Swimming looks easy when you watch people glide through the water, but it’s not always so simple once you get in the pool yourself. Over time, I’ve noticed the same mistakes pop up again and again, especially among newer swimmers. Some of these issues make swimming harder than it needs to be, while others can stall progress for months. If you’re struggling to feel smooth in the water or your technique just doesn’t seem to click, a few simple fixes can make a big difference.
Why Good Swimming Technique Matters
Getting technique right is crucial, not only for speed but for conserving energy and keeping injuries at bay. Even small mistakes cause a lot of drag, making every stroke feel tougher than it should. Taking time to clean up your stroke helps you swim with less effort, get more enjoyment out of training, and lower your risk of sore shoulders, neck tension, or lower back pain.
Swimming is unique as a sport because you have to fight water resistance the entire time. Bad habits sneak in easily and often stick around if you don’t catch them early. Pool swimmers, triathletes, or those just swimming for fitness all benefit hugely from some regular technique check-ups. Plus, building a solid foundation early makes your future improvement much easier and more fun.
Common Swimming Mistakes (And Easy Ways To Fix Them)
The same technique flaws show up in freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and even butterfly. Some mistakes are obvious, like sinking hips or awkward head positions. Others are a bit more subtle, such as improper breathing or overkicking. Here’s a look at some typical issues and what you can do to take your training sessions up a notch.
- Poor Head Position: Looking forward instead of slightly down can cause your hips to drop and waste energy.
- Crossing Over The Midline: When your hand crosses under your body during freestyle entry, it throws off your alignment and can lead to “snaking.”
- Dropping The Elbow: Both in the underwater pull and the arm recovery, a dropped elbow leads to lost power and less distance per stroke.
- Holding Your Breath: Many swimmers hold their breath underwater out of habit or nerves, building up tension and making it harder to relax.
- Overkicking or Improper Kick: Using only the lower legs or excessive kicking drains energy quickly and doesn’t do much for speed.
- Inefficient Breathing Timing: Breathing too late, too early, or lifting your head out of the water all disrupts your flow and wastes energy.
- Sinking Hips: Hips dropping below the surface creates drag, which makes swimming feel much harder than it should.
How To Spot and Fix Each Issue
Poor Head Position
I see it all the time: swimmers looking straight ahead, which causes their body to slope and their hips to sink. The fix here is straightforward: focus on keeping your eyes angled down, about 45 degrees from the pool floor. Pretend there’s a coin floating about a body-length in front of you. You want to look at it, not the ceiling. This keeps your spine straight and your body better balanced in the water.
Crossing Over The Midline
When your freestyle stroke crosses in front of your nose, it leads to a zigzag motion and drains efficiency. It can also lead to shoulder pain. Picture a straight line running from your head through your spine. Enter the water in line with your shoulder—thumb just beneath the pinky—and stretch forward rather than toward the center. A good drill to help here is the “zipper drill,” where you drag your thumb along your side during recovery to encourage a straight hand entry into the water.
Dropping The Elbow
Dropped elbows, both in the water and on recovery, reduce your leverage and make strokes less effective. For the underwater phase, think about leading the pull with your forearm. Your elbow should always be higher than your hand as you “catch” the water. Above the water, relaxed but high elbows help improve your efficiency. Some swimmers picture “elbows over a barrel” as a cue. Practicing single-arm drills or sculling can help you build this habit naturally.
Holding Your Breath
It’s tempting to hold your breath underwater, especially if you’re nervous or new to swimming. But this causes you to tense up and makes exhaling during the short breathing window even tougher. Focus on slow, continuous exhales through your nose or mouth while your face is in the water. When it’s time to breathe, just turn and inhale instead of trying to do both at once. Blowing bubbles during warm-ups helps this feel much more comfortable over time.
Overkicking or Inefficient Kick
Kicking from the knees or going all-out with your legs can tire you out quickly but doesn’t usually make you faster. Most of your kick power comes from the hips and thighs, not the knees or feet. Keep a narrow, loose kick—lightly flick the ankles, and aim for quick, small kicks as opposed to big, splashy ones. Vertical kicking is a super useful drill to feel where your kick is generating the most thrust and control in the water.
