Shadowing Practice: Smooth swimming step by step - Learn English Speaking with Video

on this video I’ll show you set of exercises that take around 20 to 30 minutes and will help you start swimming like this.

By the end of the video you’ll know how to do at least one stroke that looks and feels like these ones.

This video has 5 parts: This 100 meters freestyle swimming demonstration.

5 key points of the theory of this freestyle swimming technique.

5 Common problems when trying to swim like this.

Exercises to help you swim smoother in 5 steps.

A Giveaway.

Theory Basics There are many ways to swim freestyle or front crawl.

This way is efficient and moderately fast.

From now on we will call it arrow freestyle.

The key of the technique is that there are not a lot of extra movements, the only movements there are, are optimized to help you move forward.

I did a total of 50 strokes in 100 meters.

It’s almost catch up swim.

(Catch up is a popular drill used by coaches to help swimmers glide and make their body longer.) The kick is a 2 beat kick.

Which means 1 kick per stroke.

This helps save up energy since the legs have big muscles that use a lot of energy and oxygen.

Advantages and disadvantages of the arrow freestyle technique: This is by no means the fastest way to swim but when you perfect it, it can be pretty fast.

Once you start swimming and practicing with this arrow freestyle technique you can build up a lot of endurance and you’ll be able to swim long distances at a constant pace.

That is why this technique is often used by open water swimmers and long distance pool swimmers in the middle part of their swim.

It may seem easy to swim like this but it does take effort, specially if you are not used to it.

Pros It can be pretty fast .

Build up endurance.

Constant pace over long distances.

Cons: - Not the fastest Not easy takes time and effort 5 Key points: The legs need to be synchronized with the arms.

You kick down with your right leg at the same time that your right arm is pulling.

The body needs to be as horizontal as possible.

Your legs need to be very straight.

Your breathing needs to be quick.

Breathe faster than me for optimal results.

Your arm should always wait for the opposite arm to almost finish before it starts moving.

Specially when you are breathing.

Since your arms are producing most of the forward movement, they should be very efficient- meaning: high elbow (vertical forearm as soon as possible), using the rotation to pull with bigger muscles and having barbie hands.

Common problems You should expect 5 things to be your main obstacles: Legs kicking fast instead of 2 beat kick.

Splashing water, instead of smooth swimming.

Not enough glide.

Balancing problems (difficulty maintaining a horizontal position).

Kick and pull not synchronized.

Exercises to help you fix them One stroke at a time.

If I told you to swim at this pace with this technique and you have never done it, you would probably think that I am asking too much.

But if instead I asked you to spend 20 to 30 minutes trying to do just one stroke that looked and felt like this, you’d probably be up for the challenge.

So let’s do that.

One arrow stroke.

Why only one stroke?

Many coaches try to correct technique while swimmers are at full speed swimming many laps.

This is probably the worst time to try and correct technique since you are tired, focused on other things and probably in autopilot.

At least in the beginning of changing your technique or trying out a new one, we believe that you need to slow things down and break things into manageable pieces.

Then build your technique while you put together those small pieces.

What does it take?

This arrow freestyle looks easy but you’ll actually need to master 5 things.

And you can improve 4 out of those 5 things in just 20 to 30 minutes with the exercises I am about to show you.

1 - Balance You need your body to be horizontal.

You need your legs not to sink.

This is a bit easier if you are moving, kind of like riding a bicycle.

Practice this: push off and stay still.

Keep gliding with that horizontal balance by pushing your chest down and having a tight core and tight legs.

2- Mobility This is unfortunately the one that you won’t be able to fix quickly.

In order to put your forearm like this you need to be able to move your shoulder like this and like this.

Stop this video and try to put your arms like this.

If you can’t you’ll need to do these stretches daily for a few weeks.

3- Control We naturally have a tendency to move our legs fast in order to move faster.

But for this technique you need to control that tendency.

You need very straight knees and pointing toes.

You only bend them when you kick down once every stroke, and you never stop the plantar flexion.

This is relatively easy to correct.

To force yourself to stop kicking like crazy put on a pullbouy between your feet, or a kickboard or wrap a stretch band around your ankles.

Anything that stops you from kicking.

And swim 4 x 25 like this.

4- Listenning A good hand entry should sound like this… one kick per stroke sound likes this … If you hear this instead … it means that you are doing something wrong.

Find out what it is and do 4 to 8 x 25 listening carefully to try and swim smoother.

Then listen to your sense of touch.

We have a lot of nerve ending in our skin, use them by feeling how the water moves around you.

Around your hands and around your torso.

Feel the pressure agains the top of your feet when you kick down.

Notice that feeling of knife through butter when you have pointing toes.

Feel how the forearm uses leverage to move you foreword when it is perpendicular to your body.

Do 2 x 25 focusing on one part of the body: hands, forearms, torso, feet - for a total of 8 x 25.

5- Coordination The final step is to coordinate the previous 4 steps.

One arrow freestyle stroke like this is all that we are going for right now, remember?

Push off as horizontal as possible and feel the water speeding up on your skin and then slowing down as you start to lose speed.

Before you stop moving pull water with your forearm trying to have it as perpendicular as possible and glide on the side of your torso.

At the same time that you are doing your powerful pull, your leg of the same side of your body should be kicking down quickly.

What’s next?

If you can coordinate at least one stroke and one kick on arrow freestyle, while the other side of your body doesn’t move, you’ve done the hard part.

The next time you practice you’ll try to go for two arrow strokes.

One on each side.

You may stop after each cycle.

Then you can start connecting them in a row.

After that your next challenge will be to learn when and how to breathe.

And if you want to swim 100 meters in 1:09 with this technique in a 25 meter pool, you’ll also need to learn underwater kicks and flip turns.

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will focus on enhancing your English speaking skills through the shadowing technique. By closely following a video demonstration of swimming techniques, you will practice the rhythm and nuances of spoken English. You'll learn key vocabulary relevant to swimming while engaging in exercises designed to improve your pronunciation and fluency. The content emphasizes slow and clear speech, allowing you to grasp the finer details of articulation. By the end of the session, you will have practiced how to effectively mimic and produce sounds, phrases, and rhythms similar to those used in the context of swimming.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

Freestyle - a swimming stroke; commonly known as front crawl.
Endurance - the ability to swim long distances continuously.
Catch up - a swimming drill that promotes gliding.
Synchronized - coordinated movements, such as arm and leg strokes in swimming.
Glide - to move smoothly and effortlessly through the water.
Splashing - unwanted water movement caused by improper technique.
Horizontal position - lying flat while swimming to reduce drag.
Barbie hands - a term referring to a specific hand position for effective swimming.

Practice Tips

To make the most of this lesson, try employing the shadowspeak method with the provided video. Begin by watching the demonstration, then pause and repeat the phrases heard in a slow, deliberate manner. Pay close attention to the instructor's intonation and rhythm. Mimic their speech patterns—this is an essential part of the shadow speech practice, which focuses on not just the words, but also emotion and delivery.

As you shadow, break the content into manageable sections. Repeat each phrase several times until you feel comfortable with the pronunciation. Consider using tools that allow you to adjust playback speed, so you can hear the phrases clearly without losing the original tone. Additionally, record yourself and compare your speech to the video's. Notice where you can improve your cadence and clarity. Engaging with the content actively in this way will help you develop fluid speaking skills as part of your english speaking practice.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have never done · you've done
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	are optimized · be synchronized
Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form	start swimming · starts moving · Keep gliding
Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea	should always wait · should be · should expect

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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