The standard approach for learning (or teaching) freestyle is to use a high-elbow recovery. We've already covered the most typical drill for learning a high-elbow recovery, fingertip drag, but sometimes that's still not enough. Just as with most teaching, to really start the process, you may have to dig a little deeper... literally.

Learning to get the most out of every underwater pull can make the difference between winning and losing any race that has breaststroke in it. One of the oldest stand by drills to help with this, is the Double Underwater Pull.

While we've focused on single-arm freestyle before, we gave only one side of the story. Since freestyle is the mainstay of swim training, here are three single-arm variations to help keep things interesting.

Turns can make or break any race, so having REALLY fast turns is extremely important to competitive swimmers. Some swimmers, however, focus so much on spinning around QUICKLY, that they sometimes place their feet too high -- or too low -- on the wall.

A consistent kick is a skill most freestylers desire; however, most of us weren't born with it. Learning how to incorporate the ultimate kick, a 6-beat kick, into your swimming initially seems like a very daunting task. The 1-2-3 Drill can help you learn this skill.

Way back in the mid 1970s, the University of Tennessee was one of the powerhouses of NCAA swimming. They were famous all over the world for their ability to start, and turn.

Swim training involves hard work, but it can't be super intense all the time. There needs to be time set aside for swimmers to search, and figure out their strokes. But too much time spent relaxing isn't good either.

Reaching your potential in swimming means working on your distance per stroke... but increasing your cadence is also extremely important. If you have beautiful long strokes but no turnover, you're just going to look pretty... when you lose.

Here's a fun drill that tests the upper limit of your flutter kick...and the lower limit of your Tempo Trainer.

To honor our newly released DVD, Go Swim Backstroke with Margaret Hoelzer, we're going to focus on the underwater dolphin in backstroke. This is a quick look at something Margaret discusses on her DVD... what size should your dolphin kick be?

The Aggressive Wave Backstroke Drill uses exaggeration to teach correct hand position, head position, shoulder roll, hip rotation, recovery momentum, continuous kick, stroke synergy and position in the water.

In all strokes, counting strokes is an effective way to monitor your stroke efficiency. Plus, when you're training a long set and your mind begins to drift, stroke counting can help you stay mentally involved.

Every swimmer wants to have super-fast freestyle flip turns, and wants to execute them with vigorous authority. Sometimes, however, this desire creates more problems than it solves.

A couple weeks ago, I was playing around with my camera in the diving well, and blew out a couple bubble rings. I posted the short clip on Facebook only to be asked a few times... "How did you do that?" Since I'm on the road this week, I figured we could all use a little break, and I'd have some real masters demonstrate.

During the breaststroke underwater pullout, the arms pull down during the power phase, and then recover back UP to start the first stroke. This week's drill will help you isolate and work on this move -- the arm recovery after the breaststroke pulldown.