Keep your elbows in front of your scapular plane
The farther in front, the better
Torso rotation protects your shoulders
(Applies to all strokes, but, for the moment, we will focus on freestyle.)
To swim injury-free, never allow your elbow to get behind your scapular plane, behind your shoulder, during the recovery. Your elbow should always be in front of your shoulder. Allowing your elbow to get behind your shoulder is one the causes of shoulder injuries for swimmers.
This is a problem for arm-driven swimmers without much torso rotation. Their elbow tends to be behind their shoulder on the recovery.
This is not a problem for core-driven swimmers who reset their hips vertical. Their elbow is well in front of their shoulder on the recovery.
Torso rotation protects your shoulders. A low recovery protects your shoulders.
More ideas about the freestyle recovery are here.