The core body position for all strokes, a fundamental drill for all levels.
Beginners
Once you have basic breath control and floating face down, gently bring the arms and legs together.
Hands like a rocket, flat like a pancake,
one at time pull the swimmer by the fingers then push their feet
and encourage them to just lay still till their fingers touch the wall.
A little leg kick can be added for balance. That is the reason for kick. At best the leg kick will only ever add 5% of forward propulsion. 95% comes from body position and arms. The only exception is breaststroke.
Main Pool
Really crucial in teaching basic front crawl and “proper” front crawl but also great in breaststroke arms to emphasise a fast breathing movement.
Hands like a rocket, flat like a pancake,
one at time pull the swimmer by the fingers then push their feet
and encourage them to just lay still.
“How far did you go? You didn’t even move your arms or legs!
That’s because we were flat. Flat is fast, like a speed boat.”
Repeat the exercise but add a leg kick, after you have pushed
them.
“Pretend you are a speedboat, little fast kicks”
Now you can encourage the swimmers to try it themselves, pushing and sliding to see how far they can get with no movement. For real contrast ask them to push and glide with their head out of the water, “Like your grandma”
“Which is better?” “What’s faster your grandma or a speedboat?”
Adults
Again, your pupils will be comfortable with their face down, floating. But with adults they will need to have learnt how to regain their feet when they want to stand.
Start with widths across the pool, onto the steps. That way they have a natural landing point and can start kneeling with the soles of the feet against the wall, ready to push.
You can begin with a woggle, then two floats, one float and then you become the support, gently reducing until they only just feel your hands under their forearms. Once they are comfortable pushing and sliding on their own move to lengths.