Even the most seasoned swimmer can fall into bad technique habits if they aren’t paying attention. Here’s the most frequent mistakes and how to fix them.
Swimming is a complex sport that requires precise technique to move efficiently through the water.
Even experienced swimmers can fall into bad habits that affect their performance. Whether you’re new to the pool or a seasoned open water swimmer, refining your technique can make a world of difference. By understanding and correcting common swimming errors, you can enhance your speed, endurance, and overall enjoyment in the water.
Here are some of the most frequent technique-related mistakes we see in swimmers and how to fix them.
One of the most fundamental aspects of swimming is maintaining a streamlined body position.
Many swimmers struggle with keeping their bodies horizontal in the water, often letting their hips and legs drop too low and their head sit up rather than in line with their spine. This increases drag and makes it harder to move forward efficiently.
Focus on engaging your core muscles to keep your body in a straight line. Visualise yourself swimming downhill, with your head in a neutral position and your chin on your chest, looking straight down.
Use gentle kicks from the hips and glutes, not the knees, to help maintain your body position.
Breathing can be tricky in swimming, especially when trying to coordinate it with strokes.
Common errors include lifting your head too high to breathe, holding your breath and not blowing bubbles, and exhaling too late, all of which disrupt rhythm and body alignment.
Practice bilateral breathing, which means breathing on both sides, to promote balance. Ensure you exhale fully underwater, blowing your bubbles slowly before taking a quick breath with your mouth barely above the surface. Keep your head low and turn it as part of your body roll, not independently.
Overreaching happens when a swimmer’s hand crosses the centerline of their body during the stroke, leading to zigzagging through the water. On the other hand, short stroking, or cutting the stroke short, reduces propulsion and efficiency. So, you have to find the happy medium between the two.
Aim for a high elbow during the catch phase and make sure your hand enters the water in line with your shoulder. Extend your arm fully forward before beginning the pull. Imagine you’re reaching over a barrel, and focus on maintaining symmetry in your strokes. Make sure your arms stay on their designated sides of the body when stroking.
Many swimmers kick too hard or too little, often leading to wasted energy. Another common issue is kicking from the knees rather than your hips and glutes, which can cause excessive drag and slow you down.
Practice flutter kicking with a kickboard to develop a steady, efficient kick. Focus on kicking from your hips with a slight bend in the knees and keep your toes pointed. The goal is to create small, fast kicks that complement your strokes without tiring you out.
Efficient swimming, especially in freestyle and backstroke, requires good body rotation.
Swimmers who fail to rotate enough often struggle with breathing and fail to engage their core, leading to inefficient strokes.
Work on your body roll by incorporating side-kicking drills into your routine. As you swim, consciously rotate your torso with each stroke, allowing your shoulders and hips to move together as one unit. This will help you engage your core and reduce drag.
A common error in the pull phase is allowing the elbow to drop, which reduces the amount of water you can catch and push back, ultimately decreasing your propulsion.
Focus on keeping a high elbow during the catch and pull phases. Visualise pulling yourself over a barrel, keeping your forearm vertical and your hand facing backward as you sweep your arm through the water.
In competitive swimming, turns can make or break your race. Even in non-competitive swimming, a rushed or inconsistent turn can disrupt your rhythm and waste valuable time and energy.
Practice your tumble turns or open turns until they become second nature. Focus on maintaining speed into the wall and pushing off in a streamlined position. Consistency in your turns can improve your overall efficiency.
An inconsistent stroke rate can cause fluctuations in speed and tire you out more quickly. Many swimmers either go too fast, burning out early, or too slow, losing momentum. The goal is to find the middle ground and find your optimal stroke rate which you can maintain. Read our article ‘How To Use Stroke Rate To Improve Your Open-Water Swimming’ for some extra tips.
Use a tempo trainer or count your strokes per lap to find a consistent rhythm. Practice maintaining a steady stroke rate during your sets, and adjust your rate depending on the distance and intensity of your swim.
Swinging your arms wide or too low during the recovery phase of the stroke wastes energy and can affect your stroke rhythm.
Keep a relaxed but high elbow during the recovery, with your fingertips barely skimming the water’s surface. This reduces drag and helps set up a more powerful and efficient entry into the water.
Insufficient body rotation can make your stroke choppy and reduce the effectiveness of your pull.
Engage your core and rotate your shoulders and hips together, ensuring each side of your body takes turns fully extending forward. Think of swimming on your side during each stroke, which improves your reach and power.
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