Don't turn paddling into fishing—be careful not to twist your body, as it could disrupt your arm's paddling motion.

•4 min read
Don't turn paddling into fishing—be careful not to twist your body, as it could disrupt your arm's paddling motion.
When swimming freestyle, a natural body rotation is essential. This rotation consists of two key components: shoulder rotation and hip rotation. Among these, the shoulder must rotate—otherwise, the arm won’t be able to complete its natural recovery phase smoothly. Shoulder rotation is often seen as a crucial aid during the push-and-pull motion, especially during sprints when the stroke rhythm becomes incredibly fast. In such high-intensity situations, fluid shoulder rotation, known as "shoulder drive," is indispensable for maintaining efficiency and power.
Generally speaking, during sprints, since shoulder rotation occurs at the same rapid pace as the arm stroke, maintaining a straight and stable body position is crucial. As a result, hip rotation is typically minimal, with the focus remaining on keeping the hips steady. For middle- and long-distance swimming, the arm stroke tends to slow down, leading to a more gradual shoulder rotation as well. At this point, swimmers increasingly rely on hip rotation to enhance propulsion—this technique is often referred to as "hip drive." Meanwhile, in long-distance swimming, minimizing the number of strokes becomes essential for conserving energy, making shoulder-and-hip simultaneous rotation the preferred choice in most cases.
You could say that body rotation is an essential movement in almost any situation. Yet, beginners learning freestyle often find their arm strokes and leg kicks compromised precisely because of improper body rotation. Since the shoulders are naturally more flexible than the hips, this imbalance tends to have a more pronounced effect on the swimming motion during practice.
1. Arms extend too far forward during body rotation
Reaching forward with excessive force may stretch your body slightly longer, but it’s simply not worth the effort. When you strain to extend your arms forward, it’s easy to pull your shoulders—or even your upper back—too close to your body’s midline, while simultaneously forcing your head to tilt to one side. This mistake is common among both beginners and experienced swimmers alike, so it’s important to pay attention during practice. Once it becomes a habit, though, it can be incredibly difficult to correct.
While the further forward extension of the arm after entering the water is important, both the initial reach and the subsequent stretch must be performed comfortably at the shoulder, with the arm moving naturally—simply extending it fully is enough.
2. When turning the body sideways, the water-holding motion becomes a digging action.
This mistake is fairly common among beginners: when lying flat on the water and simply holding the arm in front of you, there’s no issue. But as soon as a body-rotation movement is added, the proper "catch" motion immediately breaks down—turning instead into a "digging" action. At that point, the arm resembles the lever arm of an excavator, and some swimmers even find their wrists curling upward, almost as if they’re trying to scoop fish out of the water.
The digging motion makes it difficult to push the water backward, preventing a smooth transition from pushing sideways to directly behind. Instead, the swimmer can only propel the water from below the belly, making it nearly impossible to keep the body perfectly straight.
3. Slipping or dragging the elbow during the push phase when turning the body sideways
The correct arm-pushing motion involves the elbow joint being nearly locked, with the upper and forearm forming a stable "frame" around the water as you push backward in a straight line. Throughout the entire pushing motion, the elbow remains the leading joint, serving as the key to maintaining the optimal angle between the upper and forearm.
It’s clear that the body’s lateral rotation engages the large muscle groups in the shoulders and back, significantly boosting the power of the pull-through motion. Conversely, this means the arm experiences a stronger reactive force as it pushes through the water—resulting in the forearm being easily pushed into a straight, streamlined position, which can lead to elbow drag.
Additionally, slipping during the pull-through phase is more common, typically occurring when the arms are positioned wider—or farther—away from the body. When performing the pull-through while lying face down, keeping the arms slightly farther from the torso doesn’t significantly hinder efficiency. In fact, adding a slight body rotation can actually increase the distance between the arms and the body as they move outward. This causes the water being “grabbed” to quickly slip away, making the pull-through feel effortless and requiring minimal effort to complete. This is precisely why many beginners learning freestyle tend to execute their arm strokes with remarkable speed—not because their arms are particularly strong, but simply because they’re not actually pushing against the water at all; instead, they’re merely performing an underwater arm recovery motion.

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