how do you increase body rotation in swimming? any suggestions or drills?
My masters swim coach always had us do the 3-6-3 drill - three strokes, then 6 kicks on your left side, then three strokes, then 6 kicks on your right side, etc.
I think the pulls right after the kick (when you are on your side) are especially helpful for feeling the rotation.
When your hand extends during entry, focus on driving down your shoulder. As you do this, extend your arm aiming for 4:00 (instead of straight forward toward 3:00). Just make sure your arm leads; if your shoulder gets “ahead” of your arm you won’t be maintaining high elbows.
try swimming with a tennis ball tucked under your chin
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actually, i did try swimming with the tennis ball tucked in but just couldn’t roll out for breath! and I felt as if my neck was really flexed too much. Maybe, i have a long neck!
Can I assume you rotate fully when breathing? If so, try a drill where you breath on every stroke…both sides.
Also, I find that I rotate fully automatically whenever I focus on only one thing: reaching as far forward as possible before each catch. Forcing that reach brings the shoulder down and rotates the torso.
This is to nobody in general but:
If you want more body rotation when you swim then why don’t you just do it?
I mean like think about body rotation as you are swimming. Is it that hard for people to remember?
jaretj
Swim with closed fists. You use a lot of your catch and pull. To make up for it have to rotate better.
The other side(main) benefit of the drill is it will teach an early vertical forearm.
This is to nobody in general but:
If you want more body rotation when you swim then why don’t you just do it?
I mean like think about body rotation as you are swimming. Is it that hard for people to remember?
jaretj
Also, if you want to swim faster, then why don’t you just do it?
I mean like think about swimming faster when you are swimming. Is it that hard for people to remember?
Can I assume you rotate fully when breathing? If so, try a drill where you breath on every stroke…both sides.
No- bad swimmers like me are perfectly capable of breathing without rotating enough. This is done by moving the head off-axis (lifting), thereby throwing body position off. Breathing to each side will simply make me a crappier swimmer if I can’t fix the underlying issue, which is to roll to breath instead of lifting my head.
In Reply ToThis is to nobody in general but:
If you want more body rotation when you swim then why don’t you just do it?
I mean like think about body rotation as you are swimming. Is it that hard for people to remember?
jaretj
Because for someone that’s struggling with lack of rotation (like me) it’s neither immediately obvious that I’m not rotating enough without the watchful eye of a coach, nor is it clear what ‘enough’ rotation feels like when I’ve been ingraining bad form for so long. Just thinking about rotating more (which I’ve been doing a lot of lately since I started working with a coach) feels very awkward initially and doesn’t seem like a ‘correct’ way to swim for someone that’s been under-rotating for a while. I can remember it just fine- I just can’t do it properly and consistently yet. This is where drills come in.
No- bad swimmers like me are perfectly capable of breathing without rotating enough. This is done by moving the head off-axis (lifting), thereby throwing body position off. Breathing to each side will simply make me a crappier swimmer if I can’t fix the underlying issue, which is to roll to breath instead of lifting my head.
Ah! Ok, then just wait until your neck gets screwed up and then swimming with that pain will cause you to immobilize your neck resulting in the proper rotation! (just a little tongue in cheek).
do you have a swim coach BTW? I suppose you are asking us here because you don’t have the benefit of a coach yelling at you from the deck.
I like to do side-swimming drills. You can do it with a single-arm stroke or with only kicking. You keep 1 stable body position (if kicking only) where you are rotated on your side with one shoulder out of the water a little bit. You exhale with your face looking straight down at the bottom and turn your head to inhale.
Yes, this is turning only at the neck, but the good thing is that it that when you are breathing, you are in the right rotated position…oh, and when you are exhaling you are in the correct position for starting the recovery on the non-breathing side.
I probably confused you with that poor excuse for a description. Sorry in advance.
No- bad swimmers like me are perfectly capable of breathing without rotating enough. This is done by moving the head off-axis (lifting), thereby throwing body position off. Breathing to each side will simply make me a crappier swimmer if I can’t fix the underlying issue, which is to roll to breath instead of lifting my head.
Ah! Ok, then just wait until your neck gets screwed up and then swimming with that pain will cause you to immobilize your neck resulting in the proper rotation! (just a little tongue in cheek).
do you have a swim coach BTW? I suppose you are asking us here because you don’t have the benefit of a coach yelling at you from the deck.
