3 Swimming Drills To Improve Rotation | Front Crawl Breathing & Technique Swim Drills

Rotation is a key element of the front crawl stroke. It enables you to be strong and efficient in the water so once you’ve mastered the coordination of the essential arm and leg movements it’s time to work on the body roll. Fraser & Heather are here to explain more!
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Rotation is a key element of the front crawl stroke. It enables you to be strong and efficient in the water so once you’ve mastered the coordination of the essential arm and leg movements it’s time to work on the body roll.
At first this might feel like an unnatural movement that doesn’t benefit your stroke but once you’ve got the hang of rotating your body in time with your pull you’ll be amazed at how much easier front crawl feels and how much faster you can swim for the same effort.
With so much to gain let’s find that perfect body rotation. Fraser & Heather are here to explain more!
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[@kaiesguerra4527]

I used to get out of breath even in a 25m swim. Now that I've figured out the rotation technique, I can swim 100m easily without getting out of breath. Took a while but worth it.

[@gmtgsong4635]

Boy, I really hope that happens with me, I don't rotate much and will now try it more intentionally thanks to this video. (Sometimes I can't believe how slow I swim🙂)

[@kc8923]

​@gmtgsong4635 I'm 5 months into learning crawl and am at a similar stage!!!

[@miguelalonsoperez5609]

Thank you for your advices, I’m progessing a lot with my left side breathing! Also my side balance had became much more stable 😊

[@adampang1161]

Amazing!!!!!!!! I feel moving much easier than before. Thank you. Guys.

[@gaurid3714]

Nice video. Thank you. I have incorporated this rotation technique in my swim regime and it really works quite well.👍

[@psychlou]

I just started emphasizing rotation and it's true. My swimming feels faster and easier. You both are great instructors, your content and style is amazing. Keep it up!

[@anjaflo1]

Thank you! I couldn't breath on the others side (left). I tried these Tips today and it was sooo much easier 😍 i wasn't out of breath and was manage to do a 3-stroke 🥳🥳🥳

[@lingmartylifestyle9185]

Thanks for showing the drills🥰 more practice in the pool tomorrow. I did the first two drills without fins. It still works pretty easy and effective.

[@birgittouweneel421]

My swimming coach always emphasised, with these kinds of drills, that we keep our ear locked on our shoulder at all times throughout the rotation and into the glide- including when you breath. Helps prevent drag between your head and your shoulder (: A good way to practice this is in the first and second drill of this video :D

[@leoded]

2:18

[@deepaliyanagama2160]

Please do a slow motion dry land demonstration of front crawl whole body coordination including breathing ,rotation ( hip, torso & shoulder ) ,arm stroke ,recovery & kick Thks

[@carolkotcheck6065]

Did that naturally before I was taught the usual way, it just seemed to make sense. I nipped that in the bud, hope I’ll be able to get it back easily, if I think too hard, I cat do much! Thanks for this information!

[@curiosity3365]

Awesome instructions & drill -- keep up the good works!

[@DanNoz]

you guys are so lovely, I love how you collaborate. great content straight to the point. thanks so much.

[@heatherfell_oly]

Thanks for the comment.

[@williamdriver2919]

I find that using the Finis tech toc works nicely to make improvements with rotation and entry,catch,and pull. Thanks for the instructions….

[@robertkhan7399]

Thanks for your tips for rotation in water.

[@hadasitalki7247]

Amazing, thank you ❣️

[@gileswalker7]

Best bit was the ferret on Fraser's t-shirt collar :)

[@danielcercasgarcia3044]

thanks for the advices, beautiful and well explained, I wish to be practice in the next swim practice, very illustrate video swim is my life

[@davidb7987]

I am a beginner swimmer, subscribed to you guys lets see how far i can go.. Thx for videos

[@bruer1000]

Excellent tips! It's certainly improved my swimming. Cheers!

[@ssuf]

Love from Kenya. Good job.

[@daivfy]

thank you a lot. Im practice with you.

