Searching everywhere and not finding much, I think I have an unusual breaststroke problem: I struggle to get my head out of the water for breathing, and then it drops down deep, so that on my next stroke I have to stuggle to get my head ... and round and round it goes.
Moreover, I read about swimmers having the opposite problem; their heads go too high! And indeed I've seen pictures of breaststrokers with their bodies out of the water down to their waists! I know it's bad form, but wow!
I can't even do a head-up breaststroke; my head just won't stay up.
Anyone else have/had this problem? Any suggestions?
I don't even understand what is supposed to bring the head up; where and when is the upward force being applied and by what?
Fighting for breath on every stroke is causing huge anxiety for me; I usually end up with water instead of air in my mouth and I have to abort the swim and have a coughing fit. It's a showstopper.
Alan
That does sound like an odd problem... Maybe your hips are riding too low in the water? That could cause you to be too vertical and not horizontal enough and making you sink with every stroke. Have you tried doing *** stroke pull with a buoy? I also like doing *** stroke pull with a dolphin kick - it's fast and fun - but I don't know if that would help you, unless you can maintain a dolphin kick on the surface. Make sure you're also keeping your head still. You don't want to lift your head but rather shrug your shoulders up and keep your head in line with your spine as though you're walking upright.
That does sound like an odd problem... Maybe your hips are riding too low in the water? That could cause you to be too vertical and not horizontal enough and making you sink with every stroke. Have you tried doing *** stroke pull with a buoy? I also like doing *** stroke pull with a dolphin kick - it's fast and fun - but I don't know if that would help you, unless you can maintain a dolphin kick on the surface. Make sure you're also keeping your head still. You don't want to lift your head but rather shrug your shoulders up and keep your head in line with your spine as though you're walking upright.
