Learn how to do the combat swimmer stroke. It is also called the navy seal combat side stroke (CSS).

The combat swimmers stroke is a stealth and efficient way of swimming long-distance. It is a mix of swimming sidestroke, freestyle, and breaststroke.

There are four basic stages to the combat side stroke technique. The streamline position, two catch and pull movements, and the recovery.

The recovery involves a scissor kick paired with a breaststroke-like arm movement. Don't confuse it with the guide stroke, which is sometimes called the combat recovery stroke.

Get some initial propulsion and adopt the streamline position. The best streamline position is as horizontal a position as you can. Keep your head down and your neck relaxed. When you push off your body must be as streamlined as possible. Place the palm of one hand on the back of the other and put them in front of you so you are straight and long.

Start your second catch and pull with your other arm by sweeping it down. Your palm faces down and stays fixed in that position. As you sweep down it creates resistance against the water, propelling you forward.

This is the side stroke swimming part of this military side stroke. Start the recovery with a simultaneous scissor kick and arm movement.

Bring both your arms up through the center-line of your body. They then travel back into the streamline position, like breaststroke. Keep your arms and hands underwater and as close to your body as possible.

Continue your arms forward past your face as you do the scissor kick. Finish in the streamlined position.

Do the scissor kick as you bring your arms forward. This helps with propulsion and corkscrew’s your body back into the streamline position.

Move your top leg forward and your bottom leg backward at the same time. Bring them back together in the streamlined position. Keep your toes flexed towards your shin until you adopt the streamlined position.

Draw your top knee up so there is a 90º angle at your hip and knee. At the same time, bend your bottom leg back at the knee.

Extend the lower part of your top leg in front of your torso as you kick your bottom leg back.

Use the sprinter’s CSS when you need to go faster. The tradeoff is that you will use more energy since will use a greater stroke count over the same distance.

To do the sprinter’s Combat Swimmer Stroke do a half stroke on your second pull. Everything else stays the same.

From the start of the second pull, bring your arm down as normal until it is almost at a right angle to your body.

Instead of pulling it all the way to your thigh, scoop it up into your armpit.

Use the guide stroke to check your direction when using the Combat Side Stroke to swim a long distance.

It uses a breaststroke-type movement for your arms and the dolphin kick for your legs.

Start in the streamline position. Push your palms out against the water to a position a little wider than your shoulders.

In this video, the swimmer uses a double stroke pull as his first stroke when pushing off the wall. That is not part of the CSS. It is actually an underwater swimming technique which you can learn here. It works well for him. You can experiment with it yourself to see if you like it.

Learning how to do combat side stroke can be challenging to begin with. My advice is to practice each of these combat side stroke drills in sections.

First, learn the streamline position. Next, get the arm technique down. Once you can do that, add in the recovery with the scissor kick.

Most people can get the basic stroke within 1 or 2 swimming sessions. Not perfect, but workable. If you get bored of it, try the sprinters css and the combat recovery stroke (the guide stroke).

Well, that's is for my combat side stroke tips. It is all about practice.

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