Freestyle Swimming Drills
Balance while Rolling

In this freestyle swimming drill you learn to balance while rolling between the head up and head down positions. Additionally, you learn get a breath of fresh air by rolling the body instead of lifting the head.

This drill belongs to an older sequence of swimming drills to learn the freestyle stroke. Please consult the Learn How To Swim The Freestyle Stroke article to learn the current sequence of swimming drills.

Swimming Drill Video

Drill Instructions

• Lie flat in the water, with the face down. Your head is aligned with the body.
• Keep your arms relaxed and to the sides of the body.
• Use a supple flutter kick.
• Press your head and chest down to stay balanced, like you learned in the balancing on your front swimming drill.
• Now when you need air, roll your body until you are in the head up position of the balancing on your back swimming drill. Make sure you roll the whole body all at once, don't anticipate the rotation with your head.
• Once you have taken your breath and rebalanced, roll back to the initial face down position. Again, make sure you roll the whole body all at once.
• Alternate rolling to both sides.

While you roll between the body up and body down positions, you will need to continuously change how you lean on your upper body to keep your hips and legs up. This is a valuable skill to posses as it lets you balance in any position in your front crawl technique.

Conclusion

This was the last of the freestyle stroke drills for balance. Your legs and hips should now stay up without any effort while you swim the freestyle. If not, review the balance drills.