**Advanced Freestyle Swim Lesson #8:  Correct Head Position While Breathing**

When a swimmer breathes, her head should be horizontal.  If the head is horizontal, the rest of the body will most likely be horizontal.   Here’s what it looks like.   Ideally, only half the face…and only one goggle… should be visible from the deck.

The major fault in freestyle breathing occurs right before the swimmer turns the head.  They may be in a proper neutral head position before breathing but…

…they lift their head up and out of alignment with the spine and look forward with the eyes before turning to the side.   Like this.

I use 3 methods to correct this habit.  The first method is to demonstrate.  I use a Styrofoam head, and I stick a pencil in the top…like this.  

I ask the swimmer to put their finger on that same spot on their own head so I know that THEY know which part of the head needs to stay in the water during the breath.

Next I show them how the “head” keeps the pencil in the water when it “breathes.”

I tell them to keep their “pencil” in the water when they go to air.  This image works.

A second method is to use mirrors.   I have the swimmers go to air while swimming slowly over the mirror.    They need to watch in the mirror…to see if they lift the eyes up right before turning the head.

To do it correctly, the swimmer needs to watch the goggles begin to travel directly to the side when going for a breath.  Notice how her goggles travel directly to the side without an initial lift upward.

A third method is to use positioning techniques.   I roll the swimmer’s head so that the ear rests on the shoulder when breathing.  There should be no “water space” between the ear and the arm and shoulder.

I roll her head to the one-eye breathing position.   When the swimmer does this correctly, they keep the top of the head in the water when going to air.

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Advanced Freestyle #8: Correct Head Position While Breathing