Lessons

Browse through our thousands of Lessons to gain a deeper understanding of swimming. Use our search bar located above or, if you're new to the site, use the Guided View to help narrow down the Lessons presented to you. If you use the Guided View, you’ll also be able to add your Expertise Level as an additional filter.

Select Category

Designate Expertise

Select Fine Point

Feb 25, 2025 - Tempo: The 1st Pillar of Teaching Better Swimming

The key to long-term improvement as a swimmer is increasing distance per cycle while maintaining the same tempo and breakout distance. This combination of skills ensures that improvements come from better swimming technique rather than just relying on a strong push-off, a bigger kick, or a faster stroke rate. This week, we look at one part of the equation: tempo. Tempo is measured as a swimmer’s time to complete one full stroke cycle (defined by two “hand hits” in freestyle and backstroke). Come join the discussion – and bring your FINIS Tempo Trainer! Monday Breast Drill: Tempo Trainer Kick on Your Back One of the easiest ways to get comfortable with a FINIS Tempo Trainer (TT) is to wear it while doing breaststroke kick on your back. You’ll quickly understand what happens when you play with the rate of your kick. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1062-breaststroke-tempo-trainer-kick-on-your-back Tuesday Free Drill: Freestyle – Building a Longer Stroke Watch Glenn introduce a young swimmer to the idea of stroke rate by using a FINIS Tempo Trainer. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1710-freestyle-building-a-longer-stroke Wednesday Free Drill: Freestyle/Backstroke – Tempo Trainer Kick We love this kick set, performed with the Tempo Trainer at a crazy-fast rate, to help swimmers focus on the tempo of their flutter kick. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1903-freestyle-backstroke-tempo-trainer-kick Thursday Breast Drill: Endless Pool Tempo Variations To fully understand TEMPO and its effect on overall speed, swimmers need to learn how to maintain their speed while reducing rate, i.e., taking longer strokes. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1458-endless-pool-tempo-variations Friday Glenn EP: Freestyle Rate What can you learn with 40 arm strokes and a FINIS Tempo Trainer? In the words of Glenn Mills: “It’s hard to go fast at a slower rate.” https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2840-freestyle-rate Saturday Breast Drill: Brendan McHugh – McHugh Rate Secret to speed in breaststroke: Learn to find your breaststroke LINE on every single stroke…then train your body to find your LINE more quickly. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2047-breaststroke-mchugh-rate Sunday Sarah Katsoulis: 50 Breaststroke Here’s Aussie Olympian Sarah Katsoulis swimming an easy 50 breast in 38.2 with 6 strokes per length. Notice how she reaches full extension (finds her LINE) on every stroke. Then check out how video 4 in her video series, where she still finds her LINE when swimming 34.4 with 6 strokes per length. This control of rate and technique is true mastery. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1823-sarah-katsoulis-50-breaststroke-1

Go Swim Freestyle.

For the final section of the video, we feel there’s no better way to learn than just to watch Scott swim. Try to pick out the things we focused on. Are his hands and arms relaxed on the recovery? Is the hand entry clean, with an early catch that he never lets go? How well does he hide the breath? Does he have full-body rotation and a narrow, consistent kick? And does he send all his energy forward? Try to find the things Scott does…that every swimmer can do. And watch how he searches at slow speed… …for the things he wants to have in his stroke when he goes fast. Swimming is all about the search for speed. And as every great swimmer will tell you: Never stop exploring. Use every practice to find the techniques that work best for you.

