by
Olivier Poirier-Leroy
Drills with a swim snorkel are one of the best ways to maximize engagement and skill development. Here are five swim snorkel drills to try for faster swimming.
One of my favorite ways to use a swim snorkel is for drill work!
Swim snorkels remove the need to turn or pick up the head to breathe, allowing swimmers to completely focus on the technical elements of drills.
Below are five swim snorkel drills to try that will increase feel for the water, improve shoulder and hip rotation, and get better at coordinating the kick and pull when swimming fast.
Let’s hop in.
Effective swim snorkel drills to improve technique and speed in the water include:
Next, we will examine each drill in more detail and offer some tips for doing it properly as well as a set to get you started.
Sculling is my favorite drill to do when using a swim snorkel. It checks a lot of boxes when it comes to technique-focused drill work.
Typically, when swimmers scull—a drill where swimmers scull the hands with small, controlled hand movements to grab and manipulate the water, increasing feel for the water—they have to pick their head up repeatedly to breathe.
Taking breaths mid-scull interrupts body position and the sculling you are doing.
By using a swim snorkel for this drill, swimmers can stay in a relaxed, horizontal body position with their head and neck neutral.
The sculling positions you can use are only limited by your imagination, but the best for a sharper catch is with both arms extended in front of you, sculling tight light figure-eights where the catch happens.
8×25 front scull with swim snorkel – 20s rest between repetitions
Long Dog drill is a variation of doggie paddle and one of the best freestyle drills in the pool.
Instead of using the short pull cycle of doggie paddles, in Long Dog drill, swimmers perform the full pull and push of the freestyle stroke, recovering the arms under the water. As swimmers don’t recover over the water, they can be far more intentional about the catch and pull of each stroke.
Using a swim snorkel with this drill allows you to really hone the hand placement at the beginning of the catch, sinking the hand vertically quickly so that the fingers are pointing at the bottom of the pool, and accelerating the hands under the body.
8×50 freestyle with swim snorkel – 25 long dog drill, 25 freestyle build to fast
Arms at side kick drill with a snorkel is a fundamental drill that works proper hip and shoulder rotation, balance, and kick timing.
Swimmers position themselves horizontally in the water, arms at the side, and kick at a high intensity while rotating the shoulders and hips normally (but without performing the arm recovery and pull).
Done with a swim snorkel, swimmers can focus on a clean, horizontal body line and not worry about having to twist the head and neck to breathe, throwing swimmers out of alignment.
Sprinters love this drill as you can really practice on aggressive shoulder rotations, utilizing the drill as a form of Spin Drill but for the shoulders. Mid and distance swimmers can use it to get better at kicking properly while rotating the hips and shoulders.
16×25 freestyle with snorkel alternating Arms at Side Kick Drill and fast swimming
Kick/Swim Transition is a drill in the sense that you are working on connecting a strong, powerful kick to the arm stroke.
Swimmers often struggle to nail the coordination and timing with an all-out, six-beat kick and an efficient arm pull. Kick/Swim Transition Drill melts fast kicking into fast swimming so that swimmers can work on kicking and pulling hard. At the same time. Quickly.
Using a swim snorkel for this drill is a win because you can focus on just hitting that fast kick with the stroke and then work on introducing breathing to the mix later.
8×25 freestyle as 12.5m fast kick in a streamline + 12.5m swim fast
Fast swimming is often about excellent rhythm. Whether it’s the rhythmic undulation in a dolphin kick, the smooth alternating arm pulls of freestyle, or the unrelenting 1-2-1-2 of a powerful freestyle kick.
Doing drills with a swim snorkel is a way to increase rhythm in the arm stroke. Without having to worry about the sometimes jarring disruptions of breathing, swimmers can put their head down and find some rhythm in their stroke for increased efficiency.
Freestyle arms with butterfly kicks is the perfect snorkel drill for building superior rhythm.
The drill is simple enough: Use freestyle arms as normal, and instead of pairing it with a freestyle kick, perform dolphin kicks. The drill emphasizes a more powerful hand entry, core stability, and better stroke rhythm and timing.
Additionally, for swimmers who want to master the dolphin kick breakout in freestyle (popping to the surface and using a dolphin kick for the first stroke cycle), this drill, done with a snorkel, can teach the timing for this elite breakout.
Start out with your snorkel and a set of swim fins to maximize the dolphin kick with each stroke cycle.
16×25 freestyle with butterfly kick (8 w fins, 8 w/o)
The best snorkels for swim training are the FINIS Original Swimmers Snorkel and the FINIS Stability Snorkel.
The FINIS Original is the one that started it all in the mid 1990s. While it faces stiff competition nowadays (particularly from other swim snorkels in the FINIS line-up) the original is still the best for most swimmers.
It’s available in a junior size for smaller swimmers and multiple colors.
The FINIS Stability Snorkel is the best snorkel for high-performance swimmers looking for more elite features such as a twisting mouthpiece, rounded tube, and multiple head straps for increased tube stability when swimming at high speeds.
Swim snorkels take the focus of drills and crank up the attention to detail and execution by removing breathing.
When rocking swim snorkel drills, you can just put your face down in the water and zero in on what you are trying to improve. No distractions. No turning your head to breathe. No disruptions. Just smooth, fantastic technique.
Try the snorkel drills above the next time you are at the pool, refine your technique and feel for the water, and reap the benefits of more efficient (and faster!) swimming.
9 Benefits of Training with a Swimmers Snorkel. The swim snorkel has become part-and-parcel of every competitive swimmer’s gear bag. Here are a bunch of reasons why you should use it in practice today to swim faster.
FINIS Swimmers Snorkel Review – The Original and Still the Best. Looking to add the FINIS Swimmers Snorkel to your training stack but aren’t sure? Here’s how it performs in the water and compares to other swim snorkels.
Olivier Poirier-Leroy Olivier Poirier-Leroy is the founder of YourSwimLog.com. He is an author, former national level swimmer, two-time Olympic Trials qualifier, and swim coach.
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