I have heard and read so many different opinions on head position while swimming freestyle. I want to hear the ST opinion since I will never be racing freestyle in a pool, always open water during a Tri. I have read straight down, 45 degrees, or pretty much forward so you could see the people in front of you and avoid getting kicked etc…
looking forward a little bit. If you can see the cross mark on the wall and you’re only halfway down the pool, you’re head is too high.
Look +/- 5 yards ahead or so.
Also might be a good idea to do a masters meet. Going fast is good training for going fast.
Neutral i.e. “straight down”. I say neutral because you shouldn’t force it down but keep it relaxed. Keep your head relaxed and your body position will be more horizontal which means less drag. As far as avoiding other swimmers etc… that’s what sighting is for, learn how to do it correctly without disturbing your rhythm or causing your legs to drop. You can actually feel water turbulence or a change in water resistance when you’re on someone’s feet or close to another swimmer.
We often practice drafting and swimming in close quarters (3 swimmers in a lane side by side) with our masters group. Most of us are triathletes there so we do a lot of open water specific sets.
Dropping the head is faster and how I race and train in the pool. It helps me get in a good body position with my hips & legs up (and not dragging) and aids with the waves that pass over you.
In open water: it’s everything you listed! Since you won’t swim fast if you get kicked in the face or get your goggles full of water when you run into someone, you need to sight. I give quick looks up as much as needed. When I see that I have some room in front of me, I drop my head more and focus on getting good speed through that section. When it gets crowded again, I look up more, but when I do, I try to drop my chin back down quickly when I’m done sighting, even if it’s only for a few strokes before my next sighting.
If you’re in a wetsuit, you’ll be more buoyant, so dropping the head may not matter as much, since your lower body should be higher due to the buoyancy of the suit.
Generally, whatever is for pool swimming is also fast in the open water (though some people dispute that). Think of the conditions as always changing between crowded and open, and adapt your sighting according to those conditions.
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It’s possible to swim fast with any if those head positions. That said, the lower you can get your head down, the higher your feet will naturally float, so for most people you want your head as low as you can. That said, You may, repeat, May, be able to generate more power from the pull with a higher head position, according to one of the Russell Mark seminars in USA swimming.
So, my answer is that you should do whatever you are most comfortable with, particularly if you have other things to work on. I’ve tested it out for myself in the pool, and I’m definitely more efficient when I’m looking straight down at the bottom, such that I have to use the bottom of the pool to gauge my turn because I can’t see the wall.
When you breathe close the eye that is out of the water. If you see anything but underwater from the other eye it’s wrong. Focus on the position when you breathe and usually the head position the rest of the time self corrects or gets you most of the way there, it’s awkward to go from a correct head position when breathing to not when not breathing.
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That’s a great tip that I will carry forward to adults I teach to swim. Thanks!
Dropping the head is faster and how I race and train in the pool. It helps me get in a good body position with my hips & legs up (and not dragging) and aids with the waves that pass over you.
In open water: it’s everything you listed! Since you won’t swim fast if you get kicked in the face or get your goggles full of water when you run into someone, you need to sight. I give quick looks up as much as needed. When I see that I have some room in front of me, I drop my head more and focus on getting good speed through that section. When it gets crowded again, I look up more, but when I do, I try to drop my chin back down quickly when I’m done sighting, even if it’s only for a few strokes before my next sighting.
x2 glad you mentioned that, I see a lot of people fighting themselves because they don’t drop their head and their hips are dragging through the water