Forget Bernoulli. Forget precise hand pitch angles.

Forget complex angular analysis. Let’s make swimming biomechanics practical for every coach.

The Problem With Traditional Biomechanics Education

Coaching courses love to throw physics at new coaches. Bernoulli’s principle. Lift versus drag propulsion. Optimal elbow angles of 127 degrees. Angular velocity calculations.

Meanwhile, in the REAL world, the coach is standing alone on deck with a whistle, 20 kids in the water and no idea how any of that “hand pitch angle” stuff helps them fix little Timmy’s freestyle.

We’ve made biomechanics ridiculously intimidating. It doesn’t need to be.

The 5 Hs of Swimming Biomechanics

Here’s what you actually need to know. Five things. All start with H. Easy to remember on deck.

1. Head Where the head goes, the body follows. Head position controls body position. Neutral head, level body. Lifted head, sinking legs. Start every technique conversation here.

2. Hands Entry, catch, pull, exit. Newton’s Third Law: push water this way, body goes that way. Where the hands go - the water flows! Watch where they’re pushing water. Keep your hands SOFT so you can catch and feel and keep pressure on the water throughout your stroke. That’s 90% of propulsion sorted.

Forget all that rubbish about albatross wings and how human arms are like the wings of an eagle. (Ask me one day about several conversations with Fluid Dynamics experts who laughed when I told them about Bernoulli and swimming). Keep it simple!

3. Hips The engine room. Hip rotation drives freestyle and backstroke. Hip position determines body line in breaststroke and butterfly. If the hips are wrong, everything else has to compensate. The relationship between the head and the hips is critical in all strokes.

4. Heels (Feet) Kick from the hips, not the knees. Ankles relaxed. Toes pointed but soft, loose and relaxed. Heels should just break the surface in freestyle. If you can see knees breaking the water, the kick is wrong.

5. Huff (Breathing) You’re thinking - why include breathing in a post about biomechanics? Breath control affects everything. Holding your breath creates tension and tightness.

Poor breathing disrupts stroke rhythm and flow.

Poor breathing often means swimmers have to lift their heads too high and for too long resulting in a breakdown of their technique and skills.

Breathing is a skill; train it like one.

Your Best Biomechanics Tool

You don’t need a $50,000 underwater camera system.

Your phone and / or your tablet are all you need. Slow motion video and importantly…. immediate playback on deck to facilitate better learning.

Record. Replay. Show the swimmer right here and right now: “See that? That’s what your head is doing.”

Or even better, ASK the swimmer a question about their technique.

“What’s happening when you do that?”

“What does it feel like?”

“What do you think would happen if you lifted your head a little?”

Real-time feedback. Best coaching tool you’ll ever own.

That’s biomechanics made simple.

Which of the 5 Hs do your swimmers struggle with most?

Coming Next Week: Part 3 of the Simple Science Series; Test Sets for Age Group Swimmers

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