[@allezvenga7617]

Thanks for your sharing

[@seulebrg]

2:05, demonstration of my pool speed on the right hand side of the screen:)

[@maurizio7209]

Thank you for these drills ... great video, do more about swimming i love it.... The swiss swimmer🇨🇭

[@gtn]

More coming 🙂

[@maurizio7209]

Grazie ragazzi👍🏽

[@tim73639]

I recognise that pool! Sadly I wasn't really into swimming when I was a student, but great facility all the same.

[@tjgato]

I like your swimming tips hope this will help me get back to racing

[@heatherfell_oly]

We hope so too :)

[@bulentkamali]

Hi from Izmir, Turkey. I am going to the pool at a local hotel here to practice this tomorrow morning.

[@heatherfell_oly]

Great stuff :)

[@bulentkamali]

@@heatherfell_oly I was exhausted this morning, now I am recovering. Very happy to see your response :) I don't how many fans you have got but please add 1 more :) You are a great inspiration to me. A bouquet of daffodils from me to you :)

[@MarkWatlow]

At what point do I start the rotation to the other side? As soon as I start to set the catch, start to pull, ½ way through pull, as my recovering hand enters the water?

[@michaelforeman1810]

Is lower back pain on one side caused by over rotation or having a preference to breathing to one side?

[@juliemay5117]

I was wondering the same thing....I can only breathe on my right side and have issues with my right hip/lower back.

[@notmyrealname6272]

Brilliant 🤩

[@echo0064]

I tend to rotate more on my main side (right). Is this normal? Should I pay attention to my left side and try to rotate more? thanks!

[@lewisdwheeler]

Great video, thanks Heather and Fraser! Also - am I crazy, or does video of Mark swimming near beginning look like he rotates a crazy amount!? Like 70-80 degrees on breathing side??

[@anamariadiazcaceres5425]

Muchas gracias

[@Cihuateotl1]

Thank you so much!!!

[@gtn]

What drills do you use to improve your stroke? Let us know!

[@carlbyronrodgers]

Tec Toc hip trainer before and now visualizing before and during.

[@Appetite4Rose]

Fraser! 🤗

[@avihaimar]

My neck is very stiff, so it's very challenging for me to rotate only the body and keep the face looking down. Any tip for that?

[@brecht1971]

Doing my first triathlon on the 15th. I haven’t had the time to train front crawl, would it make a big difference with the others (mainly adults) on 500m to swim breaststroke?

[@mustaphab.1190]

First Tri is always hard esp.the swim part unless well prepared, if you keep it constant believe me you may even pass some competitors. Just go out, do your best and enjoy what your are doing, race your own race you will improve by time, good luck, cheers 🤓✌️

[@brecht1971]

Mustafa Bircan I certainly will! :)

[@heatherfell_oly]

It is about enjoying and completing in your first triathlon. ONce you have mastered frontcrawl you'll find it much faster than breastroke but this close to your race do what you've practised.

[@melindamorin4507]

Just have fun! Do what you're doing. Improved technique can be developed later. The tri-crowd is great, supportive of all of us newbies and know that you will not be the only one swimming the way you're going now. Good luck!

[@gopaldass9946]

CAN YOU PLEASE ADVISE THE STEPS FOR PARAPLEGIC SWIMMERS ? WE ARE INTERESTED IN YOUR VIDEOS

[@ianpovey6331]

I do wish my local pool aloud flippers....another gr8 vid guys thankyou

[@Thekidisalright]

ian povey same here, my local pools don’t allowed either.

[@karlford6700]

My local pool has band, fins, snorkels, hand paddles (even the small ones), swimming parachutes and fast swimming in the fast lane.

[@DanNoz]

same issue here... 🙈 sucks

[@sanjayaweeratunga6084]

Great & Excellent

[@ArsenicCriminal]

I want to do a sprint triathlon, but I am exhausted after 50m. Where do I start?

[@josieipsen6135]

I had a similar problem, basically you could try swimming the 50m then take a good rest and swim another 50m, and do as many reps as you like. Then just try to cut back on the rest time each day/session. Idk about the sport science but it worked for me :) good luck with your training!

[@heatherfell_oly]

Take it back to basics, work on drills and build up slowly. Good luck!

