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
Please post the name of the club you have joined, they deserve recognition (is it Santa Clarita?).
And you are to be commended for having developed the commitment to improve your swimming when you really did not need to, since you were water safe anyway. In my experience, not many people seek to improve their strokes the way you have. I hope to meet you at a meet in the near future!
BTW, your long term floating technique is actually taught and has a name. I just wish I could remember it (haven't been a swimming teacher since 1971).
santaclaritamastersswimming.com/
I did about 2,000y today (with breaks). Blows me away. Still lots of details to work on. There are 25 things happening at the same time!
With regards to the floating technique. I am not surprised that it is taught. I actually came up with it on my own years ago as I contemplated going swimming on my sailing (ocean) trips. I just wanted to be sure that I could hang there and catch my breath/rest while expending minimal energy. Being that I was not a good swimmer at all (horribly inefficient imitation of *** stroke) I knew that if I swam away from the boat I'd get tired. The technique I call "bobbing" is what came out of trying various ideas in the pool.
Funny enough, the technique came in handy when my kid went into the local Junior Lifeguard program. He was truly freaked out about swimming in the lake. I mean, you can barely see your fingertips in some areas. Having grown-up swimming in nice clean pools the lake was a jarring experience. He was supposed to do 150y in 2:30 in order to be admitted into the program. Even I could see that his technique was not very good at all...but the murky water didn't help.
The way I dealt with it was to teach him my "bobbing" technique and get him to use it as a way to relax in the middle of the lake. Once you know that you are reasonably safe it is far easier to relax. In last year's lake crossing I got cramps in both legs around the middle of the lake. Painful as it was, I knew that I could just hang there and wait for the cramps to pass. Anyhow, once my kid learned to relax the swimming part was far less problematic.
Now I am hoping to learn proper swimming technique myself so that I can teach my kids. We go kayaking at the lake all the time. I want them to know how to swim well enough to handle almost any situation.
I did 2,000y this morning (with short breaks every 200/300 or so). Everything still hurts, but it feels great. I'm swallowing less water...I must be doing something right.
Please post the name of the club you have joined, they deserve recognition (is it Santa Clarita?).
And you are to be commended for having developed the commitment to improve your swimming when you really did not need to, since you were water safe anyway. In my experience, not many people seek to improve their strokes the way you have. I hope to meet you at a meet in the near future!
BTW, your long term floating technique is actually taught and has a name. I just wish I could remember it (haven't been a swimming teacher since 1971).
santaclaritamastersswimming.com/
I did about 2,000y today (with breaks). Blows me away. Still lots of details to work on. There are 25 things happening at the same time!
With regards to the floating technique. I am not surprised that it is taught. I actually came up with it on my own years ago as I contemplated going swimming on my sailing (ocean) trips. I just wanted to be sure that I could hang there and catch my breath/rest while expending minimal energy. Being that I was not a good swimmer at all (horribly inefficient imitation of *** stroke) I knew that if I swam away from the boat I'd get tired. The technique I call "bobbing" is what came out of trying various ideas in the pool.
Funny enough, the technique came in handy when my kid went into the local Junior Lifeguard program. He was truly freaked out about swimming in the lake. I mean, you can barely see your fingertips in some areas. Having grown-up swimming in nice clean pools the lake was a jarring experience. He was supposed to do 150y in 2:30 in order to be admitted into the program. Even I could see that his technique was not very good at all...but the murky water didn't help.
The way I dealt with it was to teach him my "bobbing" technique and get him to use it as a way to relax in the middle of the lake. Once you know that you are reasonably safe it is far easier to relax. In last year's lake crossing I got cramps in both legs around the middle of the lake. Painful as it was, I knew that I could just hang there and wait for the cramps to pass. Anyhow, once my kid learned to relax the swimming part was far less problematic.
Now I am hoping to learn proper swimming technique myself so that I can teach my kids. We go kayaking at the lake all the time. I want them to know how to swim well enough to handle almost any situation.
I did 2,000y this morning (with short breaks every 200/300 or so). Everything still hurts, but it feels great. I'm swallowing less water...I must be doing something right.
