Summary: If you have ever been told by a coach to get your hips up what you might have done is bent at the hips and stuck your bum up higher in the water; therefore your bum is higher but your legs are dragging. What that does it creates more resistance and more drag than what you originally had at the start because your legs are now dragging through the water. 00:28 - Being Taller 00:52 - Kicking Drills That Get The Right Body Position 00:58 - Why Do Swimmers Snake? The solution in order to actually get your hips up and have a better body position in the water is to sit up nice and tall, have your shoulders back and your chest out; you push your hips slightly forward. That will get you sitting straight in the water and reduce the resistance on your legs. You are actually doing the opposite of what you might think that you need to do in order to get your hips up. Instead of trying to get your bum up in the water you are pushing your hips forward and that will bring the rest of your body up with it. In the Mastering Freestyle Program a lot of the kicking drills in there help you get into that position where you have a nice straight body position and you are not bending at the hips. If you have ever seen a swimmer with a snaking type of technique where they are going from side to side and their legs are dragging along behind them; the reason most likely is because they are bending at the hips. Look at sitting up nice and tall, shoulders back, chest out, pushing your hips slightly forward and you will be a lot taller in the water and reduce your drag and resistance. That’s it for new this week. I will see you next week.