[@markdbenson75]

I was in this position only 6 weeks ago, and can now swim 1600 metres straight in about 36mins (just to show that major improvements can be made fairly quickly in swimming if you have base fitness which I had). I watched this channels swim tips, and a few other KZbin swim channels. They have all the info you’ll need. Basically, start off by slowing your stroke right down to a snails pace, focus on the breathing first. Forget speed and distance for the first four to six swims. Make sure to continuously exhale and inhale with very little to no breathe holding. Head position is very important. No major lifting of the head out of the water, simple head and body rotation suffices. You are effectively breathing in the wake of your own head. When you have fixed that, the rest is just bodily movement practice, for which these guys have great videos. I owe my improvements mostly to this channel.

[@alicecgong]

There should be significant improvements that can be done to your strokes / techniques. I suggest you go to a swim clinic / get a few private sessions / then join a swim group / club. Also build your cardio fitness via running and biking for sure.

[@daniellepompey5635]

Sometimes i feel like i take in a mouthful of water when its time to breath. It throws me off. I get into my head and have to restart again. Still learning to figure my breathing technique

[@aprilscales4683]

I tried to rotate today, but one of my shoulders started hurting. Does that mean I am over rotating on that side?

[@muhammadzafar2470]

How can i join your swimming club!? Are there any registration started? Plz guide me. Thanks

[@andrewcullum8437]

BUT..IM REALLY REALLY SCARED about breathing in water when my mouth is so close to the water..do I need hypnotherapy to try and take this fear of choking on water away??

[@advex4428]

Maybe that would be too advanced, but what's the deal with that S-curve the hand of top triathletes follows during their stroke?

[@heatherfell_oly]

It's an eternal debate whether to have the S curve or straighter arm pull, a video for another day for sure.

[@alicecgong]

Some swimmers believe that the S-curve makes it faster / gives more propulsion due to the Bernoulli rule...(in simpler English, I think it means once you’ve pushed on the water, it pushes the one behind it too, so by the time your Hans gets there, it’s already kinda moving, therefore less actual propulsion given to your hand. By doing the S-curve, theoretically, you’d be pushing on more “freshly still” water throughout the entire push therefore get propulsion out of it) But AFAIK there’s no concrete / peer reviewed / controlled experiment evidence for it. Many elite swimmers used to like to do the S-curve, but I think it’s not as popular now

[@advex4428]

@@alicecgong I had to read that a few times to process it, but now it sunk in :-)Awesome, thanks!

[@adedoyinoluwo428]

I’m having a hard breathing bilaterally. Breathing on my left is comfortable for about 200 meters. But anything that exceeds that, my left should starts to hurt. When I try to breath on the right hand side or bilaterally, my right shoulders starts to hurt just after 50 meters. What would you recommend? Thanks I’m advance.

[@eduardocavanagh]

The recovery arm drill is showing the arm in a position which is beyond the scapular plane. It will in the long term damage the rotator cuff. Not a good advice for novices.

[@heidigfx]

How do i know i am not overdoing it? What is the correct and safe way to do it? Also any tips to avoid feet splaying too much due to rotation?

[@PiscafondsL]

Sometimes if you rotate too much, its kinda bad!

[@emilywong4601]

catch up crawl drill

[@rahulbhoj320]

😊❤

[@obedbuenrostrojr.320]

The Ketchup drill

[@ILOVESWIMMINBIKING]

No high ambles

[@Aivan78]

In the second exercise, why he look ahead, that is bad technique, he must look down.

[@黃宏鑑-k8v]

🤗

[@eugenvataman7726]

Looking at each other so often looks a bit forced guys - I know what's the intention and it's usually good for video production, but it matter WHEN/HOW/FOR HOW LONG. When in doubt, look more at the camera - because you're talking with them, not to one another necessarily

[@mktsp2]

This woman is really into drinking. I see her every Friday at the local pub vomitting after she has consumed littres of lager. She tries to swim through all that liquid, but sometimes she needs to wear fins. She is a really good swimmer, I would say. A... lager swimmer

[@rahulbhoj320]

😊❤