Build race‑ready freestyle skills through the training you already do – without turning every session into a technique clinic.

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Know your swimmers need to improve their skills to keep getting faster?

 

Struggling to make that happen inside the training you already do?

 

If that sounds familiar, here’s what actually moves the needle.

 

Fast swimmers are GOOD swimmers.

 

They’re skilled swimmers.

 

If you want your swimmers to keep dropping time, you have to keep improving their skills.

 

That’s where it gets tough:

 

• There’s a LOT of information about freestyle technique – 50 drills, 20 cues, and 10 different opinions on “high elbow”. 

• Some of it is flat‑out wrong, some of it’s right but not useful in real training. 

• Even when you know what to change, you still have to figure out how to change it inside the sets you’re already running. 

• And you still have to TRAIN – you can’t turn 6 hours a week of water time into 6 hours of slow drills.

 

The solution is not more information.

 

It’s better, clearer information that:

 

• Tells you exactly which skills matter 

• Shows you exactly how to change them 

• Fits inside the training plan you already have

 

That’s what Stroke Fundamentals is for.

 

What Stroke Fundamentals Volume 1: Freestyle Actually Does

 

In my book A Constraint-Led Approach To Swim Coaching, I talked a lot about the big‑picture strategies.

 

That book gave you the philosophy.

 

Stroke Fundamentals gives you the freestyle blueprint you can use tomorrow.

 

What I didn’t do there was:

 

• Break down the specific freestyle skills that create speed – so you can see exactly what matters in your stroke videos. 

• Show you trainable drills that hold up at race pace – not just in easy warm‑up lengths. 

• Walk you through simple set designs that change skills while swimmers go hard – without rewriting your entire program.

 

That’s what this volume does.

 

It’s going to be a lot easier to help swimmers go fast when you know exactly what they need to improve and how to build it into practice.

 

What You’ll Be Able To Do

 

The 3 critical skills of fast freestyle

 

• How to minimize resistance with great alignment 

• How to create a lot of propulsion with the arms and legs 

• How to optimize timing of the arms and the rotation

 

So you can watch any swimmer and know exactly which of the three levers to pull.

 

How to see those skills in real swimmers

 

• Body position and alignment 

• Pulling and kicking mechanics 

• Timing and rhythm differences between sprint and distance

 

So you can turn vague “looks off” into specific fixes your swimmers understand.

 

Exactly which drills develop each skill

 

• Foundational floating and alignment drills 

• Power and feel drills for the pull 

• Kicking and timing drills that actually transfer to racing

 

So you’re never guessing which drill to use for a specific problem.

 

How to train the drills

 

• Speed, stroke count, stroke rate, and training‑aid progressions 

• How to “sequence” drills so changes show up in full‑stroke

 

So drills stop being “technique time” and start being real training.

 

How to write sets that build skill and fitness together

 

• Simple templates for drill + swim, drill complexes, and progressions 

• 20+ example sets so you can see what this looks like in real practices

 

So you can plug these ideas straight into your next week of workouts.

 

You get the principles, the pictures, and the practice plans – all in one place.

 

What’s Included

 

Inside Stroke Fundamentals Volume 1: Freestyle, you’ll get:

 

• A clear written guide (PDF) that explains the fundamentals of fast freestyle in simple language 

• Skill breakdowns for: alignment, propulsion (arms & legs), timing, breathing 

• A full section on “How to Develop Fast Freestyle” with practical coaching notes 

• A toolbox of trainable drills grouped by:

  • Minimizing resistance 

  • Creating more propulsion 

  • Optimizing timing

• Strategies for using stroke counts, stroke rates, speed, and training aids to make every drill a training drill 

• Simple set design frameworks and drill sequences that show you how to plug everything into practice

 

Once you understand the key skills, you ARE the expert.

 

Then it’s just about using them consistently.

 

Who This Is For

 

Stroke Fundamentals Volume 1: Freestyle is built for:

 

• Club and high school coaches 

• Age‑group and senior coaches 

• College coaches who want a simple, transferable language for skills

 

This isn’t for learn‑to‑swim classes or parents teaching their child to swim for the first time.

 

If your swimmers can legally swim freestyle, they can benefit.

 

The skills of fast swimming are the same for all swimmers of all ages.
 

The difference is how you train them.

 

If you’ve already read A Constraint‑Led Approach or used my skill development materials, this volume zooms in specifically on freestyle and gives you drills, sets, and videos you don’t have yet.

 

How It Fits Into Your Program

 

You don’t need to change your whole system.

 

You’ll learn how to:

 

• Take the practices you’re already writing 

• Drop in a few high‑leverage drills and progressions 

• Use stroke counts / stroke rates / speed / training aids to drive change 

• Let the design of the set do most of the “coaching”

 

There’s a section on troubleshooting, so you know:

 

• How to tell if something is working 

• What to tweak if it’s not 

• How to create endless variations of the same few drills so practice doesn’t get monotonous

 

Everything is designed to help you help your swimmers go faster while training hard.

 

You don’t need more time, more lanes, or more sessions – just slightly better use of the work you’re already doing.

