What Is The Easiest Swimming Stroke For Beginners?

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Swimming can be a terrifying prospect for people who have not been able to breathe whenever they want. Therefore, breaststroke is arguably the easiest and best stroke for beginners to learn because they are able to breathe as they would on dry land.

The front crawl is another contender for the easiest swimming stroke for beginners to learn because of how few steps are required to perform the stroke at a decent level.

Read on to learn more about some of the most important strokes a beginner swimmer can learn and why they are so important.

What stroke should a beginner learn first?

The first stroke that a beginner should learn is breaststroke for several reasons. The primary reason that beginners will enjoy learning the breaststroke and be able to build confidence in the water is that the head can be kept above water at all times.

This allows beginners to breathe as they would during any other exercise, eliminating a major aspect of why some people are afraid of swimming or bodies of water in general.

People who are new to swimming will also naturally gravitate to “doggy paddling” to stay afloat, which closely resembles the breaststroke, so it is not especially difficult to learn the core concepts of this stroke.

 

What is the least tiring swimming stroke?

Beginners may rejoice in the fact that the first stroke that they should learn is also the least tiring swimming stroke as long as it is done correctly. 

Once enough confidence has been built, and beginners are comfortable with having their heads underwater, the breaststroke becomes a survival stroke.

This is because the breaststroke’s longest phase is the gliding phase, when no movements are made. Although swimmers shouldn’t be breathing in during the gliding phase, the conservation of energy and air allows even the newest swimmer to stay alive.

The key to making breaststroke the least tiring swimming stroke is to prolong this gliding phase by assuming a streamlined position in the water.

 

What is the most basic swimming stroke?

Even though breaststroke has been the beginner’s best friend regarding the most basic swimming stroke, the front crawl fits the bill best. There are only three parts of the front crawl (also known as the freestyle because it is so fast):

 

• The flutter kick
• The rotation of the arms in a windmill-like fashion
• Timed breathing

 

Other strokes may also have just three parts to them, but those individual parts can be more complex to execute than any of the steps performed in a full cycle of the front crawl.

 

Final Thoughts on the Easiest Swimming Stroke for Beginners

Anyone trying to learn how to swim, whether through swim lessons or by teaching oneself, should first learn the breaststroke. The unique qualities of the breaststroke make it suitable for surviving until, ideally, someone can come along and rescue the weaker swimmer.

Don’t worry about getting the breaststroke perfect because beginners can quickly add the front crawl to their swimming repertoire thanks to the few simple steps it takes to learn the new stroke.