Stop fighting the water. It’s the most common mistake I see at every local YMCA or high-end athletic club—people thrashing their arms and kicking like their lives depend on it, only to move about three inches forward. They’re exhausted. They’re frustrated. Most of all, they’re doing it wrong. Swimming isn't about strength in the way weightlifting is. It’s about physics. It's about reducing drag.
If you want to know how to swim correctly, you have to stop thinking of yourself as a motor and start thinking of yourself as a needle.
Water is roughly 800 times denser than air. Think about that for a second. Every movement you make that isn't streamlined is like hitting a brick wall. When you watch someone like Katie Ledecky or Caeleb Dressel, they don't look like they're working that hard. That’s the "paradox of the pool." The faster you want to go, the more relaxed you usually need to be. Most beginners treat the water as an enemy to be conquered, but the water always wins that fight. You have to work with it.
The Body Position Problem
The biggest secret to swimming well isn't your arm stroke. It's your hips.
If your hips sink, you're toast. I’ve seen marathon runners with 2% body fat jump in the pool and struggle to swim a single lap because their heavy, muscular legs act like anchors. When your legs drop, your body creates a massive amount of surface area that the water has to push against. It’s like trying to drive a car with a parachute deployed out the back. To fix this, you need to press your chest down. It feels counterintuitive, but pushing your sternum into the water helps act as a fulcrum, pivoting your hips up to the surface.
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Keep your head down. Seriously. Stop looking forward.
When you look toward the end of the pool, your neck arches, which forces your hips down. You should be looking at the black line on the bottom of the pool, maybe slightly ahead, but your neck needs to stay neutral. Basically, the waterline should hit right at the crown of your head.
Mastering the "Silent" Kick
People kick too much. They really do. Unless you’re sprinting a 50-meter freestyle, your kick shouldn't be a massive splash-fest. In long-distance swimming or even just lap swimming for fitness, the kick is primarily for stability and keeping those hips high.
- Keep your ankles floppy. If your ankles are stiff, you're just pushing water down instead of backward.
- The power comes from the hip, not the knee. Bicycling your legs is the fastest way to get tired and go nowhere.
- Your toes should just barely break the surface. Think of it as a flicker, not a stomp.
How to Swim Correctly by Improving Your Stroke
Now, let's talk about the "catch." This is where the magic happens. Most people reach out and immediately push down on the water. This is a waste of energy. Pushing down just lifts your head up; it doesn't move you forward.
Instead, you want to reach, glide for a split second, and then enter the "Early Vertical Forearm" (EVF) position. This is what swim coaches obsess over. You want your elbow to stay high while your hand and forearm pivot down to face the back of the pool. Think of it like you're reaching over a large barrel. Once your forearm is vertical, you pull. You aren't "pulling" the water; you're anchoring your hand in place and pulling your body past that point.
Terry Laughlin, the founder of Total Immersion swimming, revolutionized this by focusing on "slipping" through the water. He argued that we should focus more on the shape of our body than the power of our muscles. He was right.
The Breathing Trick Nobody Tells You
Breathing is usually where the panic sets in. Beginners often lift their entire head out of the water to gasp for air. Don't do that. When you lift your head, what happens? Your hips sink. Refer back to the anchor problem.
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Instead, you should rotate your entire body along its long axis. When you turn to breathe, one goggle should actually stay in the water. You're breathing into the "bow wave" created by your head moving through the water. It’s a pocket of air that sits lower than the actual surface. It takes practice, and you'll definitely swallow some chlorine along the way, but it’s the only way to stay streamlined.
Exhale underwater. This is huge. If you hold your breath while your face is in the water, CO2 builds up in your lungs. That's what causes that "I'm suffocating" feeling. You should be blowing a steady stream of bubbles the entire time your face is submerged so that when you turn to breathe, you only have to inhale.
The Gear You Actually Need (and the Stuff You Don't)
You don't need a $500 carbon-fiber tech suit. Honestly, for most people, those are just a struggle to get into. But a few pieces of equipment can actually help you learn how to swim correctly faster.
- Fins: Not the long scuba kind. Get short "zoomers." They provide just enough lift to keep your hips up so you can focus on your hand entry without worrying about drowning.
- Pull Buoy: This is a foam brick you stick between your legs. It floats your hips for you. It’s "cheating," but it allows you to feel what a proper body position is supposed to be like.
- A Good Cap: It’s not just about keeping hair out of your eyes; it’s about reducing drag and keeping your goggles secure.
Avoid those cheap, bulky life vests or arm floaties if you're trying to learn actual stroke mechanics. They ruin your center of gravity and teach your brain the wrong muscle memory.
Why Your Shoulders Probably Hurt
If you finish a swim and your shoulders feel like they’ve been through a meat grinder, your technique is flawed. Usually, this is because of "crossing the midline."
Imagine a line running from your nose down to your toes. When your hand enters the water, it should stay in line with your shoulder. If your hand crosses over that middle line, you’re putting an incredible amount of torque on your rotator cuff. It also makes your body fish-tail through the water, which—you guessed it—creates more drag.
Focus on a wide entry. Reach straight ahead, like you're grabbing two parallel tracks. This keeps your shoulders healthy and your trajectory straight. Swimming is a low-impact sport, but it’s not a "no-impact" sport if you're repetitive with bad form.
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Nuance in Different Strokes
While freestyle (front crawl) is the go-to, the principles of how to swim correctly apply across the board.
In breaststroke, the timing is "pull, breathe, kick, glide." If you don't glide, you're missing the most efficient part of the stroke. In backstroke, it’s all about the shoulder rotation; you want to roll your body so your shoulders actually come out of the water, reducing the surface area.
Many people think butterfly is just for the pros. It’s actually a rhythmic undulation. If you can master the "dolphin kick" movement in your core, the arms almost take care of themselves. But let’s be real: if you can’t swim a 100-meter freestyle without stopping, don't worry about butterfly yet.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Pool Session
Don't just jump in and swim laps until you're tired. That just reinforces bad habits. Instead, try this:
- The 6-3-6 Drill: Take six kicks on your side with one arm extended, then take three strokes, then six kicks on the other side. This teaches you how to balance on your "edge" and keeps your profile narrow.
- Fist Swimming: Try swimming freestyle with your hands clenched in fists. It’s annoying. But it forces you to feel the water with your forearms (the EVF we talked about). When you open your hands back up, you'll feel like you have giant paddles.
- Count Your Strokes: Try to get across a 25-yard pool in as few strokes as possible. If you normally take 20, try to do it in 15 by focusing on the glide.
Swimming correctly is a lifelong pursuit. Even Olympic athletes have coaches on the deck every single day watching their hand entry. Be patient. The water is dense, but your progress doesn't have to be slow. Focus on the glide, keep your head down, and breathe out.
The goal is to feel like you’re cutting through the water, not fighting it. Once you hit that rhythm, the pool stops being a workout and starts being a sanctuary.
Next Steps for Improvement:
Start your next three sessions with 10 minutes of "superman glide" drills. Focus entirely on how high your hips sit in the water before you even add an arm stroke. Once you can float perfectly level without kicking hard, then—and only then—start adding the pull. Record yourself from the side or front using a waterproof camera if possible; seeing your "sinking hips" or "crossed midline" on video is often the only way to truly fix the neurological disconnect between what you think you’re doing and what’s actually happening.