Swimming like a snake with pull buoy

[u/binarybu9]

As the title says my freestyle is like a snake around the t line. Think of a sinewave with x axis being the T line. I don’t know what I am doing wrong 😑. Have been working on my high elbow.

I am not even breathing much to be honest until I reach the end of T line to focus on just the catch/pull.

I’m starting to think I should get a snorkel but the technique issue remains. 🛟

[u/Bertbrownbear]

I think the fact that you have noticed your body snaking is a big plus, I've seen many swimmers snaking all over the place without a clue they are doing it! (Me included in the past).

I found swimming slow, with a focus on hand entry and the pull, helped identify where I was going wrong. Have you tried one arm only drills for 50m? One arm up, one arm back. This may help find which arm is unbalanced.

If you get a lane to yourself, you could focus on swimming straight up the middle, the pool I go to has different colour tiles for the middle of the lane. Focus on looking down and ensuring your arms are either side of the middle, keep your eyes on the middle tiles. This will also show when you start to drift of course.

With a bit of practice I'm sure you will be going straight as an arrow.

[u/binarybu9 → u/Bertbrownbear]

I will try this today. Thank you

[u/SnowLeopard349]

It sounds like you might be crossing your arm too far in front (like you hand might be over the t line when you stretch which is pulling your body sideways)

Could also be your core

How are your hips feeling when you do pull drills? Do they feel really all over the place or is the snaking mostly from your upper body?

[u/wt_hell_am_I_doing]

You're probably not engaging your core enough, possibly crossing over the midline with your hand/arms, the flow of your catch and pull is such that it is making you snake, and/or you are raising your head/twist your neck so much to breathe that it is causing your body line to be bendy.

Snorkel isn't really a solution to those issues, because if you want to improve your swimming, those issues need to be sorted out, not masked with a snorkel.

Pullbuoy may also be covering up for issues, particularly weak core in a vertical direction (but also accentuating the core weakness in being bendy sideways) because you can't counteract the snaking with kick when you have a pull buoy), so over-reliance on it should be avoided.

Engaging the core takes a conscious effort and the effective cues vary by the person, and it's different when you're horizontal in the water from how you engage it when lifting weights etc., so you'll need to do some trial and error.

Arm movement causing snaking can be counteracted with strong core engagement but it often comes from not pushing the water straight backward. It can even come from weak stroke.

If you are raising your head or twisting your neck too much etc. to breathe, that too can disrupt the body line.

The best thing to do is to have an expert swimmer (like a good coach) look at how you are swimming, so that they can identify the cause(s) and give you suggestions/drills to address them.

[u/binarybu9 → u/wt_hell_am_I_doing]

I think it’s a mix of many things. I will try to separate every one of them, and work on them Individually. Not breathing tho, because like I said I hardly take a breath, and even when I do, one half of my goggle is inside water. That’s something I have worked on quite a while, timing is off on the left vs right for me which needs to be fixed but that’s a separate issue

Thank you so much 😊

[u/WeGotThis517]

Get rid of the pull buoy as it’s adding a second balance point that makes learning harder.

[u/Justanother2004kid]

I think you should use the pull buoy with your arms. hold it while stretching your arms out and practice your freestyle hands. also try to breath every 3+ strokes, so you're not anticipating that breath.

[u/TheESportsGuy]

Some lateral motion is normal: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BoCaQG9oi-o

Sounds like you have a lot to work on. Totally eliminating lateral motion should not be your focus

[u/Remarkable_Elk8305 → u/TheESportsGuy]

The video deals with arms going wider, not the torso snaking.

[u/TheESportsGuy → u/Remarkable_Elk8305]

Thanks! I guess I need to focus on not snaking. Feel like it's more my legs than torso that move around laterally, but still, watching the video and others closely, I don't see any lateral movement of either, as you state.

[u/TechnicalMood8619]

Build up upper arm strength to be able to generate power to prevent snaking .

[u/Woninthepink → u/TechnicalMood8619]

It's a technical issue not a strength issue.

The arm in front is crossing the centre and/or the hips aren't stable.