A MUCH BETTER WAY TO SWIM

This is a guide to core-driven swimming. Powerful, efficient, and injury-free, it's a much better way to swim. It's how advanced swimmers swim. It's how you should swim. It's not hard to do, once you understand a few simple ideas.

If you want to swim well, this is how you do it.

Daniel, San Mateo, California, swimtechniques@gmail.com


CONTENTS

BALANCE
SWIM LIKE A HUMAN BEING
A BRIEF ANALOGY
FREESTYLE IS A LONG-AXIS ROTATION STROKE (PART 1)
FREESTYLE IS A LONG-AXIS ROTATION STROKE (PART 2)
HIP ROTATION (PART 1)
HIP ROTATION (PART 2)
THE MOST ATHLETIC POSITION
INCREASE YOUR CORE STRENGTH
HEAD POSITION
HOLD WATER
ARM-DRIVEN SWIMMING VS. CORE-DRIVEN SWIMMING
SWIM DOWNHILL
ARMS (PART 1)
ARMS (PART 2)
SHOULDERS (PART 1)
SHOULDERS (PART 2)
ANCHORS
TURNS
FUNDAMENTALS
TAKEAWAY
MINDSET
LINKS TO ROTATION DRILL, OUTLINE, LONG-AXIS, RESISTANCE, FREESTYLE BREATHING, FREESTYLE ERRORS, FREESTYLE RECOVERY, INTERNAL SHOULDER ROTATION, SHOULDER FLEXIBILITY, AND 10 TIPS FOR A BETTER FREESTYLE TURN


BALANCE

"It's really important to stay balanced throughout your body." Natalie Coughlin

Madison Kennedy is balanced

It's the most important concept in swimming.

Each stroke, every part of each stroke, is all about balance. Your body must balance without the aid of arms and legs. Repetition of simple practice drills develops good balance.

Move your balance point forward
Press down on the front of the boat and the rear of the boat rises
Press to a balanced position, don't kick to a balanced position

Move your balance point up, way up, on your torso and lean on it, press down on it. Swimming is dynamic so your balance point is not fixed, it moves around, but it should always be as far forward as possible.

With good balance your torso, hips, and legs are naturally, effortlessly high in the water, right at the surface.

Good aquatic balance minimizes resistance and allows fast hip rotation.

Everything depends on it. Only with good balance is core-driven swimming possible.

Balance has two close friends: posture and alignment.

Swim from a balanced position.


SWIM LIKE A HUMAN BEING

Applies to all strokes

Your arms are not meant to propel your body. We, all human beings, are just not built that way.* Your core muscles - lower stomach and lower back muscles, butt, and upper thighs - are designed to propel your body, so engage your core. Swim using the same large muscles you walk and run with or, put another way, swim from your core outward, from the center of your body outward.

This is how advanced swimmers swim and there is no reason you can't swim the same way. It's not hard to do, if, and this is a big "if", you have good balance, posture, and alignment.

*Chimpanzees, apes, and other higher primates, on the other hand, do have arms designed to propel their bodies, they can swing through the jungle canopy using arm strength alone and most of their walking is done on all four limbs. Their upper body is at least twice as strong as humans, by some accounts five to eight times stronger.

Appreciate that human beings are land walkers, not tree climbers, and have a land walkers' physique. That means (if you are a human being) your strength is not in your extremities, it's in the center of your body.

Applies to all strokes


A BRIEF ANALOGY

"It is abundantly clear how much Tiger uses his golf core and his hips for power and stability in his downswing." Chuck Quinton

Tiger Woods relies on core strength and hip rotation

Albert Pujols relies on core strength and hip rotation

It's not arm strength Tiger Woods uses for his phenomenal club head speed and soaring 300+ yard drives, it's core strength and fast hip rotation. In much the same way, Albert Pujols relies on his core muscles and fast hip rotation for his bat speed and breathtaking home runs. Both of these athletes know their arms just deliver power produced by the largest muscles in their body, their core muscles. That's where the power is, with large, strong, almost impossible to injure core muscles - not with the much smaller, weaker, easily injured muscles around your shoulder.

In any sport the challenge is to get your whole body involved.


FREESTYLE IS A LONG-AXIS ROTATION STROKE (PART 1)

"Focus on core motion, that's where most of your weight is. Your arms and legs are just along for the ride." Ed Moses

Rotate onto your side and draw a long straight line from fingertips to toes
Also known as "linetation"
Start the stroke here, from this position, with your hips vertical

In core-driven freestyle, energy moves up your body, pushing you forward.

Look at Michael Phelps (above image).

Notice his position: nicely balanced with a long straight line from fingertips to toes. His hips are near vertical. He is looking straight down. His arm is extended straight out in front of him as his hand feels for water to hold on to. As he bends his wrist, pressure will build on his hand, and he'll start the stroke.

