Your head position in freestyle is the subject of a few arguments. Too high is slow and too low is hard to breathe. There are definitely some fair points on either side. Some people say that your head position in freestyle should be all the way down so that your chin is tucked. The idea for this is that it keeps your body in alignment and is more streamlined. Other people say you should have your eyes up slightly in order to improve your head position to breathe. The important thing is to find a happy medium. You need to feel comfortable and be able to breathe in that position also.
I’m sure you can agree that there is a difference between a 50-meter sprinter and a 1500 meter swimmer. We all know that a 50-meter freestyle swimmer will keep their head position very still while they sprint. This includes most high-level swimmers, who will not breathe for the whole race. Whereas a distance swimmer will have a breathing pattern In order to maximize efficiency.
When breathing during freestyle is important for the head to move In time with your shoulder movements when inhaling. However, it also needs to be as still as possible when you are not breathing. Moving your head too much will cause drag as well as extra body movements. This can cause the body and hips to twist which will result in less power in their kick.
When breathing in freestyle you need to have your head position set in a way that you can breathe easily. If you look too high when you turn to breathe you will distort your body also. Again this can cause your body to twist and cause all sorts of problems with your technique.
Head position too high
However, if you keep your head down too far it will make it difficult to breathe. The idea is to try to keep one goggle lens in the water while you inhale. As you can see in the picture to the left the swimmer’s head is nearly right up out of the water. By doing this the swimmer is pushing a lot of water while swimming. This will also cause the swimmer’s hip to drop lower in the water making it seem like he is swimming uphill.
Some people move their heads too much and end up looking nearly at the ceiling. You can really notice this with young swimmers. Their head twists all the way so that can get their mouth completely clear of the water. As I mentioned before this causes a lot of problems, you will twist your body, upset your pull plus more.
Just right
As you move through the water the bow wave caused by your head will also cause a valley near your mouth. This should give you enough space around your mouth to inhale easily. In the image to the right, you can see while the woman is swimming freestyle. As she breathes to the side her head is flatter in the water and she is keeping a goggle in the water. By doing this she is still able to breathe. See how the water forms a bow wave at the front of her head and causes a valley near her mouth.
Remember the more you move your head the more drag you create and slower you go. Your head position is completely up to you and you need to be comfortable in the water too. Not too high and not too low, with a goggle lens in the water and you should be able to swim better.
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