Please let me know if this forum isn't for this kind of question.
I am trying to learn to swim properly. I have been very comfortable with water all my life, no problems at all. However, the only stroke I have ever swum is the *** stroke and probably not so well. Still, I have crossed small lakes swimming and feel completely at ease in any body of water.
Now I am trying to learn proper freestyle. No coach at this point. Lots of videos on the 'net and I also ordered the TI videos.
One problem I am having is that my body doesn't seem to stay near the surface of the water. Because of this, when I rotate to breathe the air isn't there...so I have to either over rotate or wait for the bobbing cycle to bring me back to the surface. I am not sure why this is happening and I am hoping that this is a simple newbie mistake and someone can point out how to correct it.
I am swimming with my head down, even pushing it down chin-to-chest. I am also doing skating drills on both sides and breathing without any problems during those. It's when I transition to crawl that I seem to descend just a few inches. I imagine if I was watching from the outside I'd see me kind of bobbing up and down as I move through the pool.
Any ideas or pointers in the right direction would be appreciated.
Thanks,
-Martin
Parents
Former Member
I learned 6 years ago using TI book, video and coaches. If I were to start today, I would use the materials available at www.swimsmooth.com.
Interesting. The styles seem to be quite different. What attracts me to TI is the increase in efficiency they claim. Is this not true? Not that it matters a lot at my stage, of course.
As to my problem, maybe I figured it out by watching the animation on swimsmooth. I think that in my power stroke I am pressing down a lot more than I should. This is causing my body to lift. Once I breathe I come down and my body sinks a little. That's why, I think, I am bobbing up and down as I move forward.
I see that the animation shows the hand markedly rotating downward as the power stroke begins. I guess the idea is to try to apply most of the force backwards. I'll experiment with this at the gym tonight and see how it goes.
Thanks for the link.
I learned 6 years ago using TI book, video and coaches. If I were to start today, I would use the materials available at www.swimsmooth.com.
Interesting. The styles seem to be quite different. What attracts me to TI is the increase in efficiency they claim. Is this not true? Not that it matters a lot at my stage, of course.
As to my problem, maybe I figured it out by watching the animation on swimsmooth. I think that in my power stroke I am pressing down a lot more than I should. This is causing my body to lift. Once I breathe I come down and my body sinks a little. That's why, I think, I am bobbing up and down as I move forward.
I see that the animation shows the hand markedly rotating downward as the power stroke begins. I guess the idea is to try to apply most of the force backwards. I'll experiment with this at the gym tonight and see how it goes.
Thanks for the link.
