Core Swimming

Recently I was working with a client in the Endless Pool at the Lake Placid Swim Studio on advanced freestyle technique. In the past, we had talked about the importance of engaging core muscles – both for fore-aft balance and for propulsion. As we began our session, he asked me what core muscles he should engage while swimming. I realized that, even if I could identify the muscles by name and provide visual illustration in an anatomy book, my answer would not be of much use.

How do each of us learn what core muscles to engage while swimming? Michael and I have worked together for dozens of hours and have a good repoire. Within a minute or so, we were well on our way to training core engagement through a specific drill sequence.

We began with "Fish Drill", first focusing specifically on head position. We reviewed a head position strategy I call Universal Alignment Technique (UAT). I call it UAT because it is applicable to all three sports of triathlon, and to maintaining good posture and alignment in any standing or sitting activity: Tuck your chin without bowing your head, retract your lower jaw, lengthen the back of your neck and feel as though you have a cord of energy pulling from your crown, at the top of your head.

We practiced this standing first. Michael realized that as soon as he applied UAT, his core muscles engaged, even while standing. Next, he concentrated on UAT while practicing Fish Position in a slow current in the Endless Pool. To his surprise, he could maintain a horizontal body position, with his legs near the surface, rotated on his side, even with both arms at his side. We documented each attempt on video and reviewed it immediately on the large poolside monitor. He was amazed how easy it was to refine his fore-aft balance, just by focusing on tucking his chin, lengthening the back of his neck, and leading with his crown.

Next, we progressed to Under Switch without a lead hand. (Let’s call it Fish Switch). He stayed in Fish Position, with easy kicking in a gentle current, and focused on the UAT while bringing his hand to the side of his goggle, then extending as he rotated to his other side. We practiced this on one side a time, very slowly. Each time he started with several seconds of Fish, slowly brought his switch hand to the goggle and then extended it, always maintaining UAT.

When this felt familiar, we began to do a few Fish Switches in sequence – each time beginning in Fish (with both arms at his side) rotating his core and extending arm, then retracting that arm back along his side, before beginning the next switch. By eliminating the lead hand throughout this sequence, he was able to focus on head position and core engagement as the key components of fore-aft balance.

From this stage, we progressed through a typical sequence beginning with conventional Under Switch and gradually building towards whole stroke swimming. Throughout the sequence, the primary focus was on tucking the chin and lengthening the back of the neck to lead with the crown. The complete sequence, from Fish to Whole Stroke was very effective for training optimal head position and it’s profound governance of core engagement.

We met for 2 hours per day over the course of 4 days, each time building the practice around this sequence. We discovered that applying the UAT was also effective for refining breathing. As he rolled to breath in freestyle, if he concentrated on keeping his chin tucked, and turning his head so that his chin was close to his shoulder, his fore aft balance was much more consistent.

Shane Eversfield is Head Coach at Lake Placid Total Immersion Swim Studio, is author of "Zendurance, a Spiritual Fitness Guide for Endurance Athletes" (available here on the TI website) and author of over 25 articles published in triathlon magazines. Contact him: shane@totalimmersion.net