Improve Your Front Quadrant Swimming
Loosen your stroke and your shoulders with the broken arrow drill
If you watch an aerial view of elite swimmers, you’ll notice that they always have a hand or arm out in front of their heads. This is called front-quadrant swimming, and the best of the best use it because it lengthens your body and helps with stroke timing.
But front-quadrant swimming can be difficult to master. Enter the broken arrow drill, which helps lengthen your stroke and loosen your shoulders through the recovery phase of freestyle swimming.
Here’s how to do this drill:
- Using fins, start by kicking on your side looking straight down, with one arm extended above your head and the other resting on your hip.
- While remaining on your side, lift your stroking arm (the one resting on your hip) straight up to 90 degrees. Your fingers should be pointing straight up toward the sky.
- Pause for two seconds, then “break” at the elbow and “spear” into the water as you rotate to the other side.
- Keep your eyes looking down throughout the transfer, then pause slightly before rolling to your breath.
- As you bring your arm up and break at the elbow, remain as relaxed as possible.
While this drill might feel strange at first, it’s excellent for loosening tight shoulders and lengthening your stroke. Keep working on it until it feels more natural.
