Indtroduction and New to Swimming Need Some Tips

You're welcome, Deb! Actually from above, the two of you look a lot alike when you swim! I'm glad it helped knowing you aren't alone. ;) Another thing to be aware of when you feel like your legs are dropping is to engage your core muscles (suck in your stomach!). This will help bring your hips up higher towards the surface. Actually, your core muscles should always been engaged, and you should rotate from your core when you turn to breathe. Regarding videos, you're right. There are many approaches coaches and instructors use, and you have to find the approach that works best for you. Two different instructors could tell you basically the same thing but in different ways. Your response to the first one could be, "Huh???", and your response to the second instructor could be, "Aha!" Sometimes, it just clicks! Once you find a video you like, search for others by the same person. Total Immersion might work for some, and Go Swim for others. I find that I can find a nugget in videos by a variety of instructors and coaches. Does your Y offer intermediate classes that go beyond those boring basics? If so, perhaps you can give one a try. You would get more stroke instruction that you can carry into your Masters workouts. As an alternative, you might want to see if you can find an instructor at the Y to hire by the hour for personalized instruction. Your Masters coach may be available on a private basis. Keep us posted on this thread on how things are going. Good luck!

OMG!!! I love Gail! I see she has/had her own struggles just like me!!!! Thanks for that. I really needed to see another beginner like myself. On the pull bouy. I have one, just didn't quite know what to make of it the first time I used it. It felt weird. Plus, with no one to give me feedback on using it correctly or when to finally not use it, I just never used it again. So I'll try it again tonight. As you can see, when I push off, I'm nice and level but as soon as I start to kick, stroke and breathe, my legs immediately drop. And yep, I watch instructional videos all the time. They've been great, and I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten this far with out them. Gotta love YouTube. My only issue is that the more you watch, the more you find that EVERYONE has a different approach to teaching/instructing and it's kinda difficult to weave your way through what makes sense and what works for you. I swim at the Y and all the instructors are used to teaching just the basics. I took a couple of adult classes, but since I already knew how to float on my back and my tummy, tread water, and wasn't afraid of the water, I stopped going cause I was bored to tears. Again, thank goodness for YouTube. Also, can't wait to try your tip on following the lines with my thumbs. I'll try all of these things tonight after work and let you know how I do. Thanks so much!

· I’m still lifting my head to high to breathe, which makes me sink low and work harder · Still kicking from the knee too much · Maybe I’m OVER rotating on each stroke · I drag my left arm, and my left arm crosses my body under the water · Stroke over 25 yards very inconsistent (both arms) Yes. All those things. But you're clearly working on it and improving, so good job. What you have now is a good understanding of what you need to do but a lack of balance. That's normal for a beginner (and even some not so beginners with a weak core). To practice balance, I find it helpful to do some drills in short bits, then immediately switch to swimming. (For example, 25 Drill then 25 swim). There are a lot of drills that can help with balance so I'll try not to overwhelm and just give a couple that will be hopefully simple to explain & execute. 1) I agree with Elaine - use that pull bouy to get your legs up, allow yourself to get to press your chest and get your head down. Get comfortable getting down in front without worrying about the legs. 2) practice kicking in a streamline position. This will help you find your balance without leaning on your arms to keep you up. Bonus extra hard move is kicking on your side with one arm out front and the other at your side - with your head in line with the spine, not gasping up to breathe. If you can accomplish that without sinking it will help you enormously with the whole coordination of the upper body. If you're sinking terribly and you have access to fins, use them to get your muscles used to getting in the proper position and then ditch them as soon as possible. Like I said, there are tons of others, some of which you might find really helpful, but a lot of the troubles you are having are a symptom of not finding your center of balance in the water causing you to lean on your arms to breathe and drag the legs. Good luck! Keep swimming! Keep us posted!

FYI, the "Last Sunday" video isn't working. YouTube says "video not found." But in the last month video I think you have made marked improvements over last year. Of all the things you pointed out, the arm drag, and head lift do pop out the most to me. Also, I think position at which you hold your head is causing your feet/legs to drag more. If you keep your head down more, it will (or should) make your legs come up. Try to keep it so that when your face is in the water, the water level is closer to the top of your head. Then when you rotate to breathe, imagine a long pole running through your body at water level and rotate around that. Otherwise you're doing well. It won't happen overnight. Just keep working at it. Good luck. Dan

FWIW, just by the way you talk about the mechanics of your stroke...it's obvious that you know what you 'need' to do, and you're working to perfect it. But, as I said in my previous post, it all just takes lots of time and repetition. That "pocket of air" you refer to may likely happen once you become a bit faster. Think of it like the bow wave of a surfaced submarine going through the water. (See the video linked below. Sorry, I'm retired Navy. That's the best I could think of.) If you're swimming fast enough you will creat a similar wave next to your head. When it's there, you don't have to rotate as far and can actually get your air below the general surface of the water. m.youtube.com/watch Dan

