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Head and body positions are always the first thing that I look at when doing stroke analysis for swimmers and triathletes. If you’re sitting low in the water it doesn’t matter how good your pull or kick is you will be using a lot of energy to move through the water. The first step of improving your body position is by adjusting your head position so it is looking down or slightly forward so your head is in line with the rest of your body. We cover this in more detail in the head position module just before this video.
The next step is to straighten your body and your legs. The common thing I see a lot of is bending at the hip which means the swimmers legs are being dragged through the water and there is a lot of resistance on the front of their legs and on their quads.
How do you fix it? Well the fastest swimmers will squeeze their gluts together and push their hips slightly forward; this locks their core on and straightens their body. It brings their body to the surface so they are sitting on top of the water and not below the surface. This is how swimmers glide through the water and travel further with each stroke. It means you can travel faster without kicking harder.
In your next session try squeezing your gluts together and pushing your hips slightly forward. Feel yourself gliding on top of the water and travelling further with each stroke.
In Effortless Swimming’s Membership Program we go into more detail and take the next step on body position; which is how to swim faster for long races and sets without kicking. You save energy and you keep more in the tank for when you need it.
In the Mastering Freestyle program we cover drills that will help you sit higher in the water and be better with your body position so that you can swim easier and faster for longer periods of time.
In the next video we look at a few simple changes that will increase your speed with your kick and make your kick more effective.
