make the mistake of directing all their energy to their upper body requiring their arms and shoulders to lift and move the much heavier legs which they counter productively allow to drag almost as dead weight. In the American Crawl stroke developing a strong kick is essential.
The second piece of the crawl stroke is learning the correct movement of the arms. As the name implies the arm motion replicates the hand over hand motion a baby uses when learning to crawl alternating the extension of one arm after the other and thereby producing forward movement. To put this basic concept into action in learning the American Crawl you may first practice on dry land. Beginning with both hands by your side, slowly bend one elbow and draw the related hand slowly up the side of your body until the hand reaches the armpit. Next reach the hand straight forward fully extending the arm until it reaches out straight in front from the shoulder. Finally pull the arm down straight through the air until it is once again by your side. Try the stroke independently with each arm then work them together. A cadence you can use with each arm is the instruction BEND, REACH, PULL. Once you have practiced each arm separately, practice using them alternately. In this sequence as the right hand reaches forward, you should begin to draw the left hand up, as the right hand pulls down the left hand extends forward, as the right elbow bends and the right hand draws up, the left hand should pull through the air. Now try the same stroke standing in chest deep water. When comfortable with the alternating bend, reach and pull you should try the same stroke in the swimming position with face in the water. Begin with a front glide and then allow the arm stroke to begin letting your feet simply trail behind so that full concentration can be given to the arm stroke.
The third and perhaps most difficult element of learning the American Crawl stroke is to learn when and how to breath. Because the stroke is use to cover distance with speed and endurance it is essential to learn how to manage your air exchange in a way that enhances your stroke. As with the kick ,breathing drills can be practiced in shallow water or at pool or dockside. Start by turning your head to the side and laying your ear and cheek in the water. Take a breath of air and the roll your face, eyes, nose and mouth into the water. Gently but fully blow out or exhale the air you have inhaled. Roll your head back to the side, take another breath and rolling your face back in the water exhale once again.
An easy way to control the rhythm of your breathing is to use a simple six count. In your mind count one-two-three as you take a breath and then four-five-six as you blow it out . Do not hurry your breathing and make sure to fully exhale when you role your face into the water. Failure to discharge all your air will leave you trying to exhale and inhale at the same time when you turn your head to the side.
With all three elements – kick, arm stroke and breathing – mastered all that is left to do is coordinate the three. Again using the count of six begin to work on your coordination by working first with just arms and legs without adding breathing to the cycle. Put the two together by matching three kicks to the movement of each arm stroke. One-two-three kicks while one arm goes through a full stroke, four-five-six kicks while the second arm goes through a full stroke. As you complete the count to six both arms should have fully rotated. Always practice swimming from deeper to more shallow water as the crawl stroke even without the breathing can take you a good distance in a very short amount of time.
Next try coordinating the the leg kick with the breathing. Again using a flotation device practice kicking and breathing rhythmically together with arms stationary holding onto the device or simply lying on the surface. On the count of one-two-three roll your head to the side and take a breath while executing three kicks. Then on the count of four-five-six roll your face back into the water and exhale fully while kicking three more times. Repeat this drill regularly to improve the strength of your kick and to feel a sense of rhythm in your stroke.
Easiest to co-ordinate probably is the arm stroke and the breathing. Count one-two -three as you roll your head to the side. Simultaneously you should be lifting your elbow on the breathing side while fully extending your arm across the top of the water on the non-breathing side. As you count four-five-six roll your head into the water and exhale while you complete the rotation of your arm stroke.
Once coordinated, the American Crawl stroke is an extremely swift and powerful tool that can take you to safety quickly. But it can also take you quickly into deep water, so make certain to swim the crawl parallel to the shore and unless swimming guided by someone in a oat do not swim directly out across large expanses of water. Learn to judge your endurance and of course never swim alone. And of course never swim into deep water unless you know how to tread water and to float. As exhilarating as the crawl stroke may feel and as much as it empowers the swimmer always swim with the basic concept of safety first firmly in mind.
