I am swimming with a new coach and she is quite adamant that my breathe every stroke rhythm is holding me back and I *might* hyperventilate. I look at breathing as a choice. I don't breathe every time my head comes up, but rather do it for rhythm. As in head down strokes tend to lead to my hips dropping later in a race. So, I find the head up every stroke helps me with that.
Is there any other reason why I *need* to take a head down stroke that she isn't explaining to me? I'm almost getting to the point where I'm tuning her out unfortunately, but if it's simply a 'hyperventilate' mantra it makes zero sense b/c bringing ones head up doesn't necessitate a breath.
Is the only reason to take a head down stroke to avoid hyperventilating? I have asked her this question and received 'yes', but would like to hear from the forum brain trust on this. Thank you! If this is a technique issue by lowering the head that will make me faster I'm all for it, but I want to hear the how and why b/f I potentially disrupt the rhythm of my stroke.
Let's not beat around the bush here. The idea that you could hyperventilate by breathing every stroke in butterfly is completely ridiculous. The reason not to breathe every stroke is to keep your hips and legs up. If you raise your head your lower body has to go down. This increases drag by increasing your frontal area. Good kicking and just getting your chin above water helps this, but there's no way you can lift your head and not affect the position of your lower body at least a little bit.
Let's not beat around the bush here. The idea that you could hyperventilate by breathing every stroke in butterfly is completely ridiculous. The reason not to breathe every stroke is to keep your hips and legs up. If you raise your head your lower body has to go down. This increases drag by increasing your frontal area. Good kicking and just getting your chin above water helps this, but there's no way you can lift your head and not affect the position of your lower body at least a little bit.
