Once Inspired

Technique in swimming is the single most important thing to making a success of it. Unfortunately swimming is more complex than most would perceive it to be. Bad habits are hard to break and because each movement affects the next your technique is important from start to finish.

Head position is vital as your head leads the way. A lot of swimmers have a good head position whilst facing down but as soon as it comes to taking a breath head tilt becomes a factor and the swimmer is making corrections from this point forward thus rendering the rest of the stroke inefficient and the swimmer begins to tire. Maintaining a good head position ensures alignment thereby making the swimmer more streamlined.

Another common mistake lies with hand entry. Many swimmers tend to enter the water just infront of their head. This is often the cause for a dropping shoulder which leads to a number of inefficiencies, such as excessive roll and excessive hip flexation, and is also one of the primary causes of shoulder injury. Hand entry should happen between 20 and 30cm in front of the head.

It is important that the hips rotate in the same plain as the shoulders through the stroke thereby maintaining a good line along the central axis. Arm cross-over is another common problem and is best explained as follows: Breathing to the left can cause the right arm to cut across the central axis and vice versa.  This simply threatens the linearity of the central axis resulting in inefficiency.

It is important that your stroke through the water be as effective as possible. Swimmers need to ensure that their hands and forearms are catching as much water as possible. This is achieved by keeping the hand and forearm perpendicular with the bottom of the pool for as long as possible. Remembering to roll through the stroke as the arm rotates from the shoulder will maintain a straight central axis through the stroke.

At the end of the stroke, when the hand is at the hips, it is best to lift your arm out of the water by bending at the elbow from the shoulder. Never lift the hand higher than the elbow. This part of the stroke is known as recovery, the period during which the arm is out the water. Bringing your hand forward in a straight line close to the side of your body increases efficiency. Many swimmers flick their hands out of the water and swing their hands out sideways during recovery. This is not only inefficient but is the most common cause of tired shoulders. It also places strain on the bicep tendons and rotator cuffs.

Injuries resulting from a poor swimming technique are rotator cuff syndrome and other forms of tendonitis. Hip and lower back pain is something that is fairly common too but few blame swimming for those aches and pains.

If you would like to know more or add to this please leave a comment or email me at nic@onceinspired.co.za

Good luck. Happy swimming