Inefficient Breathing Timing
Breathe out too late, lift your head too high, or struggle during the inhale, then everything else suffers. Instead, practice turning your head to the side just enough for one goggle out and one in. Keep one ear close to the water while you breathe, and time your breath as your hand leaves the water. Bilateral breathing (breathing on both sides) is worth checking out because it encourages even muscle development and better balance overall.
Sinking Hips
Sinking hips are a drag, literally. If you notice your legs sagging, remember to engage your core and use some gentle pressure on your chest to tilt your body forward without being too stiff. Using a pull buoy during drills helps you feel what correct hip alignment should be like, and strengthening your core outside the pool can also bring noticeable benefits—even if you do just a few core-focused exercises each week.
Getting Comfortable in the Water
Feeling at ease in the pool is just as important as working out the finer details of technique. Confidence starts with small wins, like floating face-down without tension or gliding smoothly after a push-off. Water familiarization drills and spending some extra time in the shallow end will help, especially if you’re newly adjusting to the water. Don’t be afraid to practice just one aspect of your stroke during a session—trying to fix everything at once can get overwhelming. It’s perfectly normal to break things up into bite-sized steps and make steady progress that way.
Practical Tips for Practice
- Use Fins (occasionally): Fins give instant feedback on your kicking technique. They help you keep up on snorkel drills and let you focus on dialing in the arms without tiring out your legs.
- Swim Drills are Your Friend: Drills like catch-up, fingertip drag, or three-three-three help break down complex skills into bite-sized parts you can target individually. Mixing up drills keeps practice interesting, too.
- Ask for Feedback: Underwater cameras, mirrors, or a swim buddy are invaluable for real-time feedback or spotting things you can’t pick up on your own. Don’t be shy about asking someone on deck to watch for a set or two.
- Consistency Beats All: Frequent, shorter swims do more for your muscle memory than the occasional mammoth session. A little bit, most days, adds up quickly.
Real-World Scenarios: Why These Fixes Matter
I’ve seen swimmers plateau simply because they overlooked basic form. One swimmer kept finishing races exhausted, only to find he was looking forward (rather than down) and subconsciously holding his breath. After correcting just those two habits, swimming felt far less tiring and his speed naturally improved. Another example: triathletes making the switch from cycling find their hips sinking because old cycling posture habits carry over into the pool. Tuning into body position and practicing core engagement made their swim leg much easier and helped avoid nasty back pain after long sessions.
Sometimes, working with a coach can make a huge difference by helping you spot hidden technical issues you might never notice on your own. Group classes and video reviews are effective for picking up small errors before they morph into stubborn habits. If you’re training on your own, don’t underestimate how much you can improve by recording your stroke even with a basic action camera or phone in a waterproof bag.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: How do I know which mistake is slowing me down the most?
Answer: Getting feedback from a coach, video analysis, or even a friend watching from the deck helps spot mistakes. If you’re constantly out of breath, check your breathing pattern. If you find yourself zigzagging, it’s likely alignment or hand entry. Is swimming always tough? Sinking hips or poor body balance could be the culprit.
Question: Can gear help fix these technique issues?
Answer: Things like pull buoys, fins, and snorkels can boost your body awareness and let you isolate problem areas during drills. They won’t fix technique on their own, but they are super useful when used alongside focused practice sessions. However, avoid relying on gear too much so you don’t miss out on developing your natural feel for the water.
Question: Should I try to fix all my swimming mistakes at once?
Answer: Tackling one concept per practice is much more manageable and tends to stick better. For example, dedicate one session to breathing, and another to arm entry. Overloading yourself can get frustrating and actually slow down your progress longer term.
Final Thoughts
Swimming smoothly comes down to paying careful attention to technique, seeking regular feedback, and making one tweak at a time. Even if you started with a bunch of bad habits, it’s never too late to make changes for a better, more enjoyable experience in the water. Every swimmer—no matter their background or goal—can benefit from going back to basics now and then and keeping an open mind to learning new skills.
Enjoy your time in the pool, give yourself some grace, and don’t be afraid to experiment until swimming feels right. Water tends to get a lot friendlier as your comfort grows, and steady, mindful practice always pays off in the long run.