How To Rotate In Freestyle Simple Guide

Rotation can transform your freestyle or can completely destroy it. If you rotate too little, you're going to swim flat. And if you rotate too much, you're going to roll from side to side and you will never have a high elbow catch. So how actually you have to rotate? I'm Dasha, a former swimmer and a coach with nearly 20 years of professional swimming experience. And in today's video, I'll show you how to rotate in freestyle, how much to rotate and what drills to do to work on your rotation and straight away improve your breathing, your catch and your overall technique in freestyle. Let's go. Let's start with first. Why is rotation so important in freestyle or any other stroke? The simplest answer is rotation is going to give you more reach. What I mean by that is if you're slightly rotated to the side, you're going to be able to stretch out more and reach more and then that way pull more water. And so when you're rotated a little bit and your arm is extended and your head is reaching forwards and the other arm is pushing the water back, this is the fastest position to be in freestyle and you're moving more. And so if you're rotated a little bit to the side, you're going to maximize that movement and you're going to get more propulsion while being really stretched out, making sure that you're reaching out forwards more. And so in swimming, you want to be rotated at around 35 to 40 degrees. And I know it's really difficult to count this, especially when you're swimming. And so the way you can measure it and the way you can reference yourself is 90 degrees is being fully rotated to the side. So to the side and zero degrees being absolutely flat. So you want to be somewhere in the middle. Yeah, somewhere slightly rotated to the side. And this is going to give you more reach forwards and it's also going to help you engage your lats in swimming instead of straining your shoulder. And by the way, if you come to the pool and have absolutely no idea what to swim, go check down five swim sets to get started. The link is down in the description below. Now let's talk about what happens if you swim absolutely flat. So if you swim flat in freestyle, the most detrimental thing that can happen to your body and to your shoulders is you're going to overload your shoulders. Meaning when you're reaching out and when you're rotating, you're actually engaging your lats. And your lats are bigger muscles and they can pull more water. Yeah, and they can pull it safely. And if you're flat and you're not rotated, that means that you're going to mostly pull with your shoulders and you're putting yourself at risk with the straining your shoulder, overloading your shoulder. And when you're taking strokes being absolutely flat, that means that the recovery that you're going to have is stiff. So you're going to have stiff recovery. And to be able to actually swim efficiently being flat, you need to have a really good shoulder mobility and shoulder flexibility. So again, try to be rotated just to be able to reach more and engage your lats more. Another thing is a reference. If you swim and all the time you feel stiffness in your shoulders or you feel like every stroke you take is more difficult than it actually should be, probably the problem is your rotation. Because when you're rotating with every stroke, that gives you more ease on your shoulders because you're pulling with your lats. So again, as a reference, try to feel that in your stroke because you are not supposed to feel hard and stiff at every moment of your stroke. So make sure when you're reaching out, you're actually stretching out all the way front and forward. Only then starting to engage your lats and getting into that nice rotation. And if you feel like you don't know if you're rotating right or how to connect all the parts of your stroke together using the rotation and the right amount of rotation, then go check down my Six-Way Beginner Program where rotation is one of the sections where I talk and I teach swimmers from zero to swim to their first 500 meters or more. Go check this down in the description below. Now, one of the most common mistakes in swimming is over-rotating. And over-rotating is absolute opposite to being flat on the top of the water. So when you over-rotate, meaning you rotate more than 45 degrees, so that means that you're almost on your side. And what that gives you is you're going to go with your arm way too deep. And in that position, it's really difficult to put yourself in that powerful position for the high elbow catch. So when you're rotated, again, when you're over-rotated, even on the dry land, anywhere you're at right now, you can stand up, rotate 90 degrees, and try to set yourself up for that high elbow catch. It's really impossible. It's very hard for your shoulder. You're putting a strain on your shoulder. And that is exactly why when I look at the swimmers who are over-rotating, most likely they don't have a high elbow catch and they're pulling with a straight arm. And again, you don't want to be zigzagging in the water. When you're rocking from side to side, that's how you know that you're over-rotating. So again, keep your rotation nice and minimal. Don't go all the way to 90 degrees. And keep your body nice and smooth in that reach. Now let's talk about the drills. Some of the drills that you can work on to improve your rotation and have a better connection with your catch. Again, rotation is important because it's going to glue your stroke together. It's not just you moving your arms, you taking a breath to the side. It's more that it's one continuous movement. And that body rotation is going to help you get that connection within your stroke. And so the first drill to do is the 6-1-6 freestyle drill. Really nice drill. You're going to put in the fins for this one. I highly recommend to put the fins for all the drills. It's going to help you keep your body on the top of the water. And you don't need to be thinking about going down or taking a breath. All you need to be thinking in these drills is your rotation. And so you're going to take six kicks. You're going to do six kicks with your feet. And you're going to take a breath to the side. And then you're going to switch the arms, yeah? And as you switch the arms, I want your shoulder to go a little bit higher from the water. Not fully rotated again, but highly out of the water. So somewhere 45 degrees. And again, you're going to do six kicks. Take a breath, then one stroke. And that is a really nice drill because it helps you to not stay flat on the top of the water. So again, try to do this drill, not by staying flat with both shoulders. One arm is extended forwards and the other shoulder is a little bit out of the water. That's how you know that you are rotated quite right. So you can do a set of four 50s where all the 50s you're doing the 6-1-6 drill. Really nice drill, go give it a try. Another great drill to work on your rotation is a single arm freestyle drill with the arm by your side. So what you're going to do, you're going to keep one non-working arm next to your side and take breaths to the working arm side. And so this drill is a little bit better for the rotation than the other single arm freestyle drill where you keep your arm extended in front. And because it's going to give you a slightly better rotation. So here you're going to have more space to get that nice rotation. And so again, you're going to take strokes. Make sure that as you take your stroke, you're going to extend. And when you extend, you get that shoulder, you drive that shoulder close to your face. And it's almost like touching your face. That's how you know you're getting into that nice extension and rotation to the side. And so you're going to do four 50s of this drill. Again, in fins, we're 25. You're taking a stroke with left arm and then you're going to alternate the arm and take with your right arm. Really nice drill. Again, go give it a try in your next practice. Another great drill to work on your rotation is the kicking drill. And there are two different types of kick that specifically will help you work on your rotation. And the first one is you're going to kick with both arms next to your side. And so you're not going to have anything out front. And it's going to be actually quite difficult for you to take a breath to the side. And so that is what you're going to do. Again, this drill is going to be in fins. And your job here is to take a breath to the side, not go too much into that over rotation, but again, not staying flat. So you want to rotate just a little bit, just enough for you to take a breath and not to roll over. And so you can do this drill again for four 50s. 25, you're swimming this drill with kicking with the arms next to your side. And another 25, you can do the side kick drill. And the side kick drill is when one arm is extended forwards and you're 90 degrees rotated. And so when you're rotated, you're taking a breath like to the side. And so this is a really nice drill, especially for the flat swimmers. Swimmers who have very low rotation, just because it's going to help you understand what is a 90 degree, what is being flat. And it's going to help you really get into that nice motion in the water. So again, you can do four 50s of kicking. 25 meters kicking with both of your arms next to your side. And then 25 meters doing the side kick. And then alternate the sides for each rep. And that's it for the video rotation. If you like this video, go check the video right here. Keep swimming and I'll see you in the next one.