Here’s a Swim Workout to Help You Develop a Stronger Freestyle Catch

Ready to power up your freestyle catch? Here’s a detailed swim workout to try that will help you develop a stronger catch.

A high elbow catch is a crucial part of a strong and efficient swim stroke.

By keeping that elbow high, sinking into a vertical forearm quickly, and avoiding pushing water “down”, swimmers reduce drag and are able to pull more water.

In today’s swim workout, we are going to look at one of my favorites for greasing the wheels of a smoother, more powerful catch.

The workout is a great option for recovery days when you want to dial down the intensity and work on technique, or after a long break from the pool when you want to regain your technique.

Let’s dive in.

A Swim Workout for a Stronger Catch

Why do this swim workout? Welp, a strong catch is essential for overall improvement of your freestyle stroke.

The more water you catch at the front of the stroke, the faster you go. A strong catch is also hydrodynamic (creating a smaller overall drag profile) and sets you up for a stronger pulling motion.

A soggy and low elbow during the beginning of the pull motion is also head and shoulders the most common freestyle technique error that even experienced competitive swimmers make.

With that in mind, let’s get our catch on!

This swim workout includes:

Dynamic stretches – In addition to your regular arm and leg swings, with this swim workout we will add some hinged arm swings with a high elbow to open up the shoulders, scapula, and elbow joints to promote a high elbow and strong catch in the water.

Resistance training – Prior to the workout, duck into the gym and find a cable machine to perform cable pulls (3 rounds of 8 reps). Cables provide constant tension, particularly at the top of the catch, unlike resistance tubing, which generate progressive resistance.

Sculling – Sculling is a Swiss army knife for improving feel of the water and developing a stronger catch. In today’s workout, we will do some front sculling. Lay out on your front in the water, extend the arms so that they are shoulder-width, and perform figure-eights with your hands.

Drills – The right freestyle drills are essential for improving feel for the water, isolating different phases of the stroke, and mastering body position and overall technique. We’ll use closed fist freestyle and long dog freestyle in this workout to hit the catch.

Resistance Work – We’ll also sprinkle in some resisted swimming into the mix, with some 25s with light to moderate resistance using either a drag chute, also known as a swim parachute, or DragSox.

The Swim Gear You’ll Need

While many of my preferred sets and workouts use a wide variety of swim gear and equipment, this one is relatively light.

For this swim workout, you will only need:

Swimmer’s snorkel – The swimmer’s snorkel is one of the essential types of swim gear for competitive swimmers serious about improving technique and body position. Removing the head rotation with breathing allows swimmers the opportunity to use a neutral head position and isolate arm technique.

Kickboard – The warm-up includes some kicking to help warm-up the legs and promote added blood flow to the lower body. The kick portion of the workout can be done with or without a kickboard.

Resistance gear – A light or medium drag chute (or DragSox) will be a part of the main set. Added resistance will force you to overcome the drag and “self-organize” the arm position for a more powerful catch. We aren’t going heavy on this, so look for a form of resistance gear that generates drag without feeling like you are tied to an anchor.

THE PRE-SWIM WARM-UP

Do your regular stretches and activation exercises (planks, etc)

But incorporate:

• Hinged freestyle arms with bent elbow (2×20 reps per side) — Hinge forward at the hips so that the torso is 30-45-degrees. Alternate arm swings, front to back, and progressively bend the elbow to simulate the catch.
• Cable pulls (3×8 reps per side) — Load appropriate weight to the cable machine, hinge forward, and perform a controlled single-arm catch and pull motion against resistance. Remember to brace the core, use controlled movements, and focus on proper technique.

THE SWIM WORKOUT

Warm-Up:

• 600 swim/kick warm-up
• 12×25 alternating 25 front scull with swim snorkel with 25 build – 20s rest between 25s

Main Set:

• 8×25 long dog drill – build each 25 to 80% effort on 40s
• 3×200 freestyle cruise ~65% effort – focus on that high elbow! – 20s rest between 200s
• 8×25 closed fist freestyle – build each 25 to 80% effort on 40s
• 6×100 freestyle cruise ~75% effort – focus on that high elbow! – 20s rest between 200s
• 8×25 freestyle with light/medium resistance – 80% effort on 50s
• 12×50 freestyle best average – focus on that high elbow! – 30s rest between 50s

Warm-Down:

• 300 choice swim easy

Set Totals:

• Total distance: 3,600m
• Catch = strong and awesome

The Final Lap

Building a stronger catch in your freestyle can feel a bit maddening at times.

The “hook” and bent elbow is not a natural movement or position for the arm (how often are you making that overhead position in daily life, after all) and so it requires attention to technique and concentration when swimming.

Try the swim workout above a shot in the pool, shore up the technique and strength in your catch, and unlock a faster freestyle stroke.

Happy swimming!

More Swim Workouts Like This

6 Freestyle Swim Sets and Workouts. Get your freestyle on with this collection of my favorite freestyle sets and practices.

How to Improve Your Freestyle Pull (Plus Sample Swimming Workouts). Ready to level up your freestyle? Here’s how to improve and strengthen your freestyle pull and catch, and a couple of my favorite pull workouts.

3 Swim Workouts to Learn Proper Pacing. Improve energy efficiency, endurance, and swimming speed with these swim workouts to learn proper pacing.