Start to Finish Freestyle

with Jack Bauerle, University of Georgia Head men's and women's swim coach;
4x NCAA Women's champion, 7x SEC Women's champion,
5x NCAA coach of the year, 12xSEC coach of the year;
Team USA Women's Head Coach 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Jack Bauerle describes the ideal freestyle technique and shows you simple drills that can improve stroke efficiency. By analyzing the underwater views of All-American Chelsea Nauta, you will get a sense of what each drill should feel like for your swimmers. Bauerle breaks down the freestyle from the start to the finish and shows several common mistakes with tips on how to correct them.

Coach Bauerle begins this freestyle presentation with a full stroke overview that demonstrates all of the components of great freestyle. Baurele believes that attaining an ideal body position begins with establishing an ideal head position. Upon establishing a proper head position, body roll is added along with the kick. He presents a six-drill progression that establishes ideal head and body positioning, body rotation with kicking, and single arm freestyle that works on the timing of the stroke along with techniques for effective breathing in the stroke cycle.

Moving to the Recovery to Entry segment, Baurele reviews his preferred high elbow recovery style and entry into the water that connects to the catch. With the catch established, Baurele moves to the Push Drill that emphasizes the proper arm pull movement and finish for the underwater stroke cycle. Bauerle offers tips for executing an "elbow lead" recovery set up that he feels is imperative for driving the stroke. A full stroke review pulls together all aspects of the stroke.

To complete the entire stroke, Bauerle reviews:

• The basics of the forward start, including block set up for foot and hand positioning and block stability. He then details the technical aspects of the start entry and breakout that includes a dolphin kick to flutter kick transition connected to an effective breakout stroke.
• The ingredients for a high speed turn that emphasizes executing a tight spin to get the feet over quickly for an effective and powerful turn through the push off and breakout.
• How to execute a proper finish.
• Strategies for all freestyle races for both long course and short course distances.

Also featured is a Common Errors segment where Baurele demonstrates and corrects six of the most common freestyle errors.

This presentation offers comprehensive instruction for successful freestyle swimming from one of the country's most successful freestyle coaches; Jack Bauerle.

62 minutes. 2012.