How to Swim Front Crawl: Body Position

Your Body Position is the most important starting point. Get this wrong and your stroke will be hard work.

The overall body position for front crawl is streamlined and as flat as possible at the water surface, and the head in-line with the body.

The waterline is around the natural hairline with eyes looking forward and down.

If the position of the head is raised it will cause the position of the hips and legs to lower which in turn will increase frontal resistance.

If the head position is too low it will cause the legs to raise and the kick to lose its efficiency.

Shoulders remain at the surface and roll with the arm action. Hips also roll with the stroke technique, close to the water surface and the legs remain in line with the body.

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Click here for simple swimming exercises to help improve your front crawl technique

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The most common mistakes made with the body position for this swimming stroke is excessive movement of the head and widening of the hands and feet.

The head should remain still throughout the stroke with the exception of rolling it to the side to breathe. Any unnecessary movement of the head will cause the overall stroke to become snake-like through the water and therefore waste energy.

If the hand entry is wide of the shoulder line or the feet drift apart as they kick, the overall body position will become wider and therefore less efficient.

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