Streamline Push-Offs
Ages 6 and up · A pool with wall space, during supervised swim time; a lane or clear water ahead
The streamline (arms squeezed tight overhead, hands stacked, head tucked between the arms, body one arrow) is the fastest position a human takes in water, and push-offs in it are swimming's highest-value habit: every length of every practice and race begins with one, so a swimmer who streamlines beautifully gains free speed hundreds of times a session. Coaches call it the sport's cheapest improvement because it is.
The drill is simple and infinitely repeatable during any supervised pool time: push off the wall in the tightest possible arrow, glide until the speed fades, then swim. The squeeze standards (elbows behind the ears, hands locked, toes pointed) turn each push-off into a rep, and the glide distance itself is the honest scoreboard.
How to run it
- Build the arrow on land first: arms overhead, one hand stacked on the other, thumbs locked, elbows squeezing BEHIND the ears, belly tight, a straight line from fingertips to pointed toes. Hold and check.
- In the water: face the wall, feet planted on it underwater, take a breath, submerge, and PUSH into the streamline, body a torpedo just under the surface.
- Hold the glide: dead still in the arrow (no early kicking), riding the push until the speed clearly fades, then break into easy swimming.
- Grade the distance honestly: a marker on deck (a kickboard, a landmark) shows how far each glide travels. Race the personal best, never anyone else's.
- Five to eight push-offs per session, woven into any swim. Add the kick-out later: streamline glide, then gentle flutter or dolphin kicks with the arrow intact.
What to say
Common faults and fixes
Loose arms (elbows flared, hands apart, the arrow dissolving at push-off).
The land rehearsal before every water set: the squeeze is learnable dry and transfers wet. Grade elbows-behind-ears as the single standard for a session.
The head lifting to see (the brake on the front of the arrow).
Head tucked, eyes DOWN at the pool floor through the glide: the arrow travels blind and straight. A landmark on the bottom gives the eyes a home.
Kicking instantly (the glide skipped, the free speed wasted).
The glide-first rule with the distance marker: still arrows travel farther than instant kickers, and the marker proves it in one session. Kick-outs are added AFTER the glide habit owns the wall.
Make it easier, make it harder
Land holds and gentle push-offs in shallow water; shorter glides celebrated; goggles that fit (blind push-offs scare beginners needlessly).
Distance records logged weekly; streamline kick-outs (flutter, then dolphin); underwater push-offs off turns; streamline into stroke breakouts (the full racing skill, refined with coaches).
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