In rapid sequence, he'll quickly twist the high side of his hips down, then his shoulders will come around, his recovering arm enters the water heavily but cleanly and sends energy, lots of it, forward; he'll draw another long straight line, bend his wrist, set the catch straight out in front of him, and start the cycle over again.

He is swimming around his long-axis.

Think of your leading hand at the catch as an anchor (it's stationary, you swim past it). Let your hand glide forward (little finger down), bend your wrist 45° or less, load pressure on your hand and rotate around it; set the catch and swim past it. This is the shoulder-friendly way to swim, the powerful way to swim. As you shift the work down from your arms and shoulders to large core muscles in the middle of your body, hip rotation becomes the source of propulsion.


Torque is a rotating, twisting, circular force generated by the movement of your hips. It, hip rotation, is the big engine of core-driven swimming. It's where all the power is.

Notice the word this author chose to describe the amount of rotation in hip rotation: tremendous, which is something great in amount or intensity.

Three words to remember: tremendous hip rotation.


FREESTYLE IS A LONG-AXIS ROTATION STROKE (PART 2)

"If you have powerful hip rotation you'll be a lot stronger than if you're swimming with your arms and legs. The power transfers through the upper body." Richard Quick


Successful freestyle is applying a rotating force (your hips) to a fixed object (your leading hand at the catch). Let your leading hand glide forward in the water (little finger down), reset your hips vertical, then bend your wrist slightly and turn your hips quickly into the catch.

Think less of your arms and more of your hips. Where your hips go, you go.

Make a commitment to hip rotation.


HIP ROTATION (PART 1)

"You got to put the whole hip into it, and snap it, and get all your energy in there." Bruce Lee

Hip rotation stores and releases energy
Focus on what your hips are doing

The more you rotate your hips toward vertical, the more energy you create and store, and the quicker you release this energy, the quicker you spin your hips the other way, the faster you go.

Propulsion is rotary (hips) not linear (arms) so...

Reset your hips vertical or a little past vertical, then start the stroke with hip rotation.


HIP ROTATION (PART 2)

"Build the stroke from the inside out, what your arms and legs are doing is the last thing we are concerned about." Richard Quick

Dancers do this, golfers do this, swimmers should too

Hips and shoulders do not rotate as one, that's too slow. Hips rotate faster than shoulders. Disconnect your hips from your shoulders, so your hips can move freely, quickly, and, remember, the sequence of rotation is hips then shoulders, not shoulders then hips.

Hips lead, shoulders follow.


THE MOST ATHLETIC POSITION

"We want swimmers in freestyle to be on their side as much as possible." Bob Bowman

Slice through the water on your side
Shape your vessel carefully

Appreciate the most athletic position, the most powerful position, with the most stored energy and the least resistance, in freestyle and backstroke, is on your side, hips vertical.

When you are level in the water, you swim with your arms and legs. When you are on your side, you engage your core.


INCREASE YOUR CORE STRENGTH

"We don’t kick with a kick board." Richard Quick

Kick set: hand lead, on your back, free or fly kick (fly kick is preferred), no board, no fins.
One-arm fly drill, toss in one full-stroke fly per lap.
Swim more breaststroke.
Swim a lap alternating between breaststroke and butterfly. It's a coordination test.

This the most effective way to increase your core strength.

So develop it

Increased core strength benefits everything you do, from standing and walking to golf and tennis, everything.


HEAD POSITION

"One of the biggest and most common mistakes I see people make is looking forward while they swim." Natalie Coughlin

Look straight down as you swim
Let water cover the back of your head
Get your head down and out of the way of the stroke

Many swimmers hold their head too high in the water.

Lifting your head to look forward drops your hips and legs, which slows hip rotation and increases resistance along your whole body (our goal is to decrease resistance, not increase it). Better to relax your neck, let your head fall deeper in the water, let water cover the back of your head and look straight down as you swim.

It costs energy, more than you might think, to hold your head up lap after lap. With a neutral head, tension in your neck and shoulders will vanish, you'll balance better, your hips will rotate faster, and your shoulders will have more range of motion.

A neutral head is desirable in all the strokes.

Head position is, of course, closely related to breathing.

Head position affects balance, breathing, recovery, and hip rotation - pretty much everything.


HOLD WATER

"When you move water backward, you don't move forward very well." Bill Boomer

Hold water, don't push water
This is how you increase distance per stroke
Swim past a stationary hand

If you only hold water in front of you, and don't push water under you, you will move forward much better, with more distance per stroke.

Hold water, then let your hips do all the work.

The best way to learn freestyle is to swim backstroke and lots of it. In backstroke the option of pushing water under you disappears, you can't. Now you have to hold water. Now you have to develop balance, posture, and alignment. Now you have to rotate your hips quickly.

The less you move water backward, the more you move forward.

