it is essential to attain horizontal body position and reduce the body drag. . Lateral Breathing: Breathing in the front crawl stroke is done on the side, whichever side is convenient to the swimmer. The swimmer takes the breath through the mouth by turning the head to the side of the pushing arm, at the beginning of recovery.
Soon the face goes back into the water and the swimmer breathes out more through the mouth and only a small portion through the nose. The mouth goes to the other side also while breathing out but does not come out of the water. The swimmer continues exhalation and goes back to the same side to inhale again. Usually the swimmers take breath every arm cycle.
. Body Roll: The body of the front crawl stroke swimmer rotates around its long axis with every arm stroke so that the shoulder of the recovering arm is higher than the shoulder of the pulling/pushing arm. This helps the pulling arm to sink down and perform a deeper pull, and on the other hand, it facilitates a high elbow of the other arm. Teaching stages of back crawl stroke Fig.
. : Back crawl stroke . Body Position: The basic body position for teaching the back crawl stroke is streamlined supine position. The swimmer lies flat on his back with both arms stretched back over head, passing by the side of ears.
Face is out of the water and both legs are extended back with toes pointed. Hips are just below the water surface. . Arm Action: The arms are pulled alternately from back to front inside the water and recovers above the water with straight arm over the body.
While one arm is pulling/pushing, the other arm is recovering. The arm strokes provide most of the forward propulsion. The arm action is further divided into various parts, such as, the entry, catch, pull, push, release, and recovery. .
Leg Action: The legs move alternately up and down. The leg movement originates from the hip joint. While one leg kicks downward, the other leg recovers