Body roll in swimming: a review

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Sports Science
• Swimming Performance Analysis

Background:

• Body roll is a key element in swimming technique.
• Understanding body roll mechanics is crucial for optimizing swimming performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically review existing swimming literature on body roll.
• To identify knowledge gaps and limitations in current research.
• To stimulate future research directions in swimming body roll.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of scientific articles on swimming body roll.
• Synthesis and critical analysis of research findings.
• Identification of trends and inconsistencies in the data.

Main Results:

• Swimmers demonstrate greater shoulder roll than hip roll.
• Fatigue leads to increased hip roll while shoulder roll remains consistent.
• Faster swimmers exhibit less shoulder roll compared to slower swimmers.
• Roll asymmetries and side dominance exist but do not appear to impact performance.
• Buoyancy plays a significant role in generating body roll during front crawl.

Conclusions:

• Current research provides a foundational understanding of body roll in front crawl.
• Further investigation is needed into female swimmers, backstroke, breathing effects, asymmetries, velocity/distance variations, force associations, and kicking influences.