Pushing Up - Another Reason Why Your Legs Might Be Low In The Water

Many swimmers suffer from low lying legs in the water, creating large amounts of additional drag, slowing them down hugely. If you are much faster with a pull buoy and/or a wetsuit then you know this is an issue for yourself - in fact it will be the single biggest thing holding you back.

There are many reasons why a swimmer may have low lying legs including holding their breath, pressing down at the front of the stroke, poor kicking technique and lifting the head to breathe. But here’s another that is often overlooked:

PRESSING UP At The Back Of The Stroke

Pressing up at the rear of the stroke is often overlooked by coaches because it is quite hard to spot without video analysis:

On the simplest level, propulsion in swimming is about pressing water backwards to send you forwards. Pressing up at the back of the stroke can feel quite nice because you feel quite a lot of water pressure on your palm but by pressing it upwards you are not producing any propulsion and only creating downward pressure on your legs. All by itself this can be enough to create a low lying body position.

Instead, think about pressing the water back to the wall behind you through your arm stroke and as your hand passes the top of your thigh, smoothly turn the palm to face towards the thigh to finish the stroke neatly. That will leave you perfectly placed for a relaxed recovery over the water:

Remember not to extend the arm fully straight at the rear, you’re not looking to force your arm out bolt straight, that will put a lot of stress on the elbow (commonly leading to medial epicondylitis - “golfers elbow”) and not give you any additional propulsion. Elite swimmers don't do this, they actually finish at the back of the stroke with a slightly bent elbow:

Swim Smooth!