SWIMMING TECHNIQUE: TO ROLL OR NOT TO ROLL

"To do or not to do" - same topic different sport, but much like the highly debated "push off" in running, the rolling of the body in swimming is a no-no. There are several reasons for that. Number one is the fact that rolling takes away from falling (can't use gravity without falling), i.e. rolling interferes with movement forward. Need we say more?

From the Pose Method point of view, swimming is nothing but change of support in water. Due to the nature of movement happening during the change of support, minimal to no body rotation is desired in order to move forward in the best possible way. Due to the same nature of movement, it is both equally negative to directly work on perfecting rotation or to directly work on minimizing the rotation. Both impede proper movement.

In swimming, if we are to focus on what allows us to move forward (change of support) then everything else that happens in fractions of seconds will naturally happen without our interference and will be better like that.

Keep in mind that the light rotation involved here is a byproduct, is a result of the preceding action of changing support. So your focus should be on perfecting your perception and change of support, which in turn will minimize the rotation naturally. The key is in making it virtually unnoticeable.

When it comes to the desired action and the resultant one, the general idea that needs to be understood is the following - if we spread ourselves thin, trying to do too much all at once, we won't progress as much as we would, if we were to perform the leading action and allow the rest fall into place. Don't loose sight of your goal of moving forward. How can you get there with less effort and better results? Rotating on purpose is an extra unnecessary step that requires extra and unnecessary effort, besides the fact that it throws everything out of natural synchronization. This is how a vast number of shoulder injuries in swimming occur.

If you closely observe elite swimmers, you will notice that the better & faster ones have less body rolling than others.

Feel free to rotate your body and wonder if you rotated enough or not and how much did that contribute to your movement forward. In Pose Swimming, one simply changes support to accomplish the most efficient movement forward.

Article by Dr. Nicholas Romanov
Composed by L. Romanov