What is the Importance of Body Rotation in Freestyle Swimming?

Question

I'm working on perfectioning my freestyle swimming technique. Would you please elaborate on why body rotation is necessary and how it assists during breathing?

Answer 1

In freestyle swimming body rotation offers an advantage of enabling you to breathe better without raising your head up which can result in drag. If you incorporate your body rotation as part of the breathing motion it will minimize the strain on your neck since there is space created for your head to turn to the side to inhale air. The head should remain stationary and directed to the horizontal plane with the neck stretched in such a way as not to tilt in any direction, while the shoulders and to a less extent, the hips and feet, should perform this rotation. Body rotation can be practiced without water where a broom stick or pole is used to position the head and keep it steady while rotating.

Comments

Had my swimming lesson today I’ve been struggling with breathing and read this before I went omg massive help by rotating my body as I’ve just been trying to move my head. Something that you think should be easy is so hard especially for a 40 year man to try and learn. Best thing I have ever done. I love it so much being in the water.

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Dude, this is by far the best tutorial for freestyle breathing. My neck is so stiff. I'll try body rotation. Also exercise on land is awesome. Thank you.

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Oh my.......just that one pointer of the body rotation is a game changer for me! Thankyou!

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I can't even remember learning how to breathe when swimming, and not just because I am old, turning 70 later this year. This is probably the most common sense method of teaching breathing technique that I have seen. You don't dumb it down so far that the viewer goes to sleep.... I swim the old school over arm side stroke, which was removed from competition and replaced with the much slower breast stroke. That style of side stroke might make a good way of starting people learning how to breathe. Kind of a combination of the one arm pull drill as the top arm comes out of the water and over the top like freestyle, but you stay on your side, which is also a kicking drill. Under arm does breast stroke pull out stroke. I use flutter kick as it is faster than the scissor kick, which creates huge amounts of drag. Only record is set in 1895.... Since you are on your side, almost no rotation is needed. Swim one length on one side, and the next length on the other side...

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Guys, I would sell a limb to be coached by you guys. I’m 8 days into my swim classes and get very little input but I magically began working on shoulder rotations and gave up twisting my neck alone. Seeing this, I realise that’s where my focus needs to lie. Thanks.

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Excellent content. I trained for years for masters swimming and never really got the hang of the body rotation. The drills in this content look very helpful so I will use them

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I have been struggling with the side breathing. Ive been turning just my head to the side and not with the rest of my body! This content is a life saver and can defo see how this will help me improve! Thank you so much

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This makes so much sense, always wondered how I would turn my neck enough to breathe in water without twisting it!
Good luck, you should be crushing it!

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Thanks for teaching body rotation technique.

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I read this, practiced the rotation a little bit, head straight only shoulder to be rotated while breathing. Rotation during the recovery breathing is the key. Little, though, but see improvement in my swimming today. I am a scary swimmer, gasping for breath with every 20 sec of swimming. But not going to give up, nonetheless.
Thank you very much.

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Awesome content..very helpful and helpful hints about what we can do to help ourselves on dry land by rotating with broom to practice that action outside of the water

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really helpful. ive been trying to breathe without doing a rotation

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thank you!, I ll practice first rotation and then breathing

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Great. It's all about rotation that I can't catch my breath after some distance. Thank you for the useful content. You guy are great.