What it is
Position 11 is a foundation drill in which the swimmer extends both arms straight forward in front of the shoulders, palms down, at the surface. Every competitive stroke flows through this position.
Essentials
- Arms straight, elbows locked, palms flat and facing down, fingers aiming forward
- Arms extend forward, or directly above, or in front of the shoulders
- Stay on the surface
- Drag your Pinocchio nose — aim the entire face down
- Strong kick through the breath
- Return to looking down quickly after breathing
Progression
- Begin with short distances: bench-to-bench, 5 body lengths, 25s. Add fins to make movement easier.
- Focus on all three elements of an excellent Position 11: body position, kick, arm location. Aim for excellence.
- For Front Crawl: start with body line and posture in Position 11, then layer in kick, rotation, and breathing. Use large, slow arms first.
- Exaggerate a pause in 11 for beginners: hold Position 11 for 5 kicks, then do 1 front-crawl arm stroke, then repeat with the other arm.
- Chip away at the pause as technique improves.
What goes wrong
- Doggy paddle: keep arms straight even when breathing; locked elbows, flat palms.
- Sculling with hands: keep hands still in the extended position; do not scull.
- Sinking while breathing: reinforce "strong kick you breath" to hold the swimmer at the surface throughout.
- Looking forward: aim the entire face down; drag your Pinocchio nose; return to looking down quickly after the breath.
- Bobbing up and down: natural at the start; breathing interrupts body position at the surface — use it as a repeated cue to re-find balance.
How you know it worked
The swimmer holds a flat, fully extended arm position at the surface with a strong kick, face down, and can complete a breath without sinking or breaking the extended line.
How you teach it
Breathing is the single biggest disruptor in Position 11. The "banana" bend to the torso pulls the hips down and breaks the surface line, so the cue "strong kick you breath" exists to counteract that sinking in real time. Breathe by lifting the head quickly and then aiming it down again — the return to face-down is as important as the lift. Swimmers will instinctively want to doggy-paddle; this is natural and should be corrected with the locked-elbow, flat-palm cue rather than by shaming the movement. Bobbing up and down on the surface is also expected early on; treat each bob as a chance to re-establish balance and posture rather than as an error to punish. Because each arm in the extended position looks like the numeral 1, the name gives swimmers a visual self-check. Good Position 11 habits transfer directly: in front crawl the arms should start and end in Position 11, so the drill is not an isolated exercise but the structural template for the full stroke. Use it as the first building block before adding rotation, breathing patterns, or race-pace arm speed.