I had an accident in the water when I was younger, and have just decided to get back in the pool and swim again in order to get fit and burn fat. Trouble is that I have lost my technique, especially when it comes to breathing. I don’t know whether this is just a general lack of fitness that causes this though.
I swim in a half length pool at the Dahu (Neihu) spa, and can manage about 2 lengths before I am shattered. I do 16 lengths in all, with a rest every 2, and a spa break every 8. I feel good when I come out of the water, but I really don’t know how to time my breathing, although I have found that breathing is easier if I swim faster because my momentum keeps my head above water. But, I just can’t always swim that fast.
Does anyone have any advice?
BTW I am using the standard front crawl technique.
The easiest is 1, breath, 1, breath (1 being your right hand pulling you through the water, breath being your left hand pulling and your face turning right to breath).
Then you just move up from there. It’s hard at first, but gets easier fast.
I think I usually do 1, 2, 3, breath, 1, 2 ,3, breath.
You could also try playing with kick-boards or those legs things if they have them.
Breathing is definitely the hardest part of the crawl. The stroke and the kicking – so what if your technique isn’t great, you’ll still get there. But the breathing, uggh, I’ve always had trouble with it too. I feel my stroke is very strong, my kicking’s not bad, and I swim fairly fast, but I’ll start running out of breath after just a few laps (not exhausted, just out of breath), so I try to slow down and pace myself, work on gulping in as much breath each time as possible, and when all else fails, intersperse a lap or two of breast stroke, here and there, to recover. I’m far from an expert but for me the pacing is key.
In any event, you said you’re just starting up again. I’m sure the more you do it the easier it will become.
The key is to slow it right down until you’re back at a level that you can just keep going. Remembering to breath out slowly as my mouth was under water (between breaths) helped me a lot too.
the 1,2,3 breath method doesn’t work well for those with poor technique as they find it difficult to alternate sides for breathing. It may be better for you to turn your head to your dominant side for breathing. Slow it down. You won’t get good technique by going flat out.
My opinion is that your underwater hand movement could be making things difficult for you. As a former competition swimmer and water polo player it took me a while to get the best breathing pattern for speed and not running out of breath. Perhaps, if all else fails, you could try a water polo, head out of the water freestyle action. It’s ugly, but it may work for you.
I think my arms are moving well. I am not spreading my fingers underwater and I am arcing my arms well in an arc that is semi-circular whilst pushing under-water, but I am unsure as to whether I should be splashing with my feet or keeping them a good distance under the surface.
I think technique is everything in swimming. I prefer 1, 2, 3, breathe, but mine must be different, because that means I always breathe on the same side. (referring to Bassman’s post) I sometimes do every 8 strokes too, but that’s probably not a good idea for somebody starting out.
Don’t even try to swim without doing any kickboard laps. First just kick, and then later add the breathing…put your face down in the water as you hold onto the board, and breathe to one side. Concentrate on keeping your legs straight (not locked though), and not swinging your body around too much.
Breathing every second stroke will tire you quickly I think. It’s also more difficult to keep your body from bobbing around like you’re some drowned turtle.
So get going with the kickboard. Alternatively, just hold onto the wall of the pool and kick. Using flippers can also help to improve your technique, although I seldom see anybody use them here.
splashing - if you look at swimming on TV and watch great swimmers, well, you’d hardly know that they were in the water. If your splash is big you’re not being like a fish. That being said, don’t watch me doing ‘butterfly’ - it aint pretty.
I was taught to kick just under the surface, six kicks per second on front crawl (i.e. three each foot, if you have two ) Good luck. I learnt how to swim at twenty nine! I recently celebrated breaking the 1Km barrier!
I’ve yet to learn how to turn or butterfly, but that’s what’s great about swimming, you can always learn new things!
If you want to swim competetively for long distance wise, take one breath every 3 stroke, and remember to switch side, so it goes like, right arm, left arm, right arm, take a breath to the right, then left arm, right arm, left arm, take a breath to the left. If you want to be lazy, then take breath every stroke, and just kick leisurely, just enough to keep you afloat. You don’t have to do freestyle all the way. If you really want to get back to shape, start with running, don’t have to be long (nor particuarlly fast, just for warm up), at your own path, 5 minutes, just enough to warm up. After that do stretch (so again, don’t run too fast yet, your muscle aren’t ready yet), after that do another 5 minutes run, then jump into the pool, start with 500m a day, then eventually push into 2000m a day. It doesn’t have to be fast, so say set your goal like 45 minutes for 500m. You should warm up with freestyle, 100 to 200m depends on your own condition, then when you get tired do breaststroke. In case you want to loose some belly, do dlphin kick (butterfly stroke without hands, ask someone who has done it to demonstrate) for 100m to 200m, then cool down (easy swim) for the last 100m. That should give you a good work out for beginner wise.
most of the kick is underwater, you don’t need big splash. As for your arm, it’s almost impossible to say it over the internet, but just remember to reach far once your arm has to enter the water, think of your head to your butt as one straight cylinder, your whole torso turn about that cylinder. When you breath your head should be barely left from the water, if you find it hard, then kick harder, that will keep you afloat. If you want to swim continuouslly without stopping, then learn how to do flip turns. Other turns are much easier after you know how to do flip turns for freestyle.
I was taught to kick just under the surface, six kicks per second on front crawl (i.e. three each foot, if you have two ) Good luck. I learnt how to swim at twenty nine! I recently celebrated breaking the 1Km barrier!
I’ve yet to learn how to turn or butterfly, but that’s what’s great about swimming, you can always learn new things!
Enjoy
L
(good link bye the way Qrap, cheers!)[/quote]
have you learned turns for breast stroke? It’s 95% similar to turns for butterfly.
Where to learn swimming in Taipei or Xindian from English speaking instructor? Any recommendation with any English speaking swim instructor in Taipei area also appreciated. Instructor must have experience with teaching adults swimming, not children.
I can ask my Red Cross swimming coaches if anyone is interested in teaching you, is it one-on-one or small group? We train at Youth Park pool. if you are interested, pm me with your number.
) Good luck. I learnt how to swim at twenty nine! I recently celebrated breaking the 1Km barrier!