Don’t SnowPlow Against the Water — Fix Your Swimming Body Position and Get Your Legs Up

Welcome back to Part II of our Body Alignment series! Today we’re tackling one of the BIGGEST drag-makers in swimming body position — legs sinking while swimming.

If your hips and thighs keep dropping in Freestyle, you’re not “weak” or “out of shape.” You’re stuck in the SnowPlow Position — and that means you’re fighting the water instead of riding on top of it.

If you haven’t read Part I yet, CLICK HERE to catch up before continuing.

Let’s get started.

Why Your Midsection Drops in the Water

As we discussed in Part I of this series, the stronger and more muscular you are, the harder it is to float. As swimmers, that means we must actively control where our body sits in the water and continuously improve our body awareness.

This is why so many swimmers ask: “Why do my legs sink while swimming?”

The answer almost always comes back to swimming position in the water, not effort or kick speed.

Before we talk about how to fix it, take a quick look at your body proportions. Compare your arms to YOUR legs. Your legs are significantly larger in size and circumference — which means they carry more mass. This is true for every swimmer.

More muscle = more prone to sinking. And since your legs contain more muscle than your arms, they naturally want to drop.

Now let’s layer in the center of gravity.

For females, the center of gravity is lower than males, but for everyone it’s still around the midsection. Most women carry weight in their hips, thighs, and glutes. Men often carry it in their stomachs and thighs.

Different distribution — same problem.

ALL swimmers struggle to keep their midsection and thighs at the surface.

The SnowPlow Position Explained

When the midsection and thighs sink, the body falls into the SnowPlow Position — with the head and arms high, the midsection lower, and the legs even lower than that.

It’s essentially a straight diagonal line from head to toe — one of the worst swimming positions in the water for Freestyle efficiency.

This position creates MASSIVE drag.

Instead of gliding forward, your body is literally plowing through the water like a shovel.

If you don’t correct it early in the lap, it compounds fast:

1.) Hips sink more

2.) Kick loses effectiveness

3.) Arms work twice as hard to go half as far

The goal is simple:

Stop fighting the water. Rise above it.

Understanding Body Alignment: The See-Saw Concept

Picture your body as a see-saw.

1.) If the upper body pops UP, the lower body drops DOWN

2.) f the upper body presses DOWN, the lower body rises UP

This relationship is the foundation of Freestyle swimming body position.

You don’t lift your legs by kicking harder.
You lift them by controlling your chest, ribs, and core.

This is why body alignment starts with your connector muscles — your abs, deep core, and ribcage stabilizers. These muscles keep your body long, balanced, and unified from head to toe.

When you gently press your chest and ribs down into the water, your hips, glutes, and thighs naturally rise toward the surface. That long, level line is what reduces drag and allows you to ride high in the water.

How to Avoid Sinking Legs While Swimming

If you’re wondering how to avoid sinking legs while swimming, here’s the truth:

It’s not about kicking harder.
And it’s not about muscling through the water.

Learning how to keep legs from sinking while swimming comes from mastering body alignment — specifically, using your core to control the relationship between your upper and lower body.

This is where drills matter.

Body Alignment Drills That Actually Work

Fixing swimming body position isn’t about guessing. It’s about feeling where your body sits in the water — and learning how small changes in your upper body and core shift everything below the surface. These drills strip away arm compensation and force swimmers to solve alignment using their core, chest pressure, and body awareness. When done correctly, the SnowPlow position disappears.

The drills below are videos from the SLAF Video Library.

Quick and Easy Freestyle Kicking Dryland Progression

Start with the top video and work your way down

This freestyle kicking dryland progression helps swimmers reinforce proper swimming body position before they swim. When legs are sinking while swimming, the issue is rarely just the kick — it’s usually a breakdown in core control and alignment.

Dryland work like this teaches swimmers how to keep legs from sinking while swimming by connecting the kick to the core and ribs. When the midsection stays engaged, the legs ride higher and the SnowPlow Position disappears.

Kicking should be periodized just like swimming within a season plan. That’s why we launched our Kicking Season Plans, designed to build stronger, more balanced swimmers from the core down.

To explore the plans and start improving freestyle body position, click the link below.

Why Core Strength Is Non-Negotiable

Without strong core muscles, you can press down on your upper body all you want — your legs won’t move.

Without core strength, swimmers are disconnected. Loose. Unstable. Basically… a wet noodle.

Core strength is a prerequisite for great body alignment.

And without great body alignment?
EVERY. SINGLE. STROKE. suffers.

So yes — get in the weight room.
Your swimming depends on it.

Want Personalized Help Fixing Your Body Alignment?

If you want a coach to look at your stroke and show you exactly where the SnowPlow shows up, check out our Video Analysis Packages.

Coaches — Want Better Tools to Teach Alignment?

Explore our Stroke Courses for Coaches, packed with drills, teaching cues, and technique progressions built for modern swimmers.

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