Sculling Swimming Drills: How to Build Feel for the Water

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“I’m strong, I train hard — but I still don’t feel the water.”
 I’ve heard that line countless times from swimmers of all levels, from age-groupers to masters. If you’ve ever felt like your hands are slipping in the water, or like you're muscling through each stroke without real connection — there’s a good chance you’re missing one essential element:

Sculling.

It’s one of the most overlooked yet powerful tools to improve your technique. In this guide, I’ll break down what sculling is, why it works, and how you can use it to build real, lasting feel for the water — the kind that makes every stroke more effective.

What Is Sculling in Swimming?

At its core, sculling is a small, controlled movement of the hands and forearms that teaches swimmers how to feel and hold the water.
It’s not about strength. It’s about feedback — learning to apply pressure against the water in both directions to create lift and propulsion.

✅ Sculling Defined:

Sculling (in swimming) is the act of moving the hands and forearms in figure-eight or sweeping motions to manipulate water and improve sensory awareness, balance, and propulsion.

You’ll often hear coaches refer to sculling as the bridge between drills and real swimming. And it’s true — once you build feel for the water through sculling, everything else gets better: your catch, your timing, even your body position.

 

Why Sculling Matters (More Than You Think)

When swimmers ask me “What is sculling really for?” my answer is simple:

Sculling builds connection.

That connection — between your brain, muscles, and the water — is what sets efficient swimmers apart. Here's why it matters:

  • It builds kinesthetic awareness (your sense of hand position and pressure)

  • It teaches propulsion at the beginning and end of your stroke

  • It reinforces good posture and alignment in the water

  • It develops feel — which strength alone can’t give you

Think of it like tuning an instrument. If your hands can’t feel what they’re doing, it doesn’t matter how strong or fast you are.

 

Sculling Swimming Drill Progression

To get the most out of sculling, I coach swimmers to move from simple to advanced drills. Below is a progression I use in private sessions and group training.

 

1. Front Scull

Target: Finger & forearm awareness at extension
How to: Arms extended in front, palms facing down. Move your palms in and out in small figure-eight motions. Keeping your hands slightly open and relaxed.

Coach cue: “Feel pressure both ways on your hand and forearms as one paddle blade — it should never feel like you’re slicing.”

 

2. Catch Phase Scull

Target: Early vertical forearm or bent elbow catch
How to: Bend your elbows bent 100-120 degrees, hands down aligned under your shoulders, elbows up, forearms vertical. Sweep a relaxed hand, and forearm in and out. Feel pressure, feel and hold of the water from your fingers tips to your elbow

Coach cue: “Power diamond - picture the diamond shaped points of your shoulders, elbows and hand .”

 

3. Push Phase Scull

Target: Mid pull and push phase
How to: Set your hands at mid body, hands pointing down, elbows pointing up, adjacent to the shoulders. 

Coach tip: “The push phase is the most powerful phase where swimmers accelerate their hand and swim speeds. Most swimmers finally achieve a vertical forearm by this point, but should work on the drills above to hone an early vertical forearm”

 

4. Finish Phase Scull

Target: Coordination and control
How to: Quick short figure eight motion with your hands, sweeping your palms our and in, arms by your hips, at the finish position. Feel the water’s pressure and hold against your hands and forearms. Notice the subtle propulsion and forward movement achieved as the hands turn in and out.

Coach cue: “Feel the increased propulsion and streamline you have at the finish phase of the stroke”

 


Optional Tools:

  • Snorkel: keeps head neutral, eliminates breathing challenges

  • Pull buoy: improves buoyancy, isolates the upperbody 

  • Tempo trainer: adds rhythm and timing

  • Mini paddles: increase surface area, pressure, and feedback

Even just 10 minutes per session can create measurable improvements over time.

 

Why Use a Pull Buoy with Sculling Drills?

Adding a pull buoy during sculling drills is one of my go-to strategies for swimmers who need to isolate their upper body and eliminate compensations. The buoy supports your hips, letting you focus completely on arm movement, forearm pressure, and fingertip control without relying on your legs for balance.

