I have always breathed to the right only, but recently have started to try to learn how to breathe to my left. I am finding it much more difficult than I had anticipated. The main reason:
I am out of breath the whole time.
I feel like I am not getting the same quality of breath as I do when I breathe to the right. My breathing feels short and choppy. I also feel like I am lifting my head to breathe instead of breathing with my body roll.
Worse still, I am now dropping my right elbow and I am so out of breath the whole time, I can hardly concentrate on trying to keep it up.
On the positive side, my left elbow position has improved considerably (which is why I started down this road in the first place) and my kick is being forced to improve. (I have always had a crossover kick and for some reason or other when I breathe to my left, I don't do it).
Two weeks into the change now and it is definitely feeling more natural, however, I was hoping others who have tried this could give me some advice on what to watch out for and maybe give me some tips on how to make it feel more natural.
What I've used with my swimmers (both age group and masters) to get them to transition from single side breathing to bilateral breathing is a 3-2 breathing pattern. Really gets you thinking about the rotation to both sides, and can help with any lingering issues you might have about not getting enough air by solely breathing to the left side.
A 3-2 breathing pattern: does that mean 3 strokes, breathe to the right, 2 strokes, then breathe to the left?
What I've used with my swimmers (both age group and masters) to get them to transition from single side breathing to bilateral breathing is a 3-2 breathing pattern. Really gets you thinking about the rotation to both sides, and can help with any lingering issues you might have about not getting enough air by solely breathing to the left side.
A 3-2 breathing pattern: does that mean 3 strokes, breathe to the right, 2 strokes, then breathe to the left?