Hey, Deb! Welcome to the USMS Forums! :welcome: I applaud you for the steps you have taken to set goals and take active steps to achieve them. Coming here was a smart move, and posting videos is just the ticket to getting the help you need to improve. DJ is correct when he says repetition will help you improve. Looking at your videos, you have improved tremendously! It also brought back great memories, because I taught a gal in my community how to swim from scratch. I had never taught anybody how to swim, but she was very motivated, and I couldn't say no when she asked. Gail became my project! Check out this video: youtu.be/35jgU84suXw . Just make sure to turn the sound off when you watch it, or I'll drive you nuts with my constant cheers of "Good!" I was just so darn proud of Gail, because she couldn't swim one stroke before she got in the water with me. The video shows Gail swimming in her 33rd lesson. Her backstroke came along much faster, because she was more comfortable swimming in that position: youtu.be/OhHegV9uSR8 . Now, for a tip. To get the feel for how your body position should be in the water, you may want to try borrowing a pull buoy if they have one at your pool you can use. Stick it between your thighs, and then swim without kicking. Use it ONLY as long as you need to feel the right body position, and then remove it. Continue swimming without it, and add the kick. Another thing that would help is watching instructional videos on YouTube and practicing what you saw and learned from the video. I find the "Go Swim" videos to be excellent tools. You are taking the right step to swim with a Masters group. Share your goals with your coach, so he/she understands what you are working on to achieve. One more thing to leave you with to work on at the next session: You know that black (or blue) line on the bottom of the pool. To help with your cross over problem, watch your stroke as you pull your arm through the water. Visually trace your thumbs so that you see your left thumb tracing down the left edge of the line, and the right thumb tracing down the right edge of the line. This will help correct that cross over. There is a LOT to think about in swimming, but it's best to just think about one thing at a time! :agree: Good luck to you, and like Dory said to Nemo, "Keep on swimming!"

Thank you so much for looking at my videos and giving me some feedback. Based on my own observations I gave it another go last night practicing keeping my head down and trying to kick more from my hip and not bending my knees all while trying to turn my head and find that pocket of air that supposedly exists nearer the surface. Sometimes it alludes me, and I gulp water, having to forego my breath until the next opportunity. I think I did much better last night (Tuesday's video) and managed to find someone to video tape me again. Dang there's so much coordinate! One of the lifeguards who knows that I'm also runner said he thought running was harder. My reply? No one has to teach you how to move your legs, your arms and breathe when you run. Swimming is waaaaay harder than running. https://youtu.be/7J9GEsCcXek Last Sunday 12/20/2015 https://youtu.be/vSFiaQyLZ20 Tuesday 12/22/2015

Hahaha, speed? What you said makes a lot of sense though. Thanks for video. It helps. Your critique helps me know I'm on the right track. :)

You're welcome, Deb! Does your Y offer intermediate classes that go beyond those boring basics? If so, perhaps you can give one a try. You would get more stroke instruction that you can carry into your Masters workouts. As an alternative, you might want to see if you can find an instructor at the Y to hire by the hour for personalized instruction. Your Masters coach may be available on a private basis. Keep us posted on this thread on how things are going. Good luck! No my Y doesn't really offer intermediate classes. Plus, I've had a couple of the instructors observe me, and all I ever get out of them is that I'm doing everything right, and I just need more practice. While I would agree with that, clearly I am not doing quite a few things correctly and it's going to take more than just "practice" on my own to do so.

Yes. All those things. But you're clearly working on it and improving, so good job. What you have now is a good understanding of what you need to do but a lack of balance. That's normal for a beginner (and even some not so beginners with a weak core). To practice balance, I find it helpful to do some drills in short bits, then immediately switch to swimming. (For example, 25 Drill then 25 swim). There are a lot of drills that can help with balance so I'll try not to overwhelm and just give a couple that will be hopefully simple to explain & execute. 1) I agree with Elaine - use that pull bouy to get your legs up, allow yourself to get to press your chest and get your head down. Get comfortable getting down in front without worrying about the legs. 2) practice kicking in a streamline position. This will help you find your balance without leaning on your arms to keep you up. Bonus extra hard move is kicking on your side with one arm out front and the other at your side - with your head in line with the spine, not gasping up to breathe. If you can accomplish that without sinking it will help you enormously with the whole coordination of the upper body. If you're sinking terribly and you have access to fins, use them to get your muscles used to getting in the proper position and then ditch them as soon as possible. Like I said, there are tons of others, some of which you might find really helpful, but a lot of the troubles you are having are a symptom of not finding your center of balance in the water causing you to lean on your arms to breathe and drag the legs. Good luck! Keep swimming! Keep us posted! Thanks for all the tips. I found some videos that demonstrate what you're talking about so I'll be trying them out soon.