I am new to swimming and I am trying to improve my technique. I am having trouble keeping my body in a straight line when I swim.
Although my technique is not great, I am not swimming complely flat. My body is rotating from side to side. I'm not sure I can clearly explain the problem. My body doesn't remain in a straight line when I swim. My hips swivel (while rotating) from side to side. This causes my legs to look like a dog wagging it's tail.
It seems obvious that it's a problem with core strength. Concentrating on keeping my body in a straight line doesn't help. It just causes me to swim flat. Are there any drills that I can use to correct this problem?
Parents
Former Member
"Snake-Like Swimming" is often caused by the swimmer's hand crossing the body's centre line(of the body) as it enters the water - the problem can be further exacerbated if the swimmer bends the torso in the direction of the over=reaching entry.
You say you are moving your hips in attempt to manipulate and involve your core body strength which is important but I think you are making a bad situation worse and need to concentrate first on the basics of free style technique - the path of the hand in entry-catch-pull-recovery. Once this is mastered then move on to thinking about other aspects of freestyle - I say this as it is often hard to think about several things at once - build up the corrections until they become habit.
So, make sure your hand is entered inline with the shoulder or towards the centreline, but never passed.
Good Luck
"Snake-Like Swimming" is often caused by the swimmer's hand crossing the body's centre line(of the body) as it enters the water - the problem can be further exacerbated if the swimmer bends the torso in the direction of the over=reaching entry.
You say you are moving your hips in attempt to manipulate and involve your core body strength which is important but I think you are making a bad situation worse and need to concentrate first on the basics of free style technique - the path of the hand in entry-catch-pull-recovery. Once this is mastered then move on to thinking about other aspects of freestyle - I say this as it is often hard to think about several things at once - build up the corrections until they become habit.
So, make sure your hand is entered inline with the shoulder or towards the centreline, but never passed.
Good Luck
