Rotation

The concept of rotation is fairly new to the world of swimming.  So, if you learned to swim freestyle during the “swim flat and move your arms and legs in a simultaneous motion” era, rotation may be a shock to your system.  No worries…with some practice, you can conquer the skill!  Here’s the real deal when it comes to stroke technique:  “Change is inevitable.  Growth is optional.”  Stroke technique has evolved over time as our understanding of movement, water dynamics, and injury prevention improves.  Our willingness to evolve our stroke technique is a major factor that creates a competitive advantage (if you’re a competitor) or simply helps us prevent injury (if you’re looking forward to enjoying pain free swimming for years to come).

Rotation will feel like a foreign concept to your body if you’re used to swimming flat.  Here are some of the descriptions that newbie rotators give when they first started practicing rotation:

                “I feel so awkward!”

                “I feel like I’m going to flip over when I turn on my side”

                “I’ll practice the whole rotation thing because you told me to but I don’t like it!”

Components of rotation:

* Hip driven movement

- Most swimmers try to accomplish rotation by turning their shoulders or overextending the reach of their arm.  However, rotation is only effective if your body is moving as a unit.  To accomplish this, you must start rotation (or body roll) from your hips.

* Head Position

- Your eyes must look at the bottom of the pool when your face is in the water.  When you take a breath, your eyes should look directly to the side.  Common problem:  many people rotate their head too far when they breathe (eyes are looking toward ceiling) which knocks your body out of proper alignment and an improper breath.  Solution:  try to look at the top of the lane line every time you turn your head to breathe.  Adjusting your line of sight when breathing will correct your tendency to over rotate your head.  If you’re sucking in water when you try to breathe (first, remember that you should bring a water bottle so you can stop drinking the pool!), make sure you’re rotating completely on your side when you breathe.  Rotation makes breathing easier and more efficient since it opens up the whole side of your body so you just have to slightly turn your head to get an effective breath.

* Kick

- Maintaining proper kicking technique is extremely important to accomplishing rotation.  Remember to keep your legs straight (knees are “soft”, not locked out) while keeping kicks small and fast.  When rotation is introduced, the most common problem is that swimmers tend to use a scissor kick (wide leg kicking) when they’re trying to get from one side to the other.  This occurs when swimmers try to rely on their kick to get from one side to another instead of relying on the rotation of their hips and power of their core.

Drills

1.)  Kick on side with 1 arm extended and 1 arm at side

                * Kick on right side with right arm extended out front and left arm laying along side of body

                * Eyes should look straight down unless turning head to breathe

                * Left shoulder should be pointing straight at ceiling

                * Possible solutions if your legs are sinking:

                                - Press armpit / shoulder of right arm into water

- Relax legs and make sure kicks are straight, small, and fast

NOTE:  If you feel uncomfortable on your side, your kick will try to widen in an effort to increase your base of support.  Fight against this tendency and keep your kick small and fast.  Your legs will also tend to become stiff since your body is FREAKING OUT!)

Repeat above drill on left side

Warning:  swimmers generally feel more comfortable on 1 side over the other.  No worries, that just means you will need to practice on your “awkward side” until you feel comfortable.)

2.)  Kick from 1 side to other while keeping arms at sides

Warning:  I’m going to be honest.  This drill will feel 100% awkward until you practice it a few times.  OK, you’ve been warned!

* Start kicking on belly with hands at side (refer to body position article if you’re experiencing the Sinking Leg Syndrome)

* While kicking, rotate hips completely to one side.  As soon as you get to your side, start rotating your hips to the opposite side.  Repeat.

Things to think about:

Kicking:  Maintain proper kick throughout rotation (your legs will definitely want to do scissor kicks)

Head Position:  Keep head still and eyes looking at bottom unless you’re turning head to breathe

               

Breathing:  Exhale all of your air when face is in water so you can take quick breaths

Whew…now it’s time to take a deep breath and practice moving those hips!  Here are some of the benefits of rotation that I want you to remember when you practice and begin to contemplate trashing the whole rotation idea because it’s “TOO HARD!”:

                * Rotation makes each stroke more powerful

Reason:  Rotating from your hips allows you to engage major muscle groups (lats, pecs, core) with every stroke instead of swimming flat and mainly relying on your arm muscles for power.

                * Rotation lengthens every stroke

Reason:  Rotating on to your side during every stroke allows you to cover more distance with each stroke which decreases your total energy expenditure since fewer strokes are needed.

* Rotation allows your arm to follow the most direct path during the recovery (over the water) phase of your stroke

Reason:  Here’s the cliff hanger that we all hate…I’ll be talking about how to incorporate arm strokes into your rotation throughout the next article, so you’ll just have to stay tuned! :)

See you in the pool!

Beth