Sculling with a buoy also helps swimmers better feel the shift in water pressure — especially during front and catch phase drills — because the buoy locks in your body line. I often combine this setup with snorkel work for maximum focus.

Coach cue: “Let the buoy take care of your posture — your job is to feel the water and control it.”

 

Try these video examples with a pull buoy:

Video Example: Front Scull with Buoy

Video Example: Catch Scull with Buoy

Video Example: Finish Scull with Buoy

 

Common Mistakes with Sculling (and How to Fix Them)

Sculling isn’t complex, but it is easy to do incorrectly. Watch out for these:

  • Over-powering the water (you want finesse, not force)

  • Dropping elbows or using shoulders

  • Making big sweeping motions — keep it tight

  • Not feeling resistance — adjust angle until you do

 

Dryland Exercises to Improve Sculling and Feel for the Water

You don’t need to be in the pool to start building better feel for the water. In fact, dryland is one of the most underrated tools for improving forearm control, shoulder stability, and stroke mechanics — all critical for effective sculling.

Here are four land-based drills I use with swimmers to reinforce what we’re trying to accomplish in the water:

 

1. Vasa Trainer Power Diamond Catch Drill

Focus: Early vertical forearm, hig/bent elbow catch
How to: To build a stronger and more precise catch phase, try this focused drill using the Vasa Trainer. Start by lying face down on the bench, using the handles, paddles, or forearm cuffs depending on your training goal.

Begin in a streamlined position with your arms extended overhead. From there, initiate the catch by bending at the elbows only—keep your shoulders stable and avoid any upper body movement. Drive your hands downward so they stack directly beneath your shoulders, with your elbows high and pointing outward, staying in front of your torso.

Once you’ve reached the catch position, return slowly to the streamline and repeat. Focus on control, alignment, and activating the lats and scapular stabilizers rather than muscling through the motion.


Video Examples: Dryland Cord High Elbow Catch Drill

2. Dryland Cord High Elbow Catch Drill

Focus: Freestyle catch positioning and pulling mechanics
How to: Anchor stretch cords at shoulder height. Simulate the freestyle catch with an emphasis on early vertical forearm. Keep the elbow high, initiate from the lats, and control the tempo.

 

3. Medicine Ball Single Arm High Elbow Catch Throw 

Focus: Catch and Pull Power
How to: Start by holding a medicine ball overhead with one hand. As you initiate the slam, reach up and over the ball, keeping your forearm in contact with it—similar to the high elbow position in freestyle.

Engage your lats to pull the ball downward, then finish the motion by driving through your triceps, fully extending your elbow. The goal is to maintain contact and pressure through the entire range - just like in a powerful freestyle stroke.

This drill reinforces the mechanics of an effective catch and pull phase, training you to connect the full kinetic chain from shoulder to hand.

 

Even 5–10 minutes of dryland work like this can make your in-water sculling drills more productive. Think of it as priming your nervous system to recognize subtle pressure changes — before you ever push off the wall.

 

Coaching Tips to Improve Feel for the Water

Here are a few techniques I’ve used with swimmers when their sculling gets stuck:

  • Use contrast sets: alternate sculling with swimming to notice differences

  • Film from underwater: most issues are visual

  • Cue externally: “Light fingertips,” “Catch a soft ball,” “Glide on rails”

  • Include it during warm-up and cooldown: treat it as a neural primer, not filler

Want to test your progress? Try a before-and-after swim:

→ Swim 100 yards freestyle, then do 5×25 front scull
→ Swim the same 100 again — you’ll feel the difference if you did it right

 

Feel First, Force Later

Sculling may not look flashy. You won’t post big yardage doing it. But it’s the quiet foundation behind every fast, efficient stroke. If you want to build real connection to the water — not just muscle through it — don’t skip the scull.

Build it into your week. Feel the difference. Swim like you mean it.

About

Dan Daly is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with over 20 years of experience coaching swimmers. He founded the Train Daly system to help athletes break through plateaus by mastering the fundamentals — in the pool and on dryland. His signature philosophy: “Excellence lives in the fundamentals.”