The most useful swimming drills for beginners aren’t about swimming laps — they’re small, focused exercises that build one skill at a time, so the whole stroke comes together far more easily. Instead of thrashing across the pool hoping it clicks, you break swimming into pieces you can actually feel and fix. This guide gives you seven specific drills, exactly how to do each one, and the order to practice them.
The short answer
Good drills isolate one skill so you can master it without juggling everything at once. Work through these in order: kick-on-wall, streamline push-offs, side-kick, single-arm, catch-up, bubble breathing, and sculling. Do two or three per session in short, repeated bursts, always in water you can stand in. Each one builds a piece of the puzzle — body position, a relaxed kick, a longer stroke, and calm breathing — so that real swimming starts to feel smooth instead of frantic.
Drill 1: Kick on the wall
Hold the edge of the pool, stretch out face-down (or on your back), and flutter kick. This is the simplest place to feel a proper kick without worrying about anything else.
- Kick from your hips, not your knees, with your legs long.
- Keep the beats small and quick, toes gently pointed.
- Watch for a steady, boiling little splash — not big, slow, knee-driven churns.
Spend a few minutes here every session. For the full breakdown, see how to do a flutter kick for beginners.
Drill 2: Streamline push-offs
Push gently off the wall into a streamline shape — arms stretched overhead squeezing your ears, hands stacked, body long and tight — and glide until you slow down. No kick, no arms, just the shape.
The goal is to feel how a narrow, tight body slips through water while a loose, wide one stops fast. This is the position every stroke starts from, so it’s worth repeating often. More detail lives in how to glide in the water for beginners.
Drill 3: Side-kick
Push off on your side — bottom arm stretched forward, top arm resting along your body, and kick. Your face stays down, turning just enough to breathe.
- This teaches the side-lying body position that freestyle rotates through.
- It also builds balance, since staying on your side takes a little core control.
- Kick steadily and keep your bottom arm long and reaching.
Do a few kicks on one side, roll to your back to breathe if needed, then try the other side.
Drill 4: Single-arm freestyle
Swim freestyle using one arm at a time while the other stays stretched out front. Take several strokes with your right arm, then switch to your left.
Because you’re only managing one arm, you can slow down and pay attention to:
- Reaching long before you pull.
- Pulling water back toward your hip.
- Turning your head to breathe in rhythm with that one arm.
It’s the fastest way to clean up a messy stroke without feeling overwhelmed.
Drill 5: Catch-up
Swim freestyle, but make each hand touch the other out in front before the next arm pulls. One arm always waits, stretched forward, until the other catches up to it.
This drill forces a long, patient stroke and stops the frantic windmilling that tires beginners out. It also reinforces that reaching-and-gliding feeling that makes swimming efficient rather than exhausting.
Drill 6: Bubble breathing
Standing in shallow water, take a breath, put your face in, and hum a steady stream of bubbles out through your nose and mouth. Lift your face, breathe in through your mouth, and repeat in a calm rhythm.
- Breathing out while your face is in the water is the habit that stops that panicky, out-of-breath feeling.
- Keep it slow and continuous — never hold your breath and dump it all at once.
Once it feels automatic standing up, blend it into your kicking and single-arm drills.
Drill 7: Sculling
Float face-down (arms out front) or stand in shallow water, and sweep your hands out and in with your palms angled to press against the water — small figure-eight motions. You should feel the water become firm and “grippy” under your palms.
Sculling builds feel for the water — the sense of catching and holding water rather than slipping through it. That feel is what eventually gives your arm pull its power.
How to put the drills together
You don’t need all seven in one go. A simple session might be:
- Warm up with a few easy widths of whatever you can already do.
- Pick two or three drills and repeat each in short bursts, resting at the wall between them.
- Finish by trying a few normal strokes and notice what feels different.
Rotate your focus across sessions. Consistency matters more than variety — a short, regular practice beats one long, sloppy one. See how to practice swimming at home for ways to keep the habit going.
Stay safe while you practice
- Practice in water you can stand in, with a lifeguard or capable swimmer present. Never swim alone.
- Rest at the wall whenever you tire — short, sharp drill sets build better technique than long, exhausted ones.
The next small step
Next session, choose just two drills from this list — say, kick-on-wall and catch-up — and give each one five focused minutes. Feel for the small change every time. Once these pieces start to click, learning how to swim more efficiently becomes the natural next step, and the whole stroke begins to feel like it’s finally cooperating.