Freestyle Body Position and Core: Turn Yourself into a Shallow-Draft Speedboat

Before You Want to Get Faster, First Get “Flat”

Amateur swimmers spend a huge amount of time trying to “pull harder,” but overlook this: your body position determines most of your drag (form drag), and form drag is the biggest enemy of speed in the water. Fixing your body position is often more effective than a whole season of strength training—and it requires no equipment. There’s only one goal: make your body like a fast boat with a shallow draft and a level posture.

The Three Key Elements of Body Position

The Head: The Rudder and Counterweight of the Whole Boat

The head and hips work like a seesaw: when the head lifts, the hips sink. For most people, the root cause of sinking hips isn’t weak legs—it’s looking forward. The fix: while swimming, keep your gaze slightly forward of straight down, with the waterline roughly between your hairline and the crown of your head, and the back of your head nearly breaking the surface. When breathing, only “rotate” your head—never “lift” it.

The Hips: From “Uphill” to “Downhill”

Ideally, your body should be horizontal, or even in a slight “downhill” posture with the head a bit lower and the hips a bit higher—this is exactly the principle behind how a wetsuit’s buoyancy reduces drag by 18%. Without a wetsuit, you have to achieve this yourself through head position + core tension + moderate kicking. The mantra: “press the chest, lift the hips”—gently press your chest downward and your hips will naturally rise (like pressing down on one end of a seesaw).

The Core: The Invisible Backbone

When the core is relaxed, the midsection sags and sways side to side, throwing your profile into the water flow—form drag and snaking happen at the same time. While swimming, the core should maintain light, sustained tension (like bracing before someone punches your stomach, but without holding your breath), turning your body into a “single rod” that transfers rotational force from the hips to the shoulders. This is also why anti-rotation core training on land (Pallof press, dead bugs) directly improves swimming.

A No-Equipment Correction Plan (4 Weeks)

• Week 1 | Head Position: 6×50 meters, focusing on gaze downward and feeling the back of the head exposed. Film yourself or have a teammate check your body angle from the pool deck.
• Week 2 | Press Chest, Lift Hips: 6×50 meters, deliberately “pressing the chest” on every repeat to feel the hips float up.
• Week 3 | Core Tension: Add side-lying kicking 6×25 (each side) to train a stable, horizontal body line from the core.
• Week 4 | Integration and Counting: 6×100 meters, recording stroke count—when your body position improves, stroke count at the same speed will drop.

Self-Assessment

• Glide Test: After pushing off the wall, glide in a pure streamline without kicking or pulling, and see how long you can stay horizontal and when you start to sink. The faster you sink, the bigger your body position/core problem.
• Stroke Count: A drop in stroke count at the same pace is the most honest evidence of improved body position.

Coach’s Note: Before buying a wetsuit, buying a paddle board, or signing up for a technique class, first—for free—put your head down and brace your core. The “speed” many people train so hard for is often just being stolen by a sinking hip. Level the hull, and speed will show up on its own.

Horizontal is the cheapest and most underestimated source of speed in swimming.

Related Reading

• Swimming Body Position: The Effect of Horizontal Posture on Drag
• Freestyle Drag Thinking: Why Your Progress Should Start with “Reducing Drag” Instead of Relentlessly Training Arm Strength
• The Science of Water Drag in Swimming: How Streamlined Posture Reduces Drag
• Freestyle Body Rotation: The Hidden Key to Efficiency