One thing about swimming that I’m always teaching/correcting, regardless of level/experience and stroke, is body position. Body position, body position, body position. It is the single most important concept to swimming fast. Body position affects every aspect of fast swimming.
Why is this true?
Because drag forces affect water speed more than power. In other words, if you proportionally reduce drag forces to increasing power in the water you will go faster with reduced drag. The most effective way to increase speed in the water is not to increase power (though that never hurts), but rather to reduce drag.
So what does body position have to do with drag forces?
Everything. How your body is positioned in the water during every phase of movement has a direct measurement of drag. The slightest shift in body position at any and every phase of swimming will either increase or decrease your amount of drag. For example; raise your hips closer to the surface of the water with your legs directly behind and you will decrease the drag forces that otherwise would happen when your thighs come into resistance with the water when they sink lower in water.
The more drag, the slower the speed. Less drag equals more speed. And I should also note that the increase of speed comes at no additional energy cost! You don’t have to increase your power output (use more energy) to go faster. You simply have to reduce drag forces by improving your body position. This is called efficiency. And just like you want a high-efficiency furnace heating your house (because it provides the same amount of heat for less money), you want a high-efficiency body position in the water when swimming. Otherwise, you’ll be using too much energy with nothing to show for….it’ll cost you big-time just like having a furnace in your house from 1960. It may work, but at a greater cost.
If you need a good experiment, you can try swimming sometime with a pair of pants on or a t-shirt. In fact, we like to intentionally use drag socks in our training because it requires swimmers to work very hard to maintain a good body position and builds strength as they resist those drag forces. Then take those clothes off and see how much easier it is to move through the water without those things dragging you down. It’s remarkable!
We sometimes analyze video to see where we can improve body position and reduce drag. Often times it’s a very subtle adjustment that’s needed to make a big improvement….and sometimes it’s a big adjustment. But what we’ve found works well is video analysis. The ability to go back and study the film is fantastic tool to determine what’s dragging us down!
Anyway, I’ve found that life can be the same way. One moment I can be rolling along just fine and the next feel like I’m attached to an emotional ball and chain. Do you ever feel that way? So what is it that drags us down emotionally and spiritually? I’ve heard some say that other people drag them down with the negative words they say and the negative things they do. I’ve even heard some folks say that watching or listening to negative news drags them down. I can certainly see where one might get that perspective, but I’m not much on blaming others for my own situation.
Good Body Position In Life
So what drags me down? And what can I do to fix my body position and reduce emotional/spiritual drag?
I personally think a good place to start is a look at what God says about such things. I love the NLT’s interpretation of Hebrews 12:1. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
That verse tells me several things about running/swimming a good race of life. One, it really does matter who I choose to surround myself. My dad was right when he told me to choose my company carefully. If you surround yourself with like-minded and positive people, there’s a good chance you won’t get bogged down in a funk of negativity.
Two, history is full of characters who ran/swam great races. These folks also had times in their lives in which they were dragging, but they persevered and improved their body positions. And the key to their drag reduction was FAITH. The dictionary says that faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something. The Bible says that faith “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The point that I take away here is that when I’m dragging I can look back to some pretty amazing people in history and see that they overcame and learn how they did…..just like I can go back and analyze video of a swimmers body position to reduce drag.
A good example is a guy mentioned just a few verses earlier in the book of Hebrews, Joshua (it doesn’t specifically reference Joshua, but it does reference when the walls of Jericho fell). One of my favorite parts of Josh’s story is in Joshua 5:13-15 when Josh runs into a warrior and Josh asks him if he’s a friend or foe….I think it was his way of saying, “hey, you wanna fight!?” because, Joshua himself was a warrior. Anyway, this guy says I am a commander of the Army of the Lord and BOOM, Joshua hits the ground in reverence and submission! I’d say Joshua had some pretty good body position. Talk about humility and faith in God. I can certainly stand to learn a lot from Joshua’s story.
Back to Hebrews 12, a third thing we can learn from this verse about living well is the need to eliminate drag – just like swimming! The writer says to, “strip off every weight that slows us down.” I think it’s interesting that he goes on to say, “especially the sin.” The weights that slow us down and sin are not necessarily the same things. Yes, to be certain, sin is a major thing that drags us down. But it’s not the only thing. The writer is very careful to make it clear that there are other things other than sin that can drag us down. Things like the company we keep. Bad relationships can drag us down…..get rid of them in order to run a good race. Having bad people in our lives isn’t necessarily a sin, but it sure can weigh us down and slow our progress.
Swimming can teach us a lot about life! If you want to go fast (be successful) you must have good body position. And the key to good body position is reducing drag and success in life, just like in swimming requires one to “throw off everything that hinders.”