Sept. 17, 2024 - STAR Meets

How to Prepare Swimmers for a STAR Meet Imagine: Hosting a 3-hour swim meet where the focus is not on TIMES, but on how well swimmers execute such things as Strategy, Technique, Attitude, and Racing for place rather than for time. This week we explain how to host your own STAR Meet and how to prepare your swimmers to succeed at such a meet. Monday Denniston Drills: Streamline Pushoff It all starts with the pushoff and streamline. Every length. Every time. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/173-streamline-pushoff 0400 - the shape 0971 - hitting the surface 1653 the shape 1936 hitting the surface 2131 the glide 2890 the shape 3525 getting parallel 3892 reaching the surface 4275 the glide 10044 better 10628 shallow or push 11086 Beautiful Tuesday Bruno Fratus: Start-Underwater Dolphins Imagine a meet where swimmers are rewarded for being consistent with the number of dolphins they take off every wall. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2429-start-underwater-dolphins 0414 how many dolphins 0992 Setting up the line 1622 the streamline 2397 getting horizontal 2869 over practicing 4606 shallower at race pace 5556 over practicing 10726 three at race 11597 initial kick to level 11906 three to break out 13024 over practicing 13213 three to break out 14037 shoulder must clear the surface on recovery 14453 driving the head forward 14786 look how low the breakout is 15366 throwing the arm into the recovery Wednesday All Strokes: Stroke Count Stroke counting should be automatic for every swimmer and for all four strokes. But a STAR Meet pushes swimmers a little farther: to know and achieve their ideal stroke count for a particular distance and event. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2321-all-strokes-stroke-count 0711 Head lift on breaststroke 2576 try to make the breakout point consistent 3984 Count the dolphins on freestyle 5535 maintain consistency on the dolphins various strokes 10975 Count the dolphins on butterfly 12567 vary the dolphin kicks to change the stroke count 13700 Count the dolphin kicks on backstroke 15442 vary the dolphin kicks to change the stroke count Thursday Free Drill: First Breath Second Arm One thing you can evaluate at a STAR Meet is whether a swimmer breathes immediately after the breakout – or has the discipline to breathe on the second or third stroke. Here’s how to train for a better breakout. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1483-freestyle-first-breath 0992 what coaches want 2072 what coaches get 3467 a good compromise 4267 Poor breakout 10481 slightly better 12271 a good compromise first stroke of second arm 21621 first stroke of second arm Friday Dominik Meichtry: Smooth Freestyle Focus on Flutter Kick Swimmers might have a 2-beat, 4-beat, or 6-beat kick. At a STAR Meet, it’s all about having a steady, consistent kick. Here’s what that looks like. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1142-smooth-freestyle-focus-on-flutter-kick The whole video Constant kick Saturday Joao de Lucca: Head Position At a STAR Meet, you can challenge each swimmer not to have a best time, but to have the most stable head position in their heat. Here’s how to train for that. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2170-head-position 0283 low head position 0743 how much of the head is showing 1709 Hidden breath 2752 Head down 2953 Head completely underwater 3390 precision 3851 the image Sunday All Strokes: Wax On…Wax Off At a STAR Meet, you can reward swimmers for holding a certain stroke count per length. Here’s a short set that will prepare swimmers for this kind of challenge. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1878-wax-on-wax-off-set 1561 nine strokes 12.5 seconds 3016 10 strokes 13.3 seconds 4583 11 strokes 12.5 seconds 10008 12 strokes 11.7 seconds 10486 swim a little easy 11053 start at the end 12193 12 strokes 11.3 seconds 13531 11 strokes 11.7 seconds 14983 10 strokes 11.3 seconds 20425 nine strokes 11.5 seconds

