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Long-Axis Balance Focus

If your body is not balanced around your long axis, you are creating too much drag. Maintaining good head-to-toes balance is so important that the long-axis balance drills are done by beginning swimmers and Olympians alike.

Technique Focus Points

  • Connect the head and chest blocks. Grow your neck tall and pull your chin back towards your spine. Think "neck tall, chin back".
  • Connect the chest and hip blocks. Use your abs to lock your hips and chest together. Think "belly in".
  • Lean on your lungs. Press your lungs in to the water to balance your body like a log at the surface.

What to Watch For

  • Head high.
  • Hips dropped.
  • Legs deep.
  • Chin on chest (that's not neutral on the spine)

Long-Axis Balance Focus Workouts

  • Group Workout
  • To perform a key workout, use the Group workout and swim the freestyle (non-drill) sets at EN2 pace.
  • To perform a recovery workout, cut the freestyle set distances in half (including warm-up and cool-down), and swim all freestyle sets at EN1 pace.

More Information

  • Video Clips - Look at any good freestyle swimmer - the one thing all styles of freestyle have in common is good long-axis balance. Look at any of the Natalie Coughlin clips.

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