Congratulations to Jannine Houston; you’ve won a free pair of goggles from Blueseventy! Blueseventy is having a 20% off sale through 9/16/24.
One of the biggest improvements for beginning and intermediate swimmers is typically found in improving body position which is why swimming in a wetsuit, with a pull buoy, and/or with neoprene shorts makes swimming so much easier. Raising the hips and legs reduces drag which makes swimming easier and faster.
Ideally, we learn to swim with this neutral body position without the aid of neoprene and foam supporting our hips and legs. What is the best way to do this?
Start with the head, which is the leading culprit in poor body position. Most people look up and forward because they are afraid of running into another swimmer, the lane line, or the wall. In my early days, all of the above would have been why I looked up when I swam. Unfortunately, raising the head directly impacts the hips and lower half of the body causing them both to sink, which in turn increases drag, which decreases speed and makes swimming harder. In simple words, no bueno.
How to fix it? Look down. Focus your eyes on the bottom of the pool. When I solicited advice from other swim coaches I received the following from Coach Megan Tobin (tmtcoaching.com):
Improve your Breathing:
Make sure to look at the bottom of the pool (yes straight down) as that will put your neck and windpipe in a neutral position and help you breathe better.
Keep that position and turn your head to the side with one eye out of the water and one eye in the water and you will be able to inhale.
Remember to exhale when your face is in the water (blow bubbles if you need to to remember), because you will get more air on your inhale if you aren’t trying to do both when you turn your head. Sounds simple, but most people don’t do this when they start swimming!
Notice how much of her advice dovetails perfectly with the previous blog talking about the one goggle in the water drill.
A couple years ago I came across this tennis ball drill from Dave Scott:
Just a heads up, it’s difficult to swim the entire length of the pool while maintaining the tennis ball tucked under the chin. It will likely pop out and that’s okay as it will give you the opportunity for a second drill which is Fist Drill/Tennis Ball Fist. Simply grab the tennis ball with one hand and with the other hand make a fist and swim out the length of the pool.
The beauty of this tennis ball drill is all you really need to do is use the tennis ball as a cue to teach you where your eyes are focusing on the bottom of the pool while keeping the ball tucked. Going forward, keep your eyes focused the same way and with the head in the same position despite using the ball.
Another drill I love to have the swimmers I coach do is the following Compare/Contrast drill. Swim a length of the pool in your normal way, at the half way point exaggerate lifting your head and notice what happens to your hips. On the next length of the pool, at the half way point really focus on the tucked chin, elongated back of neck, eyes focused on the bottom of the pool and notice your hips. Compare and contrast how the two different head positions feel while swimming. You will notice how much harder it is to swim with your head up.
You can also do Head High Crawl Stroke Drill. Simply swim with your head entirely out of the water. Had I known this drill existed when I almost got kicked out of Triathlon 101, I should have told the instructor I was practicing Head High Crawl Stroke.
Try these drills. Even if you have excellent head position, try the tennis ball drill. I think you’ll be surprised. For me, the tennis ball drill brought to light my habit of sneaking a peak. While my head is in a decent position, I have this bad habit of sneaking a look forward after pushing off the wall. It’s because when I started doing flip turns I never came off the wall straight. I may of or may not have run into a few other swimmers in the pool. Now, 25+ years later I am still trying to undue this bad habit. Proof that working on one’s swim form is a continual process, just as I talked about in the Diamond Mindset.