Sept. 10, 2024 - Teaching While Training

Teaching While Training At the start of a new season, coaches can face a dilemma: How much time should I spend teaching and how much time training? What’s the right balance? We like to err on the side of teaching, but realize that most coaches feel the need to introduce yardage. This week we look at ways to teach WHILE training. After all, teaching doesn’t have to mean drilling. Teaching can take the form of thinking intently about ONE focus point while you swim. This week we look at freestyle focus points to think about while swimming. Monday Free Drill: One Goggle Breath For developing swimmers, a standard for detecting a balanced body and proper positioning, is to look for one goggle showing during the breath. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2079-freestyle-one-goggle freestyle freestylebreathing swimming swimmingtechnique 0351 - Single goggle breath 0649 - lead hand extension 0960 - Crown of the Head 1015 - hips 1216 - what the breath looks like from the other side 1341 - hips 1726 - hand exit 2255 - hand appears to cross 2287 - extends directly forward - slicing 2300 - first breath opportunity 2353 - extension 2381 - catch What else will we be talking about? 2703 - Hips 2831 - Disappear 2925 - Extension 2958 - Catch 3033 - Catch 3084 - Sliced Hand Exit 3153 - Sliced Hand Exit 3172 - Recovery 4123 - slight uphill 4649 - How good you have to look above to look this good under Tuesday Free Drill: High Hips Having the hips ride high in the water is something swimmers can think about while they swim or pull. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1066-freestyle-high-hips freestyle freestylebreathing swimming swimmingtechnique 0428 - space between the surface and the hip 0485 - hips falling 0495 - kick is used to lift the hips 0672 - hips about to fall 0982 - space between surface and the hip 1219 - bodyline falling 1363 - bodyline falling 1452 - head position - coming to the wall 1620 - catch 1647 - head position 1721 - hips 1825 - constant kick 2502 - maintain connection with hips and surface 5047 - maintain connection Wednesday Free Drill: Disappear Behind Your Hand Teach your swimmers how to slip through the water with more efficiency and speed. Have them think about disappearing or “hiding” behind the hand in freestyle. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1869-freestyle-disappear-behind-your-hand freestyle freestylebreathing swimming swimmingtechnique 0372 - straight lines 0472 - straight lines 1710 - longer arms - strength and hand speed 2250 - longer arms 2403 - hand slice exit 2891 - hand slice extension 3072 - slice to catch - missing or building an efficient open water stroke? 4128 - between the line 4600 - beautiful Thursday Reach Full Extension Reaching full extension in freestyle is a necessary foundation for swimmers at every level. It makes a great focus point during any freestyle set, and it’s easy for coach to SEE whether all swimmers are “getting it.” https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1923-freestyle-reach-full-extension freestyle freestylebreathing swimming swimmingtechnique 0643 - extension 0791 - extension 0914 - inner elbow extension 3049 - sprinter 3409 - extension 3567 - extension during breath 4199 - holding the breath a long time but still connected 5206 - extension 5925 - use lines on the side of the pool 10293 - parallel to the surface 10660 - extend in the depth the shoulder has rotated Friday Free Drill: Practice the Catch Here’s a great focus point for when swimmers are going slow and easy during warmup or warmdown. Give them a powerful visual of what a high-elbow catch looks like. GoSwim videos of Kara Lynn Joyce can help! https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1909-freestyle-practice-the-catch freestyle freestylebreathing swimming swimmingtechnique 0735 - catch 1259 - Position 11 1372 - Catch 1755 - Catch 2646 - Position 11 over mirrors 3575 - catch 4949 - drive the hand forward 5317 - drive the hand forward 5685 - upper arm does not move initially 10174 - right arm is one unit 10476 - left arm pivots into the catch 10975 - elbow close to surface - flat body 11446 - not as close on this one 12183 - use fins to isolate the hands 13964 - improving just a bit Saturday Free Drill: Sliced Hand Exit Thinking about a sliced hand exit will help swimmers push the hand all the way through to the finish of the stroke. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1497-freestyle-sliced-hand-exit freestyle freestylebreathing swimming swimmingtechnique 0551 - slice on exit 0770 - slide on exit 1202 - brush the thigh 1720 - hand still pushing back 1750 - releasing to the recovery 2267 - releasing to the recovery 2803 - hand still pushing back 2956 - releasing to the recovery 3506 - brushing the thigh 4840 - releasing the hand 5404 - rotating to the slice Sunday Free Drill: Vary Your Recovery Swimming with varied types of recovery can help your swimmers avoid repetitive-use injuries. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1468-freestyle-vary-your-recovery freestyle freestylebreathing swimming swimmingtechnique 1812 - fingertip drag 2248 - relaxed recovery 2757 - straight arm recovery 3994 - fingertip drag 4456 - release the fingers from the surface 4899 - straight arm 10012 - straight arm 10215 - fingertip drag

Breaststroke - Head-on video - Roque

Short clip shot from under Roque. This video best illustrates the pull pattern and hand speed into the recovery.

Go Swim Breaststroke - Brendan

For the final section of the video, Brendan will just swim…and you can watch how all the parts come together to create speed. Try to pick out the things we focused on. Does he have streamline timing? Does he connect his hands, head, and hips as he goes up to air? Do his hands, head, and hips connect as he surges forward into streamline? Are his hands fast…and do they set the rhythm for his stroke? How well does he hide his kick? And is he sending everything forward by keeping his chest low and his hips high? In these next few clips, Brendan will start slow and build to race pace. See if the key elements are there – no matter how slow or how fast Brendan swims. As you add these focus points to your own swimming, remember to work on just one thing at a time. Start slowly, don’t be afraid to experiment, and remember that breaststroke is all about timing. As Brendan would tell you: Always swim with focus, and never give up searching for the techniques that will make you faster. This is the beginning. Now it’s up to you to add focus to your training.