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Bonuses

 

To make this as plug‑and‑play as possible, you also get:

 

Bonus 1 – Freestyle Skills Video Files & Unlisted YouTube Links (Value: $49)

• Video files describing the fundamental freestyle skills 

• Unlisted YouTube links so you can watch them anywhere, on any device 

• Hard‑copy video files so you still have access offline

 

Bonus 2 – Drill & Skill Checklists with Clickable Links (Value: $29)

• Checklists of the key skills and drills, organized by problem (“alignment”, “propulsion”, “timing”) 

• Each item includes a direct link to the corresponding unlisted YouTube video 

• Use them to quickly choose appropriate training activities for any group

 

Bonus 3 – 20+ Training Sets & Video Explanations (Value: $39)

• 20+ example sets that put these ideas into practice for freestyle 

• Video descriptions of the sets (file format + unlisted YouTube) so you can see how and why they were built 

• Extra strategies for getting more skill work out of any set you design, and how to apply the same principles in other strokes

 

Examples include:

 

• A “drill complex + pace” set you can run in 30 minutes with any group. 

• A four‑week progression that takes a weak pull and systematically builds it into a race‑ready stroke.

 

These bonuses are in addition to the main PDF guide.

 

They exist to remove excuses and make implementation as easy as “open file, run set.”

 

Why listen to me?

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I’ve spent the last two decades coaching swimmers from beginners to international medalists, and I literally wrote the book on The Constraints‑Led Approach To Swim Coaching. I help clubs around the world build systems that reliably improve skills inside the training they’re already running. This freestyle volume is the distilled version of what’s worked best on deck.

 

Price & How To Get It

 

Stroke Fundamentals Volume 1: Freestyle

$49

 

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If you wish to pay with PayPal instead, you can.

 

Open a new tab and go to: www.paypal.me/masteringflowLLC

 

• Enter $49

• Put in your real first and last name and a good email address 

• In the transaction notes, include: 

  • “Stroke Fundamentals Volume I – Freestyle”

 

I’ll connect with you and send access as soon as I see it.

 

If there is some other technological barrier, please e‑mail andrew@andrewsheaffcoaching.com and we’ll figure it out.

 

100% Lifetime Guarantee

 

I want this to be a no‑brainer.

 

This resource comes with a 100% lifetime guarantee.

 

If you’re ever unhappy with your purchase, I’ll refund your money, no questions asked.

 

Take it to practice for 14 days. If you don’t feel more in control of your freestyle skill work, email me and I’ll refund you.

 

• No forms 

• No hoops 

• No time limit

 

There’s no risk.

 

There’s no reason not to get started.

 

You’ll have even more resources to help your swimmers go fast.

 

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FAQs

 

How is the information provided?

 

To make sure you understand exactly what skills are important – and what they look like – I provide:

 

• Written descriptions of the key freestyle skills and drills (PDF) 

• Video files of swimmers executing the skills and drills 

• Voice‑over explanations during the videos so you know what’s happening and why

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You’ll be able to read it, see it, and then take it straight to the pool.

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For what age and ability levels is this information designed?

 

This isn’t designed to help someone learn to swim for the first time.

 

It is intended to be used with swimmers of all abilities who can swim legal freestyle:

 

• Young age‑groupers 

• Developing age‑group and senior swimmers 

• High performance / national‑level swimmers

 

The core principles that build speed are the same for everyone.

 

I focus on those fundamentals and show you how to tweak your approach depending on who you’re coaching.

 

What if I’m not sure how to put this into practice?

 

That’s built in.

 

I show you:

 

• Which strategies to use to improve each skill (alignment, propulsion, timing) 

• Basic set‑design frameworks so you can plug those strategies into your own practices 

• 20+ example training sets so you can see what effective sets look like

 

You’ll have enough structure to get started right away, and enough flexibility to keep innovating as a coach.

 

Is this a physical book?

 

No.

 

• The written material is delivered as PDF files 

• Within each PDF, there are links to unlisted YouTube videos 

• You also get the video files themselves so you can access them offline

 

You can read and watch everything on your phone, tablet, or computer.

 

Are dryland exercises covered?

 

No.

 

The focus is on in‑water skills and how to improve those skills with in‑water training.

 

Dryland is important, but here I’m keeping the information focused on what you do in the pool.

 

Are starts and turns covered?

 

Not in this volume.

 

Improving starts and turns is a big topic and deserves its own dedicated attention.

They will be covered in the future.

 

This volume is all about freestyle stroke fundamentals – the skills swimmers use on every lap.

 

I’m a swimmer without a coach. Will this help me?

 

The material is written for coaches, but:

 

• It clearly explains the important skills you need to develop to swim faster freestyle 

• The drills and sets are designed to minimize how much “on‑deck coaching” is required

 

If you’re a self‑coached swimmer who’s comfortable designing your own practices, you can absolutely use this to guide your training.

Just know it’s not written specifically as a self‑coaching manual.

 

You know your swimmers need better freestyle skills to get faster.

 

You now have a simple, practical way to build those skills through the training you already do.

 

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Keep it simple…

 

Andrew