Balance is the relative relationship you have between not only your head and hips, but everything at the front and the back of you.
- Hand Position – the position in which your hands/arms reach through the water. This needs to be underwater, but neither too deep nor shallow to maintain a body position whereby any forward momentum you create happily follows the lead of your front arm. A depth of 6-8 inches is a good guide when pausing out front.
- Head – where does your head sit relative to the surface of the water? Correct balance feels like you are constantly leaning down and forwards gently through your chest. You know it is correct when you can feel light back pressure from the waters buoyancy pushing back up at you. Also try to aim your eyes downwards rather than forwards. Combine all of this properly into one feeling and you’ll start to sense the top of your head falling to a level where only 1 to 2 inches of the back of your head is visible above water.
- Hips – where should my hips be? After leaning down through your chest your hips should float high in the water, that is, very close to the surface. To help get your hips up to that level you can try arching the small of your back very slightly. This may feel similar to a neutral spinal position when standing if you have ever been taught this by a physio.
- Heels – swimming with minimal drag requires you to kick in such a way that keeps your legs kicking close to the surface, even breaking the water’s surface from time to time slightly with your heels. This should be easy to feel if you are successful in doing it. Kicking in a compact manner where your feet stay reasonably close together is also important to reducing drag. Flexibility does play a big role in this concept and this will be covered further in a later article.
Many of you will have discovered that when using a pull-buoy or wetsuit on you can swim much faster. This is due almost entirely due to improvements in body position, ie a reduction in drag. So if you can learn to develop the ability to simulate a similar position and feeling without needed to wear any gear then your efficiency and therefore speed is going to benefit too.
DRILL : Prone Kick, arms extended – hold your breathe and float while kicking slowly for 6-10m with someone providing feedback on your position based on the 4 points above.
SET : 20 x ½ Lengths, with a complete stand & stop to breathe – by eliminating breathing when swimming can help you perceive your balance more correctly.
Look for the article next time that talks about mastering Rotation.
Training tips provided by Future Dreams Swimming
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