Nov. 28, 2023 - Technique Under Pressure Zoom

“It all comes down to the ability to sustain and maintain great technique at high speed and under pressure and fatigue.” -- Wayne Goldsmith This week we explore sets that favor technique under pressure – not yardage above all. Monday All Drills: All-Strokes – Stroke Count Most elite swimmers can tell you EXACTLY how many strokes they took on every length of a set or workout. There’s a reason. Counting strokes is the simplest way to know if you’re maintaining technique over the course of a set. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/2321-all-strokes-stroke-count Watch on iPad Tuesday Discovering Efficiency Step 2 How fast can you swim at a given stroke rate? Paying attention to stroke rate and time gives you the discipline needed for fast swimming. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1008-freestyle-discovering-efficiency-step-2 Watch on iPad Wednesday Free Drill: Reduced Stroke 100s Do you have complete knowledge of what you’re doing in the water – the kind of knowledge that helps you compete at high levels? Try this and find out. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1881-freestyle-reduced-stroke-100s Watch on iPad Thursday All Drills: Wax On – Wax Off Set This 300-yard/meter set checks all the boxes for this week’s theme. It demands that you maintain technique at high speed and under fatigue. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1878-wax-on-wax-off-set Watch on iPad Friday Turn Drills: Under Over Drill Here’s a fun, team-building exercise that demands that all swimmers practice deeper, longer pushoffs. This one is only for more advanced swimmers! https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1606-turns-under-over-drill Saturday Free Drills: Freestyle/Backstroke – Head Games Watch how one team demands head stability while under the pressure and fatigue of a long set. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1986-freestyle-backstroke-head-games Sunday Kara Lynn Joyce: Sprint Breathing If 50 free is your race, and you want to minimize your breathing in the race, you need to practice your race-day breathing pattern in practice. This won’t build your yardage, but will increase your ability to swim a fast 50 free. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/657-sprint-breathing Bonus Free Drill: Tempo-Trainer Kick The FINIS Tempo Trainer is a powerful tool in helping you maintain technique under pressure. Here it’s used to test how well you can maintain the rate of your kick. https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1903-freestyle-backstroke-tempo-trainer-kick Jessica Hardy: What Is Speed? https://www.goswim.tv/lessons/1286-what-is-speed Chat 12:04:13 From Brian Lindsay to Glenn Mills(Direct Message): Like to know how I can delete a video I take on the app. 12:26:38 From Monty Krieger to Glenn Mills(Direct Message): better to do these 100s at the beginning or end of a workout? 12:39:21 From helen naylor to Glenn Mills(Direct Message): this is why she doesn't breath on a 50 🙂 haha 12:47:54 From Monty Krieger to Glenn Mills(Direct Message): her speed of lifting her head to breath is slower than the return into the water 12:49:05 From helen naylor to Glenn Mills(Direct Message): sorry, I had sent that right before you asked what she swims and how many breaths she takes. 12:51:08 From Glenn Mills to helen naylor(Direct Message): Reacted to "sorry, I had sent th..." with 👍🏼 12:52:14 From Brian Lindsay to Glenn Mills(Direct Message): When I swim Glen, I am working on improving the timing of my rotation, speed at which I do then, and amount of rotation that I do. I talk to the kids of keeping the head still and that it is their rotation that brings the head into the breathing position. 12:53:50 From Brian Lindsay to Glenn Mills(Direct Message): Michael’s book Developing Swimmers is a great reference book and is on my shelf. 12:57:23 From Brian Lindsay to Glenn Mills(Direct Message): Drop down push offs and no breathing flags into walls on free. 12:57:33 From Lesley Dusevic to Everyone: Masters swimming - all must do a PROPER underwater breast stroke pull out. 13:00:22 From Beth Baker to Everyone: I have a hard time getting the college kids to do fast turns ALL the time then they wonder why they can’t get good walls at midseason invite.🙄 13:02:00 From Charlie McCanless to Everyone: love it Paul! I’m going to give that a shot tonight! 13:03:25 From Beth Baker to Everyone: Reacted to "I have a hard time g..." with ❤️ 13:03:54 From Monty Krieger to Glenn Mills(Direct Message): sorry, my internet failed when you were answering my comment about head rotation speed out and in on breath. 13:04:03 From Lesley Dusevic to Everyone: Must go. Thank you all! 13:04:44 From Cindy Dyer to Everyone: diving 13:05:33 From Peggy Haykal to Everyone: working on rotation 13:05:44 From Nancy Schley to Everyone: Thank you Glenn and Barbara 13:07:15 From Nancy Schley to Everyone: diving and Br 13:07:23 From Linda Daniel to Everyone: Thank you 13:07:25 From Beth Baker to Everyone: Great session today, Glenn, thanks! 13:07:29 From Charlie McCanless to Everyone: Thanks guys! 13:15:06 From Anders Malmquist to Everyone: how can i get in my coaches so they can work as i can do it and this is interesant with video making 13:27:01 From Glenn Mills to Everyone: [email protected]

Freestyle - Side Full Body Under Water - Kara

Freestyle - Side Full Body Under Water

Backstroke - Above Water

Freestyle - Full Body - Above Water - Side - Slow Motion

Freestyle - Full Body - Above Water - Side

Pace 50 Free 4

Matt swims his final pace 50. This one is approximately 24-25 seconds for short course yards.