If your hands slip backward, upgrade your balance, posture, and alignment

Swim with more distance per stroke, not faster strokes, more distance per stroke.

Hold water and swim past the catch.


ARM-DRIVEN SWIMMING VS. CORE-DRIVEN SWIMMING

"When you want to change rate you do not go to your hands as paddles. You go to the rhythm oriented area. The rhythm oriented area for freestyle is the hips." Bill Boomer

Just say no

Let's move past these tired old ideas (above image) about how to swim, ideas that never made any sense in the first place. Your arms are not meant to propel your body, it's just that simple, so just say no to arm-driven swimming. Arm-driven swimming, still widely taught, is injurious and so 1980. We can do a lot better than that. Core-driven swimming is the opposite of arm-driven swimming. In core-driven swimming your arms do as little as possible while your core muscles do as much as possible. Once you begin to swim this way, once you let large core muscles drive you forward, you'll wonder why you ever did it differently. It is, in a word, transformative.

SHORT VERSION

Arm-driven swimmers use their arms for propulsion. Core-driven swimmers use their hips for propulsion.

LONG VERSION

Arm-driven swimmers use small muscles high in their body (lats, shoulders, and biceps) to do a lot of work - push water with their arms. Core-driven swimmers use large muscles in the middle of their body (everything from mid-thigh to ribcage) to do a little work - rotate their hips.
Arm-driven swimmers use their arms as long levers and concentrate large forces into their shoulders. Core-driven swimmers do not.
Arm-driven swimmers internally rotate their shoulder with each stroke. Core-driven swimmers do not. (Internal shoulder rotation is one of the causes of shoulder injuries for swimmers.)
Arm-driven swimmers' hands and forearms are far from their long-axis. Core-driven swimmers' hands and forearms are close to their long-axis.
Arm-driven swimmers work the back of the stroke and have a long, slow, difficult recovery. Core-driven swimmers give up the back of the stroke and have a short, fast, easy recovery.
Arm-driven swimming does not rely upon balance, posture, and alignment, they are not essential. Core-driven swimming does, they are.
Arm-driven swimmers swim uphill. Core-driven swimmers swim downhill.
Arm-driven swimmers have little or no hip rotation. Core-driven swimmers have tremendous hip rotation.
Arm-driven swimmers push water, thinking the power is in their arms. Core-driven swimmers hold water, knowing all of the power is in their hips.

There is no middle ground, some of both, it's one or the other, one precludes the other.

Small muscles that do a lot of work or large muscles that do a little work, your choice, but which is sustainable, which has more potential, which is more athletic?


SWIM DOWNHILL

"The errors that occur do so on the body line." Bill Boomer

Swim slightly downhill
Only with a downhill aquatic line can you rotate your hips quickly
Our goal is to create light, fast-moving hips

Swim freestyle (and backstroke) slightly downhill, that is, press your head and chest deeper into the water, so your hips will be higher, so you can rotate your hips faster. A downward aquatic line to the front, just a little, improves your balance; it shifts your balance point forward and the farther you shift your balance point forward, the better you'll swim. With an uphill aquatic line, you will push water with your arms. With a downhill aquatic line (a ½ degree is enough) the dynamics of swimming change, you can spin your torso past the catch.

Put a little tension in your lower stomach so your aquatic line is straight.

With a downhill aquatic line you will have less resistance, a firmer, more effective catch, and fast hip rotation.


ARMS (PART 1)

"Think of your arms first as balancing tools so that your hips and legs are lighter." Richard Quick

Long boats balance better than short boats, so be a long boat
You go where your arms are pointed

You are always better balanced with a long straight arm in front of you. Value your line and leave your lead arm in front as long as possible.

This is not the time to be casual, to drop your elbow, or let your hand wander about. Point your arm laser straight to where you want to go. Keep your hand vertical, little finger down.

In core-driven freestyle your leading arm does not travel down and under your torso. Your arm stays high in the water, just below the surface, on the same horizontal plane as your body, close to your long-axis, as you rotate your hips and swim past the catch.

Because you use your hips for propulsion

Now you are longer, straighter, better balanced with a shorter, faster, easier recovery.

This is not catch up swimming, that's something else, that limits hip rotation, so is of no use.

This is swimming into the front quadrant.

Send your energy forward, continuously forward.


ARMS (PART 2)

Then recycle

The catch is straight out in front of you, early in the stroke, not somewhere under you, late in the stroke. The catch is to the inside, close to your long-axis.

A prerequisite for a firm, definite catch is a downward aquatic line; it puts more weight on your hand.

The catch is an integral part of the stroke, but it's missing, not there, with many swimmers.

The catch is your connection to the water at the front of the stroke. It's what you rotate around.


SHOULDERS (PART 1)

"Shoulder injuries are extremely common in swimmers." Dr. Rod Havriluk

Too many swimmers have too many shoulder injuries, a predictable result of arm-driven swimming.

