Streamline, body position, head-righting reflex: the Swimming ABC explains every key term in plain language before you start our swimming guides.
You're standing at the pool edge for the first time, your coach yells "Streamline!" and you have no idea what that means? Welcome to the club. Swimming has its own language full of jargon that sounds obvious to insiders but leaves beginners completely lost. This glossary explains every important term you'll run into across our swimming guides — in plain, friendly language, with everyday comparisons, no textbook tone. Read it once and every guide will click.
Schwimmbrille (goggles): You barely get anywhere without them. They protect your eyes from chlorine and let you keep your eyes open underwater — key for orientation and safety. For any drill where your face goes in the water, a well-fitting pair is basically mandatory.
Schwimmbrett / kickboard: A foam board you push in front of you while kicking. It isolates your leg work so you don't have to juggle arms and breathing at the same time — training wheels for your legs.
Kurzflossen (short fins): Smaller than snorkeling fins, they boost propulsion and give you a feel for what a clean kick actually feels like. Handy as a feedback tool when your ankle strength or mobility isn't quite there yet.
Pool-Nudel (pool noodle): The long foam tube you know from the outdoor pool. For drills, you sometimes just straddle it and paddle with your arms only — great for isolating the arm pull.
Nasenklammer (nose clip): Clips your nose shut so water doesn't run in while you're exhaling underwater. Not essential, but a real relief for many beginners early on.
Auftrieb (buoyancy): The force that pushes you upward in water — water is roughly 800 times denser than air, so it carries you almost on its own. The catch: your center of mass (usually around your navel) and your center of buoyancy (usually around your chest, where your air-filled lungs sit) don't line up exactly. That's why your legs tend to sink unless you counteract it.
Wasserlage (body position): How flat and stretched-out your body lies in the water. A good body position means your head, back, and legs form almost a straight line at the surface. The flatter you lie, the less drag slows you down.
Frontalwiderstand (frontal resistance): The drag that pushes directly against your direction of travel — like headwind on a bike, only much stronger because water is so much denser than air. The smaller your "surface area" cutting through the water, the less it slows you.
Kopfstellreflex (head-righting reflex): The instinct to lift your head out of the water to see better or grab air. Sounds harmless, but it's a technique killer: the moment your head goes up, your hips and legs automatically sink — your body tips out of that flat body position.
Streamline (Raketenposition / rocket position): The most hydrodynamic position you can take in the water — arms stretched overhead, one hand on top of the other, head squeezed between your upper arms, toes pointed. You hold this position briefly after every push-off and every turn because it creates the least resistance.
Gleitphase (glide phase): The moment after push-off when you let the water carry you with zero active movement. Sounds like a pause, but it's actually the most efficient phase in all of swimming — you lose the least energy right here.
Beinschlag (kick): The leg movement that drives you forward. Ideally it comes from the hip, not the knee — pulling your knees in too much turns your kick into "bicycling," which just creates extra drag.
Armzug (arm pull): The arm movement that provides most of the propulsion in most strokes. It runs in phases: your hand catches the water, pulls (Zugphase / pull phase), pushes back through (Druckphase / push phase), then recovers forward above the water (Rückholung / recovery).
Hoher Ellbogen (high elbow): The golden rule for a powerful pull — your elbow stays up during the underwater pull instead of dropping toward the pool floor. If it drops ("dropped elbow"), your hand slides through the water almost uselessly instead of building resistance for propulsion.
Blubberblasen (bubbling out): The go-to term (used in nearly every swim class) for continuously exhaling through your mouth or nose while your face is in the water. Sounds trivial but it's half the battle: exhale instead of holding your breath and you stay calm, and above water you only have to inhale instead of trying to exhale and inhale at once.
Quallen-Position (jellyfish float): A drill where you pull your knees to your chest and wrap your arms around them to make yourself as small as possible — your center of mass and center of buoyancy move closer together, so your back floats like a cork.
Sternchen-Position / "toter Mann" (starfish float / dead man's float): Arms and legs stretched wide in a front or back float, to feel a flat, stable body position — the name sounds grimmer than the drill actually is.
Buddy-System: Never swim alone — always with a second person or under supervision. The single most important safety rule, especially as a beginner.
Nichtschwimmerbecken / Schwimmerbecken (non-swimmer / swimmer pool): The shallow area (usually chest- or navel-deep) where you can stand at any time, as opposed to the deep swimmer pool, which is meant only for confident swimmers.
Hyperventilation: Repeated, fast, deep breathing in and out before diving — sounds like good preparation but is actually dangerous: it drops the CO2 level in your blood so far that your body loses its natural urge to breathe, and you can run out of air underwater without warning.
Schwimmbad-Blackout (shallow-water blackout): Sudden loss of consciousness underwater, usually triggered by hyperventilation before diving — one of the main reasons hyperventilating before underwater swims is absolutely off-limits.
Seepferdchen / Freischwimmer (seahorse badge / bronze swim badge): Germany's well-known swim badges. The Seepferdchen only confirms basic water familiarization, while the Freischwimmer (German Swim Badge Bronze) shows you can actually swim safely over longer distances.
If you hit a term in a guide that isn't covered here, read it out loud and picture an everyday situation — most swim jargon describes simple movements with complicated names. And if you're ever unsure, skim this ABC before a new guide; you'll understand the instructions on the first read instead of needing a second pass.
### What is body position in swimming? Body position (Wasserlage) describes how flat and stretched your body lies in the water. Good body position means your head, back, and legs form almost a straight line — this massively cuts drag and makes every movement more efficient, no matter which stroke you're practicing.
### What does streamline mean in swimming? Streamline, also called the rocket position, is the lowest-drag body shape you can make in water: arms stretched overhead, hands stacked, head tucked between your upper arms. You take this position after every wall push-off and every turn to minimize resistance.
### Why is the head-righting reflex a problem? The head-righting reflex (Kopfstellreflex) is the instinct to lift your head out of the water to breathe or out of nervousness. The moment your head rises, your hips and legs sink automatically because your center of mass shifts — your flat body position collapses and you end up braking yourself.
### What is a shallow-water blackout? A shallow-water blackout (Schwimmbad-Blackout) is sudden unconsciousness underwater, usually caused by hyperventilating before diving. Because blood CO2 drops too low, your natural urge to breathe disappears — the blackout hits without warning. That's why you should never hyperventilate before underwater swims.
### What's the difference between Seepferdchen and Freischwimmer? The Seepferdchen is Germany's first swim badge and only confirms basic water familiarization — not real swimming safety yet. The Freischwimmer (German Swim Badge Bronze) shows you can swim longer distances safely and are ready for deeper water.
Coordination: Gliding & Leg Kick