What Are The Four Strokes In Swimming?

The most common stokes in swimming are the freestyle, butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke. These four strokes are used on all levels, from swim competitions at your local swim club to the Olympics. While world-class swimmers appear to be gliding though the water, mastery of any of these strokes requires practice and perfect technique. Practicing proper technique enables you to breath correctly and prevents fatigue and injury.

Freestyle

When swimming freestyle, swimmers usually use what's called the crawl stroke, in which you're face down in the water and your arms are moving in a windmill motion. Your legs, meanwhile, are kicking up and down intermittently. This is one of the easier-to-learn strokes and can be a good choice for you if you're simply looking to get into shape.

The Breaststroke

The breaststroke is another facedown stroke, but with both arms doing the same movement at the same time. When you do the breaststroke, move your hands straight out in front of your body circling them out to the side then back again -- similar to tracing a large heart-shaped pattern. While you're keeping your arms busy, your legs kick up and down like a dolphin's tail. This stroke can provide a substantial amount of resistance, making for an intense workout, but mastering its technique is challenging.

The Backstroke

The backstroke is similar to freestyle in the sense that your arms and legs perform the same windmill and kicking actions. The biggest difference is that you're on your back as opposed to face down in the water. While still efficient in working a large group of muscles, this stroke can be less intimidating for you if you're new to swimming, because you aren't facedown in the water.

Butterfly

The butterfly stroke may be the most challenging out of the four. Again, you are belly down in the water with arms moving together in a form similar to the windmill, but doing so simultaneously. As your arms are moving, your feet are doing the same dolphin kick as they do in the breaststroke. But they must stay under the water's surface, as opposed to the breaststroke, in which your feet go above and beneath the surface.