Many swimmers put too much work in their shoulders and are injuries waiting to happen
Wise swimmers keep the work far away from their shoulders
Your arms are not meant to propel your body, your hips are

Swimming is the best exercise, nothing else even comes close, but swimming has an unpleasant, dark side: shoulder injuries. Arm-driven swimmers, those swimmers who push hard on the water with their hands and arms, will likely have shoulder injuries. Core-driven swimmers, those swimmers who only hold water with their hands while they swim past the catch, will not have shoulder injuries. Why is simple. Core-driven swimmers shift all of the work down from their shoulders to large core muscles in the middle of their body. Core-driven swimmers know their arms are not meant to propel their body, it places too much work in their shoulders, work shoulders are not designed for.

The shoulder has the most range of motion of any joint in your body, but is also the most unstable and the most prone to injury.

Problem: shoulder injuries. Solution: Use your hips for propulsion, not your arms.



A destination for some swimmers
How you swim can have consequences
Too many swimmers have too many shoulder injuries

“The pain was almost like arthritis. I couldn’t sleep at night. I couldn’t lift my arm more than six inches from my side. I had no range of motion and I had a dull ache that went from my bicep through my shoulder and all the way down my back." Ashley Twichell

Shoulder injuries are caused by repetition of swim errors.

Core-driven swimming prevents shoulder injuries.


SHOULDERS (PART 2)

Keep your elbows in front of your scapular plane
The farther in front, the better
Torso rotation protects your shoulders

(Applies to all strokes, but, for the moment, we will focus on freestyle.)

To swim injury-free, never allow your elbow to get behind your scapular plane, behind your shoulder, during the recovery. Your elbow should always be in front of your shoulder. Allowing your elbow to get behind your shoulder is one the causes of shoulder injuries for swimmers.

This is a problem for arm-driven swimmers without much torso rotation. Their elbow tends to be behind their shoulder on the recovery.

This is not a problem for core-driven swimmers who reset their hips vertical. Their elbow is well in front of their shoulder on the recovery.

When you reset your hips vertical, you clear the space so you can pull your hand and forearm in close to your long-axis, and recover low and straight forward. Now your elbow is as far away from your scapular plane as it can be. Now, with the weight of your arm close to your long-axis, you are better balanced, and can rotate your hips faster, easier.

Torso rotation protects your shoulders. A low recovery protects your shoulders.

More ideas about the freestyle recovery are here.


HANDS

"The primary factor which contributes to impingement syndromes is a thumb first hand entry in the freestyle stroke.” Dr. Erik DeRoche

Swimmers should know what an impingement is.

In freestyle, always little finger first into the water
In a repetitive motion sport like swimming, this is important
Avoid internal shoulder rotation in all strokes

In freestyle, the recovering hand enters the water vertical, little finger first - not thumb first - and stays little finger down as your arm extends forward.* This keeps your shoulder in a natural position, promotes torso rotation, makes for a cleaner hand entry, and a nicer, more comfortable arm extension. Staying little finger down prevents your torso from balancing off of your palm. Balancing your torso off of your palm turns your arm into a long lever which puts tension into your shoulder. Don't "platform" on your palms, keep your leading hand edge down, vertical, as it moves through the water.

*Perhaps you feel otherwise, perhaps you feel it is a good idea to place you hand into the water thumb first at the front of the stroke. If so, then I invite you to shake hands with the next hundred people you meet with your hand thumb down. Hurts doesn't it? It's the same thing. That is internal shoulder rotation and it is not a good idea. Does a thumb first hand entry into the water at the front of the stroke contribute to shoulder injuries? You bet it does.

Keep your hands vertical, little finger down, throughout the stroke.
Keep your hands and forearms close to your long-axis throughout the stroke.


ANCHORS

"The most effective freestylers are going to have a great anchor in the front quadrant of their stroke." Bob Bowman

In core-driven swimming your hands are anchors, not paddles
A heavy anchor is desirable in all the strokes
It's stationary, you swim past it


TURNS

An open turn, with your head above water, is perfectly fine, but being able to do a flip-turn well is a useful skill.


FUNDAMENTALS

"It’s amazing how the fundamentals of how you do it are ignored over how much did you do it." Teri McKeever
Fundamentals: The most basic and important parts of something, from Latin fundamentum, foundation.

Establish balance, posture, and alignment.
Keep a neutral head.
Hold water.
Use your hips for propulsion.
Be a front quadrant swimmer.


TAKEAWAY

"More rotation." Michael Phelps

Now your whole body is involved

Whether a long-axis (freestyle, backstroke) or a short-axis stroke (butterfly, breaststroke), hip rotation does all the work.

It's called core-driven swimming and it's a much better way to swim.


MINDSET

Bruce Lee

"The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be."