5 tips to avoid sinking legs

Dealing with sinking legs is a major challenge for beginner swimmers as it adds huge amount of drag. The extra drag from this low body position slows swimmers down dramatically and  can be really frustrating because swimmers can't enjoy this activity. The prevailing theories that begginers have on sinking legs typically revolve around: 

• I'm sinker.
• I'm a weak kicker.
• I'm not going fast enough.

In almost all cases, these aren't the root of the problem. In contrast, there is likely to be several factors at play simultaneously. Here are the most common ones:

• Holding onto your breath underwater. If swimmers hold their breath and don't exhale into the water they have too much buoyancy in the chest - this lift them up at the front. Since the body acts with a see-saw action when swimming, lift up at the front and your legs sink. Exhalation should be the very first thing swimmers with sinking legs should work on.
• Kicking from the knee and inflexible ankles. They both create a lot of drag and sink the legs downwards. Working on gradually stretching off the ankles and improving kicking technique can make a huge difference.
• Flexing through the core. Co-ordination and engagement of the core muscles are needed to fix this problem. Flexing throughout the core causes swimmers to bend in the middle and that leeds to sinking legs. Try to improve your core control in swimming.
• Pushing down at the front of the stroke. A poor catch presses downwards on the water with a straight arm which does nothing to propulsion but instead lifts swimmers' front end up. Again, the see-saw action sinks the legs down.
• A high head position. Looking straight downwards will lift the legs up, but swimmers should be a bit careful when using this tip as head position is a very individual thing for swimmers. Use this as a last resort after trying everything else first.

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