Swim Pull Drill

How to do it

1. Push off in a streamlined position with the legs quiet and the body long.
2. Enter one hand about shoulder-width apart, moving forward and slightly down, with the palm flat.
3. Set the catch by dropping the hand down and in while the elbow bends and points out to the side.
4. Press the hand and forearm straight backward as one surface, accelerating as the hand passes under you.
5. Finish the stroke just past the hip, thinking back and up rather than pulling straight through.
6. Recover the arm forward while the other side repeats the same sequence, keeping the legs still.

Common mistakes

• Entering the hand too wide or too narrow, which compromises every phase that follows.
• Rushing the catch and overpowering it, so the arm never gets oriented backward for the pull.
• Sculling side to side instead of pressing straight back, which moves water sideways rather than behind you.
• Dropping the elbow below the hand, a position linked to painful shoulders in competitive swimmers.