Provided by Wade Prager, TNT Triathlon Coach

#1 Fingertip drill
On your freestyle recovery (when your hand is out of the water) you drag your fingertips across the top of the water as close to your armpit as possible. This helps you practice the proper form for recovery. It makes you carry your elbow high and makes you roll your shoulders side to side like an expert. A high elbow on recovery creates a shorter pendulum making it easier to swing your arm forward. Also, the body roll allows you to put more upper-body force behind your stroke.

#2 Swim with fists
Just like it sounds. To propel yourself you must do so with your forearm and not rely on your hands. Keep your elbows bent 90 degrees as your fist passes under your shoulder. You will feel what it means to keep your elbows ?high? as you pull through and get your whole upper body behind your stroke.

#3 Count strokes
Swim either 1 or 2 lengths six or eight times resting fifteen seconds between each interval. Count your strokes on the first interval then reduce the number of strokes by one on each subsequent rep. For instance, if I take 20 strokes on my first length, on the next length I will take only 19, and on the next 18, and on the sixth I will take only 15. This is an efficiency drill that lets you practice several things to help you get further down the pool with fewer strokes and hopefully less effort. First you can practice a good streamlined position as you push off the wall. Many beginners swim with too much of an arched back. This makes the hips fall and the legs soon follow. Second, it teaches you to glide briefly on each stroke during the recovery phase. Third, you are not allowed the luxury of any dead spots in your stroke. And lastly, it helps you incorporate a strong, efficient kick into your stroke.

#4 One Arm Freestyle
Swim with one arm and let the other arm drag at your side. After one length switch and pull with the other arm. This drill makes your stroke smoother by forcing you to coordinate your kick and pull. It identifies ?dead? spots in your stroke encouraging you to fix them on your own. (This drill is very similar to one-legged cycling). This is also a good kicking drill because a strong kick will allow you to keep your momentum going during the recovery phase when your arm is out of the water. Breathe to the side of the arm at your side.

Note:
The first several weeks of training for a Triathlon should consist mainly of drills and building a fitness base. The muscle busting, lung burning stuff comes later after you have given your limbs a few hundred thousand repetitions. Don?t expect to see many results from your efforts in the first six weeks. If you stay diligent in your training however, after the first six weeks, you will see marked improvement that may astound you.