14 Swimming Drills for Beginners, Grouped by Skill
Drills break a stroke into parts so you can fix one thing at a time. These fourteen are simple, need little or no equipment and suit beginners.
How to use drills
Choose one or two drills for the skill you are working on, do them slowly for 10 to 15 minutes, then swim normally and try to keep the feeling. Quality matters more than distance. Practise in water where you can stand if you are still a beginner.
Breathing
1. Bobs
In chest-deep water, breathe in, sink down breathing out through your nose and mouth, then push up and breathe in. Repeat in a steady rhythm. Fixes: holding your breath.
2. Side breathing at the wall
Hold the wall, face down, and turn your head to the side to breathe, keeping one ear in the water. Return and breathe out. Fixes: lifting the head forward to breathe.
Body position
3. Push and glide
Push off in a streamline and glide as far as you can. Fixes: sinking hips, loose body shape.
4. Streamline kick
Push off and kick without a board, arms in streamline, face down. Fixes: head position and a weak kick.
5. Kick on your side
One arm stretched ahead, the other by your side, face down, kicking gently; roll to breathe. Fixes: rotation and balance for front crawl.
Front crawl
6. Catch-up
Keep one hand in front until the other completes its stroke and touches it. Fixes: rushed arms, short strokes.
7. Single arm
Swim with one arm while the other stays stretched ahead; breathe to the working side. Switch arms. Fixes: a weak side.
8. Fingertip drag
During the recovery, drag your fingertips along the surface. Fixes: stiff, straight-arm recoveries.
9. 3-3-3
Three strokes right arm only, three left arm only, three full strokes. Fixes: timing and symmetry. See also bilateral breathing.
Breaststroke
10. Kick on your back
On your back, arms by your sides, do the breaststroke kick and watch your knees. Fixes: knees too wide or coming out of the water.
11. Two kicks, one pull
Do two kicks for every arm pull. Fixes: no glide, arms and legs moving at the same time.
12. Pull with a pull buoy
Hold a pull buoy between your thighs and practise arms and breathing only. Fixes: pulling too far back. See what is breaststroke.
Backstroke
13. Single-arm backstroke
One arm by your side, the other doing the stroke; switch each length. Fixes: arm entry and rotation.
14. Cup on the forehead
Kick on your back with a light plastic cup (or a small float) balanced on your forehead. Fixes: a moving head, which makes the body snake.
Putting drills into a session
Warm up with easy swimming, do 2 drills for 4 x 25 m each, then swim 4 x 25 m normally focusing on the same point, and cool down. Our swim workouts for beginners build drills into full sessions, and how to kick has more kick drills.
Get feedback
Drills work best when someone can tell you whether you are doing them right. A coach can choose the drill that targets your biggest problem. See our beginner swimming course and private swimming course.
More in learning to swim
- Lap swimmingWhat it is, why it works and how to start
- How often should I swim?A guide by goal: learning, fitness and training
- Your first swimming lessonWhat to tell the coach, what to bring and what happens in lesson one
- How long it takes to learn swimmingRealistic stages of progress for children and adults
Further reading
- World Aquatics, Swimming reference card. The official stroke, start and turn rules used in competition.
- ActiveSG Circle (Sport Singapore), SwimSafer. Singapore's National Water Safety Programme, combining swimming skills and water survival.
Want drills chosen for you?
Tell us how you swim now and what you want to improve. We will suggest a suitable course, format and pool. Lessons run at public swimming complexes, private venues and condominium pools across Singapore.