I like to do side-swimming drills. You can do it with a single-arm stroke or with only kicking. You keep 1 stable body position (if kicking only) where you are rotated on your side with one shoulder out of the water a little bit. You exhale with your face looking straight down at the bottom and turn your head to inhale.
Yes, this is turning only at the neck, but the good thing is that it that when you are breathing, you are in the right rotated position…oh, and when you are exhaling you are in the correct position for starting the recovery on the non-breathing side.
I probably confused you with that poor excuse for a description. Sorry in advance.
To be clear, I’m not the OP, so I don’t know if they have a coach. This was just a very timely question for me, as it’s something I’m struggling with at the moment too, so I thought Id’ comment on the discussion. I just started working with a coach, which is how I’ve come to learn exactly how much and why I suck (besides the really bad swim times in races). My coach now has me doing the side swimming drills and the 6 3 6 drill that Hokiebird mentioned.
My only advice to the OP is to find a coach if you’re not working with one. I’ve found that trying to learn to swim solely by doing drills based on what you ‘think’ you’re doing wrong is a very frustrating experience. In the course of a few hours of lessons/discussion with a coach I’ve made more progress than through months of TI drills on my own.
Edit: hahaha, jyeager- yes, I did actually screw my neck up pretty good last year through bad form. I pinched a nerve, and when I went to my chiro, who’s also a triathlete and a good swimmer, he laughed at me and told me that my swimming must really suck to mess my neck up that bad. Unfortunately, the pinched nerve did little on it’s own to make me a better swimmer.
OK, good point, now I understand.
Thanks
jaretj
Just thinking about rotating more (which I’ve been doing a lot of lately since I started working with a coach) feels very awkward initially and doesn’t seem like a ‘correct’ way to swim for someone that’s been under-rotating for a while.
You might ask your coach to film you swimming as you usually do, then with what you feel is a good roll and then with an exaggerated roll. Seeing yourself doing something is a lot different than thinking about how you are doing something while you are doing it. Like hearing your voice on tape.
Just thinking about rotating more (which I’ve been doing a lot of lately since I started working with a coach) feels very awkward initially and doesn’t seem like a ‘correct’ way to swim for someone that’s been under-rotating for a while.
You might ask your coach to film you swimming as you usually do, then with what you feel is a good roll and then with an exaggerated roll. Seeing yourself doing something is a lot different than thinking about how you are doing something while you are doing it. Like hearing your voice on tape.
Yes, excellent advice. We have the ‘before’ on tape now and watching that was pretty eye-opening and uncovered a lot of what I’m working on with him at the moment. I’ll see if I can get him to drag out the camera again when I’m working on rotation drills in order to be able to see what I’m feeling looks like.
the side swimming drills, as already described
…and a continuation thereof, where you take a few strokes then roll all the way over to backstroke, a few strokes backstroke, then the rest of the way around, then do it in the opposite direction
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What I’ve learned from my coach is the rotation is driven by the hips/legs, NOT shoulders. The shoulders should follow the hips if you have a nice tight “plank” position. If the rotation is driven from the shoulders you are putting extra stress on them.
For a proper hip driven rotation, try the side swimming drills described by earlier posters, and try practicing a strong hip drive with 2 or 6 beat kick using fins to emphasis the leg/hip component rather than shoulder driven. A good one is to use fins in the dive pool, get in a vertical position and practice a hip driven rotation using a 6 beat kick to keep the shoulders and chest out of the water with arms folded across your chest.
Just thought I’d pass along a little tip from today’s swim session… when working on technique, only exaggerate one motion at a time. Doing an exaggerated ‘press the buoy’ while at the same time working to not lift the head but rotate instead will result in rolling for a breath about 4 inches under water. I’m sure this was quite the spectacle to behold for all on the pool deck, as I first inhaled the entire pool and then stood bolt upright and coughed it all out in one motion.
Don’t sweat it, I have been doing that every practice for 4 months.
how do you increase body rotation in swimming? any suggestions or drills?
Here’s a few questions for you…Why do you want to rotate more? What are you hoping to gain with more rotation?
Just like there are different theories on training, there are different theories and beliefs on swim technique, some which include rotation, and some which do not promote rotation at all. Perhaps instead of trying to add more rotation, there are other, more beneficial technical aspects you can focus on.