Find these two sensations to improve your freestyle swimming skills.

Swimming freestyle continuously for an hour or two doesn’t feel tiring—you can even maintain that effortless, downhill-like glide. But this is just the beginner stage of the "Total Immersion" approach to freestyle. To advance beyond this effortless, downhill-style swimming and take your technique to the next level, you’ll need to discover these two key sensations:

The feeling of an arm transforming into a Qilin arm

After a vigorous short-distance frog kick sprint or swimming around 200 meters, the arm movement—already transitioning into the "high-elbow catch" phase during the surface portion of the stroke—now shifts seamlessly from the above-water "high-elbow catch" to its underwater counterpart.

Switching from breaststroke to freestyle immediately makes you feel a surge of power as your arms catch the water—especially when pulling them forward, it almost feels like you’ve got Popeye’s mighty arms, with strength noticeably amplified and effortless propulsion through the water.

Once you’ve found the “kirin arm” feel, think of your body as a rigid, straight canoe when pushing through the water—your arm movement becomes like paddling backward with a sturdy oar. Of course, don’t forget to emphasize engaging your body’s lateral rotation to activate the latissimus dorsi muscles; never rely solely on arm strength alone.

When pushing the water, imagine you’re paddling—your arm is the paddle shaft, and your palm is the paddle blade. As you stroke, make sure to maintain an optimal depth of entry into the water; a slow, powerful push is always the most effective approach. Rushing your arm movements or forcing the stroke with sheer effort doesn’t necessarily lead to faster swimming—it’s about precision and control, not speed for speed’s sake.

The rhythmic feel of pulling the rope with alternating hands

Freestyle swimming becomes effortless and efficient when your body remains straight as a boat, with each stroke generating force strictly backward—and the left and right arm movements aligned parallel to your body's imaginary central axis.

This way, all the paddling power is directed entirely toward propelling you forward—so if your stroke drifts off course, you’ll either waste valuable energy or end up veering sideways.

When one arm pushes through the water, the other arm remains extended forward, while core strength keeps your body tight and streamlined. This allows you to clearly feel your body slicing forward with each stroke. When executed properly, freestyle swimming creates a sense of forward momentum—almost like the "gliding" phase in breaststroke.

For freestyle, you need to use the momentum of this forward glide to initiate the arm recovery, allowing the other arm to catch the water smoothly and immediately enter the pull phase.

Once you reach a certain level in freestyle swimming, you may suddenly experience an incredibly effortless and efficient feeling—this is the reward of developing a strong sense of rhythm. Often, this is followed by a personal best time or even further improvement in your overall freestyle technique.

To experience this rhythmic motion, imagine a rope with its end positioned directly beneath your head—your two arms moving in alternating strokes are like grabbing the rope alternately and pulling it taut, guiding the rope smoothly through the center of your body, right below your torso.

Grasping the water is like holding onto the end of a rope, while pushing through the water is akin to pulling that very rope to propel your body forward. Always keep in mind the presence of this "rope"—even in freestyle kicking, it’s about using your legs and feet to cling to it, helping your body glide effortlessly ahead.