Swimming

Techniques of Swimming

Swimming, which has been a common practice among humans and primates, has been around since prehistoric times. There are many cave drawings that are dated back to the Stone Age that depict swimmers. These references can then be extended to date back to around 2000 b.c. The first book on swimming was written around 1538 by a man named Nicholas Wynman. Swimming in a competitive environment can be traced back to Europe around 1800, specifically dealing with the breaststroke. Swimming was first introduced as an Olympic sport in 1896. Out of this emergence of it as an Olympic sport, the butterfly stroke finally became an individual stroke in 1952. Today there are many events at the Olympics that have emerged such as water polo, synchronized swimming, and diving.

Every human being is made up of mostly water, and thus its composition and density is just like that of water. Due to the fact that about 70% of the body consists of water, it is just a bit less than that of the surrounding water, something that is a result of the nature of water. This means that staying afloat while swimming only requires a slight propelling/moving of water in a downward direction to stay up, or upwards to stay down. This is moving in the water is accomplished through the movement of both the hands and forearms as your paddles. Also, the kicking of the legs will manage to push the water away from where the body lies.

There are numerous styles of swimming that have developed over the years. These swimming styles are based upon some unique principles. First, the legs and torso must be kept as level with the surface of water as possible. If you want to slow yourself down, all you will do is drop your legs a bit in the water. You need to make sure that you keep your arms out as much from the body as you possible can. If you are on your side, you make sure that you maximize your results which means that your cross-section will reduce the amount of drag as much as possible. The part of the body that is the most critical is that of the torso. Keep your arms in the air as much as possible and make sure to keep them moving at all times so that there is no wasted movement at all.

A simple motion where you almost grab the water with your hands. With this you spread your hands out flat with the fingers slightly spread. If you conduct the proper swimming training, which inludes a bit of strength training, it will improve your reach and make you swim faster. For most beginngers in swimming, increased strength will only bring small improvements at first.