Hi everyone,
I have spent the last 13 months taking swimming lessons twice per week and practicing at my gym's pool almost daily, but I'm still having trouble. I'm hoping I can get some pointers that might help.
I've been lifting weights for about 20 years now and have pretty muscular legs. And they just don't seem to want to float. I can kick hard to get them to float, but then, I can barely swim freestyle halfway across the pool because I get so out of breath. I have had a lot of trouble learning to breathe, but lately, it has been getting better. I still don't think I'm getting full breaths in, but at least I'm not swallowing water every time I try to breathe anymore.
Anyway, my swimming instructors have been saying that my technique looks great; they haven't been able to offer any tweaks to help me over the past couple of months. But I still can't swim across the pool. I just don't see how I can kick as hard/fast as I seem to have to - just to stay on top of the water - and only inhale every 3-4 arm strokes.
It is starting to get pretty frustrating. Have you run into this yourself? Is there anything you can recommend that might help me?
Thanks in advance for any pointers!
I've been lifting weights for about 20 years now and have pretty muscular legs. And they just don't seem to want to float. I can kick hard ...
Kicking hard is the wrong idea. Here is a different idea (which I confess I got in relevant part from Terry Laughlin's excellent introductory book),
My two cents ... :2cents: ... In a deep sense, swimming is all about balance. It's surprising how many different balancing acts are going on at the same time. Of course, you're trying to balance the obvious anatomical stuff, like left and right, arms and legs, stroke rate and length, but you're also trying to balance less visible physiological systems, like oxygenation, cardiovascular performance, and lactic acid generation. The right balance depends on a bunch of factors, including stroke and distance and various swimmer-specific characteristics ... :2cents:
Your legs are sinking. What's out of balance? Probably your head is too high. Here's the idea: From aft to stern, your body acts as a lever, where the fulcrum is your lungs. It's a wierd idea, but it makes a certain sense. Your lungs are the most buoyant part of your body. Left to itself, every other part of your body would sink. So the balancing problem, from aft to stern, is that you have to balance on your lungs. When you finally get this balancing act right, some people refer to the feeling you get as "swimming downhill".
Ande Rasmussen knows how to do this very well! Here's a video of Ande gliding 25 yards from a single push. He's not kicking at all. Does it look like his legs are sinking?
6ENgHo4KrSs
Try to push off the wall and glide as far as you can. The farther you glide, the better your balance!
I've been lifting weights for about 20 years now and have pretty muscular legs. And they just don't seem to want to float. I can kick hard ...
Kicking hard is the wrong idea. Here is a different idea (which I confess I got in relevant part from Terry Laughlin's excellent introductory book),
My two cents ... :2cents: ... In a deep sense, swimming is all about balance. It's surprising how many different balancing acts are going on at the same time. Of course, you're trying to balance the obvious anatomical stuff, like left and right, arms and legs, stroke rate and length, but you're also trying to balance less visible physiological systems, like oxygenation, cardiovascular performance, and lactic acid generation. The right balance depends on a bunch of factors, including stroke and distance and various swimmer-specific characteristics ... :2cents:
Your legs are sinking. What's out of balance? Probably your head is too high. Here's the idea: From aft to stern, your body acts as a lever, where the fulcrum is your lungs. It's a wierd idea, but it makes a certain sense. Your lungs are the most buoyant part of your body. Left to itself, every other part of your body would sink. So the balancing problem, from aft to stern, is that you have to balance on your lungs. When you finally get this balancing act right, some people refer to the feeling you get as "swimming downhill".
Ande Rasmussen knows how to do this very well! Here's a video of Ande gliding 25 yards from a single push. He's not kicking at all. Does it look like his legs are sinking?
6ENgHo4KrSs
Try to push off the wall and glide as far as you can. The farther you glide, the better your balance!
