The common swimming mistakes almost all trace to two root causes: holding your breath, and looking forward. Sinking legs, short strokes and early exhaustion are usually symptoms of those two rather than separate problems, which is why fixing them individually rarely works.
Why do my legs sink, and why does kicking harder fail?
Sinking legs is the complaint instructors hear most, and the instinctive response, kicking
harder, is almost always wrong. Legs sink because the head is high, and the body pivots around the
chest. Lifting the head at one end drives the hips down at the other, and no amount of kicking
overcomes a lever working against you.
The fix is to look at the bottom of the pool rather than forward, and to press the chest very
slightly down. The hips rise as a consequence, without any additional effort, and the kick suddenly
becomes effective because it is finally operating in line with the body rather than below it.
Held breath contributes too. Full lungs are buoyant, so a swimmer holding their breath floats
high at the chest and low at the hips. Continuous exhalation flattens the body out and is often worth
more than any drill.
Why is lifting the head to breathe a swimming mistake?
The second root cause. Turning to breathe by lifting the head forward is instinctive and it
costs on every stroke: the hips drop, drag rises, and the stroke that follows starts from a worse
position. Swimmers then feel unfit and work harder, which makes the head lift more pronounced.
Rotate instead. The body turning brings the mouth to the surface, one goggle stays in the water,
and you look sideways at the lane rope rather than forward down the pool. The cue that helps most
people is deliberately keeping the lower goggle submerged, because it makes an invisible error
visible.
Both root causes are breathing related, which is why
Breathing Technique for Swimming is usually
the highest value thing a struggling swimmer can work on.
Does hurrying the stroke make you swim faster?
Beginners turn their arms over quickly, which feels fast and is not. A hurried stroke shortens
the pull, skips the front part of the catch where most of the propulsion lives, and raises energy
cost sharply because drag rises with the square of speed.
The counter is to lengthen rather than to quicken. Reach fully forward, keep the arm extended
briefly, and let the hand find purchase before pulling. Counting strokes per length gives you an
objective measure: covering a length in fewer strokes at the same pace is real efficiency, and it
almost always feels slower while being faster.
The related error is a wide, splashy recovery and a crossover entry, where the hand crosses the
centre line in front of the head. That makes the body snake, which adds drag and puts the shoulder in
a poor position under load.
Kicking from the knee
A bicycle kick, driven from the knee with a large bend, produces drag rather than propulsion.
The knee coming forward pushes water ahead of you, and the effort involved is considerable, which is
why swimmers who kick this way tire quickly and go nowhere.
A functional kick comes from the hip with a relatively straight leg, a loose ankle and a small
amplitude, mostly within the body's slipstream. It should be quiet. Splashing means the feet are
leaving the water, which is effort spent on air rather than on water.
Ankle flexibility limits many adults here, particularly runners and cyclists, whose stiff ankles
make an effective kick genuinely hard. That is worth knowing rather than fighting, because a
beginner with stiff ankles gets far more from body position work than from kick training.
Key takeaways
- Most common errors trace to two roots: holding your breath and looking forward.
- Legs sink because the head is high; the body pivots around the chest and kicking cannot fix the lever.
- Held breath makes the chest buoyant and the hips heavy, so continuous exhaling flattens the body out.
- Breathe by rotating and keep the lower goggle in the water, which makes an invisible error visible.
- A hurried stroke shortens the pull and skips the catch, where most propulsion actually lives.
- Count strokes per length; fewer strokes at the same pace is unambiguous efficiency.
- A crossover entry makes the body snake and loads the shoulder in a poor position.
- Kick from the hip with a loose ankle and small amplitude; splashing is effort spent on air.
- Stiff ankles from running or cycling limit the kick, so prioritize body position instead.
- Body position and breathing are self-fixable with video; the catch usually needs another set of eyes.
Symptom, root cause, and what to work on
| Symptom | Root cause | Work on this |
|---|---|---|
| Legs sink | Head too high, breath held | Look at the bottom, exhale continuously, press the chest slightly |
| Exhausted after one length | Breath holding, carbon dioxide build up | Continuous exhale underwater |
| Half a breath only | No exhale before the head turns | Empty the lungs before rotating |
| Arms turn over fast, no speed | Shortened pull, skipped catch | Lengthen the stroke, count strokes per length |
| Body snakes side to side | Crossover entry past the centre line | Enter the hand in line with the shoulder |
| Kicking hard, going nowhere | Kicking from the knee, splashing | Kick from the hip, loose ankle, small amplitude |
| One shoulder aches | One sided breathing, high volume increase | Train bilaterally, raise volume gradually |
Want to book a class?
Call (516) 872-4571. We teach at 490 Sunrise Highway, Rockville Centre, NY 11570.
Frequently asked questions
Why do my legs sink no matter how hard I kick?
Because the cause is at the other end. A high head drives the hips down, and kicking cannot overcome that lever. Look at the bottom of the pool and exhale continuously, and the legs usually rise on their own.
Is a stronger kick the answer to being slow?
Rarely. In freestyle the kick contributes far less propulsion than swimmers assume, and its main job is keeping the body flat. Body position and catch return far more for the same effort.
How do I know if I am crossing over?
Have someone film you from the front, or from directly above. A crossover entry past the head's centre line makes the body snake and is difficult to feel from inside the stroke.
Why do I get more tired swimming than running?
Water is far denser than air and drag rises with the square of speed, so inefficiency is punished much more harshly. Most of the common swimming mistakes are expensive for exactly this reason.
Should I count strokes?
Yes. Strokes per length is the most useful single number a self-coached swimmer can track, because falling stroke count at the same pace is unambiguous evidence of improved efficiency.
My ankles are stiff from running. Does that matter?
It does. Stiff ankles make an effective flutter kick genuinely difficult, which is common in runners and cyclists. Prioritize body position work; you will get far more from it than from kick sets.
Is splashing a sign of working hard?
It is a sign of wasted effort. Splash means feet or hands are moving air rather than water. Efficient swimming is noticeably quiet, and quiet is a reasonable goal in itself.
Can I fix these on my own?
Body position and breathing, largely yes, especially with video from the poolside. The catch is much harder to self-diagnose because it happens where you cannot see it, which is where lessons pay off.
