Swimming with good body position for longer

[Deleted User]

Like a lot of people, I've always struggled with maintaining good body position in the water and keeping those hips/legs up in the surface. I've improved, and I can maintain excellent body position for say, the first few hundred yards of a swim set. However, I find that my legs tend to sink the further I go, and perhaps as a result of fatigue. This is especially the case when I'm swimming longer intervals - pretty good body position for the first ~50, but past 200 I start to slow down and drag a lot. My catch and pull mechanics seem to be okay though, from what people have told me.

I think a part of this is probably due to lack of core strength. Admittingly, I've been kind of skimping on core work recently, so that's something I'll have to get back into. 

Any thoughts on what one can do to improve "endurance" in holding good body position for longer?

jimmy augustine

YES!!! ME TOO!!!
It is like I start taking on water and my legs sink after the first couple of laps. Hopefully someone will have some guidance. All I can tell you is that you are not alone.

Brenda Ross

Yup - its called swimming uphill. Put a pull buoy between my legs and I am Michael Phelps. I do core work, so I think mine comes down to back flexibility. Here is a drill that I have been trying to do after a warm-up in the deep end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUZxXaUK1L4

I do that about 5 times, hold for about 5 seconds and then I do 5 more, but as soon as my heels break the surface, I start my front crawl and swim for 25 meters. I stop at the end of the pool, go into the position again and then swim the 25 meters. I do that for about 5 repeats and move on.

new2703

Try gentle kicking 1-2 beat just to keep legs and hips up. Don't think about kicking for propulsion

Dino Sarti

Think about your lungs as pivot point. Put your head down lower in the water and your hips will rise. If you are swimming with a more "head up position" with an arched back, you are then pushing your legs down. This will likely also shorten your stoke. Put your head down and reach out with a longer stoke.

Try swimming 500 yrds, smooth and even with head down, eyes on the lane line keeping hips up.... Let me know....

William Jenks

I have this trouble a bit too, though it's not so much fatigue related as just that I don'f float. Period.

But anyway...

Another tip, related to Dino's, is the idea of "front quadrant" swimming. if your lungs are the pivot point, then if you're pulling too far in the back (way past your "pockets") you may be having too much mass behind your pivot point. I'm not telling you to swim like a catch-up drill... but if you have an exaggerated last part of your pull, you may want to move just a little bit in that direction. Mass in front of your fulcrum will pull your hips up a bit.

Similarly, if you are the type that explosively exhales right before you breathe in, you might want to try breathing out more smoothly and throughout the time your head is in the water. This will lower your chest a little and CAN (but does not always) stop thrusting your legs down as much.

Anu Rao

I have this same problem. I am working with a coach and she has pretty much said, this is the one thing I need to fix before anything else.I am also one of those that does not float. I can barely tread water. I have been doing some work on the kickboard just to get a feel for what the right position should be. Sigh swimming is just so technique driven and ther are problems with pretty much every aspect of my stroke

George

Total Immersion helped me fix body position a few years ago. As Dino and William said head position and front quadrant swimming is key. I finally realized that you can't look where you are going. So keep your head down and keep your chin ticked below your shoulder on the glide and rotate from you hips. The swim EN eBook has video examples.

robin sarner

The Brenda video is it.    For me, that is IT.       Not a function of flexibility, body type, etc.       Eyes looking straight towards the bottom, stick you head down into the water constantly, chest into the water, some torso roll with you head roll for breathing, straight body, kick within the body tube, etc.        Being 6-6 and 185 lbs one would think I am a sinker.     But the ONE thing that caused the breakthrough a few years ago was this simple body positioning thing, imparted by a smart coach.      As shown in the video, your body positioning is not stroke related (sort of).      I do not believe in the concept that people are "sinkers" based on body type and weight distribution.     They are just not floating in the water probably.       My bias is that one should never use a pull buoy.    I can get my butt to float as near the surface, consistently, without kicking or a float.   The floating drill should be done always and constantly while swimming.   

Joseph Lombardi

Try a Faster Stroke Rate.

Brenda Ross

Robin, thanks for the feedback. How often did you do the drill and what part of your swim workout was it placed.

Drew Robinson

I corrected this 'drop' with a large amount of core work. It seems that now I am able to gently kick and have little issue keeping my body at the surface. However, in the beginning, this was not the case. Everyone is different. Hopefully you got enough responses here to give you things to look in to.

Brenda Ross

Drew, what core work did you do and for how long before you saw an improvement

robin sarner

Brenda. Just a few times. And occ since if my back sinks. I think about the feel constantly while swimming.

rbogle

Something that swim smooth emphasizes is exhalation. Make sure you are exhaling the entire time your not taking a breath. Holding air in your lungs just makes them more buoyant and forces your legs to drop. I was surprised to find as I focused on this that I had a lot more air to exhale than I thought I did, and it does take practice to focus on blowing bubbles the entire time, ideally you want your lungs empty just as you rotate up to breath. I've noticed the body drop effect too and seems for me it may be related to being less vigorous about breathing out and not keeping upper body position as time goes on.