Use your head while swimming freestyle: Better Head Position Makes Swimming Easier
The most effective way to swim freestyle is to keep the top of your head pointing in the direction of travel. When your head is out of place, the straight-line body position suffers, once you lose your straight line you have to work harder in order to move forward and that results in greater fatigue sooner. Use your neck muscles at the base of your head to point your head and to elongate the neck. As you start to get tired you should focus on this in order to prevent the falling apart of your stroke.
Another way to help your head position is to point with the nose. Your eyes should be looking straight down, which is the same direction you are pointing with your nose. Keep the nose pointed at the bottom of the pool while keeping the head pointed and your neck long and straight. When it is time to breath, the nose point turns to the side of the pool, the head stays exactly oriented at the destination.
Try it out. See if your body position improves, which should result in a more efficient stroke count versus swimming speed.
