Head Position in Swimming: The Fastest Fix Most Swimmers Miss
Most adult swimmers think they need more fitness to swim faster.
They don’t.
They need their head in the right place.
As elite open water coach John “JR” Rodgers puts it:
“If the head lifts, the body sinks. It’s that simple. Fix the head and half the stroke fixes itself.”
Head position controls balance. Balance controls drag. Drag controls everything.
Get the head wrong and you’ll feel breathless, rushed, and stuck no matter how fit you are. Get it right and speed often shows up in a single session.
This isn’t theory. It’s a principle that shows up again and again across elite distance programs.
The Most Common Head Position Mistakes
Across adult swimmers and triathletes, the same patterns appear repeatedly.
1. Head lifted forward
Eyes looking ahead instead of down.
This is the biggest performance killer.
It creates massive drag, drops the hips, overloads the kick, and often triggers panic breathing.
Gerry Rodrigues, long-time open water and triathlon coach, explains it clearly:
“Most triathletes don’t have a breathing problem. They have a head position problem that creates panic.”
2. Head dropped too deep
Chin tucked. Crown pushing down.
This shortens the stroke and ruins catch setup. Swimmers often describe it as having no grip on the water.
3. Head turning independently of the body
Twisting the neck to breathe instead of rotating.
This breaks balance and causes zig-zag swimming. Breaths feel rushed. Recovery feels messy.
4. Late head return after breathing
The head stays out too long.
Even when everything else looks reasonable, the stroke never fully settles.
5. Over-sighting
Lifting the whole head instead of just the eyes.
Each sight acts like a brake. Effort spikes for no obvious reason.
Why These Mistakes Cost So Much Energy
Elite distance coaches have always understood one thing: endurance depends on balance first.
Bernd Berkhahn, architect of the German distance program, sums it up:
“Distance swimming starts with balance. Balance starts at the head. Without that, endurance doesn’t matter.”
Here’s what coaches consistently see in practice:
- Head lifted forward → Drag, sinking hips, heavy kick → Feels like breathlessness and leg fatigue
- Head too deep → Short stroke, poor catch → Feels like arms slipping
- Independent head turn → Loss of balance → Feels rushed and unstable
- Late head return → Continuous disruption → Feels like the stroke never locks in
- Over-sighting → Repeated braking → Feels like random effort spikes
These are balance failures, not fitness failures.
What Good Head Position Actually Looks Like
Elite coaches don’t talk about head position in complicated terms.
They talk about stillness and alignment.
Fabrizio Antonelli, coach of Olympic champion Gregorio Paltrinieri, puts it simply:
“A quiet head is a sign of a fast swimmer. When the head moves too much, you are wasting energy before the race has even started.”
In practical terms, this is what good looks like.
Eyes
Down and slightly forward. About one to two metres ahead on the pool floor.
Waterline
Between the hairline and eyebrows. Goggles roughly half in, half out.
Neck and head feel
Heavy. Passive. Resting on the spine, not being held up.
If the neck feels tense, it’s wrong.
Breathing Without Wrecking the Stroke
This is where most adult swimmers struggle.
They lift to breathe instead of rotating.
Denis Cotterell, coach to some of the world’s best distance swimmers, is blunt about it:
“The head doesn’t lead the stroke. It follows the spine. When swimmers try to control it, everything tightens.”
The breath does not happen up. It happens to the side.
Between breaths
Head stays still. Eyes stay down.
During the breath
The head rolls with the body. One goggle stays in the water. The chin stays close to the shoulder.
As soon as the inhale is done, the head returns immediately.
Any delay shows up as drag.
Coaching Cues That Actually Work
Across elite and age-group programs, the same cues keep resurfacing.
- “Let the head hang”
- “Heavy head, light legs”
- “One goggle in”
That last idea comes from a classic distance coaching principle used across elite squads:-
“A heavy head makes light legs.”
One cue that often backfires:
- “Look straight down”
Swimmers overdo it, bury the head, and create stiffness instead of balance.
Go-To Drills for Fixing Head Position
1. Freestyle with a snorkel (short repeats)
Why it works
It removes breathing noise and allows swimmers to feel a neutral head without interference.
Common mistake
Pushing the snorkel down instead of relaxing the neck.
2. Side-kick with light rotation
Why it works
It teaches head–body connection and forces patience.
Common mistake
Looking forward instead of slightly down.
What Coaches See When This Clicks
A familiar pattern.
An adult triathlete stuck at the same pace for years.
No change in fitness.
Just a habit of lifting the head to “check position.”
Fix the head. Speed up the head return after breathing.
Stroke count drops immediately. Pace improves within one session. Confidence rises before speed even registers.
This is why head position is often the fastest win in swimming.
The BlackLine View on Head Position
At BlackLine, the goal isn’t to tell swimmers where to look.
It’s to remove interference.
As our coaching philosophy puts it:
“We don’t teach swimmers where to look. We teach them how to let the head rest so the body can do its job.”
Most swimmers don’t need to try harder to fix their head.
They need to stop controlling it.
When the head settles, the body balances. When the body balances, swimming finally feels easier.
And that’s when speed becomes sustainable.