This freestyle swimming drill teaches you how to
be balanced in the water in a prone position (floating on your chest). In fact this is the best drill to forever get rid of sinking hips and legs while swimming the freestyle stroke. Here’s how to do it:
Drill Instructions
Lie flat in the water, with your face turned downward. Your head is
in line with the trunk.
Keep your arms relaxed and extended along the sides of the body.
TopSync
Start to kick with a gentle flutter kick.
If you notice that your hips and legs have the tendency to
sink, try this: increase the downward pressure on your chest and head, while keeping your head
in line with your body. Don’t press down too much though, your
body should still be more or
less
horizontal.
You should notice that by the lever effect explained in the previous freestyle drill, your hips and legs
are pushed upward. This is the key lesson of this drill.
When you need to breathe, gently extend your chin forward until
your mouth clears the water.
You will notice that your
hips and legs have the tendency to sink while inhaling. Press your buoy as explained above to
compensate and bring your body back into balance.
Pressing your head and chest down this way to make your hips and legs rise in the water is sometimes called pressing your buoy or pressing the T.
BottomSync
Some tips
If your kick is weak you can give swimming fins a try. Just make sure to compensate for sinking hips and legs by pressing your buoy, not by kicking harder with the fins.
Don’t
overdo this drill, as extending your chin to inhale can strain
your neck. Once you have integrated how to press your buoy
to keep your hips and legs up, move on to the next drill.
A tip for sinkers from Frank, one of our readers: to bring your hips/legs in balance with your shoulders, consciously engage the lower back muscles and also do dry land exercises to strengthen those lower back muscles.
Previous Drill – Head-Lead Supine Balance
Next Drill – Head-Lead Side Balance
