I wanted to get your advice on learning how to swim given my situation. I'm a 39 yr. old male who didn't learn how to properly swim as a kid. I took some classes a few years ago and can swim (freestyle) a few meters with not the best technique. Fast-forward to the present, I had a neck injury a few months ago and turns out I have a bulging disk c4-c5 and Dr doesn't want me jogging/running, so I asked if I could take on swimming he said yes but with a swimmers snorkel. One of the problems with swimming for me is that my hips/legs start to sink.
Do you think I can learn proper stroke technique if I used a pull buoy and a swimmers snorkel? Would you not suggest this setup? Would this setup teach me how to keep my hips/legs up? I know I should be learning proper breathing technique but at the moment I shouldn't be rotating my neck. My objective is to get into the water and get a good cardio workout and at the same time if I could start learning proper stroke technique that would be great.
Using fins or fins and snorkel would help too, and allow you to get some kicking in by not using the pull buoy . The fins will increase speed and help you elevate your overall body position including hips and legs. You could also add in paddles for when you want to work on your pull.
Like backstroke, breastroke, fly, and sculling do not require head rotation. You can swim them with a snorkel, fins, pull buoy, and paddles too.
I have significant narrowing at C5-6 and C6-7 that causes issues regularly. Snorkel is good advice. Also, might I suggest the Saunders Cervical home traction machine. Opening yourself up a bit might help with the impingement. Ask your chiro. It keeps me in good shape
You could become a dedicated back stroker...just saying. It's not unheard of. There's a guy in my local area that sustained a severe back injury several years ago (run over by a motor boat while kayaking/swimming). He now swims pretty much only backstroke...I.e. he's done long distance open water swims using only backstroke. Here's a link to his story.
www.blockislandtimes.com/.../31327
Dan
I have spine issues as well. What I was told is one of the main reasons why your legs sink is that you're keeping the head too high, so by using the snorkel you can keep your head low in the water looking straight toward the bottom and this will keep the hips up, resulting in better form. Not rotating the head to breath however, means you're less likely to rotate the hips, resulting in less power in the stroke. But hey, it beats sitting in the LazyBoy.
Find a friend that will let you try it. Yes, you can get better . Ask for someone that know "proper" swim technique to help you with body position. If you like the snorkel, buy one and get better. Many of us swim with physical problems and over come them.
Good luck. Let us know how it works for you.
Find a friend that will let you try it... If you like the snorkel, buy one and get better.
And, if you find you don't like snorkels (I hate 'em), don't despair. You can still work on your head position and stroke symmetry by just breathing less. I know breath-holding is generally used as a hypoxic training technique. I routinely do 25s on a 45s interval. The goal isn't hypoxic training or speed (I'm generally only swimming about 22 seconds per 25), but trying to perfect my stroke. I generally take a couple breaths per 25. Again, I'm not aiming for hypoxic training. The occasional breath minimizes that allows me to work on putting my stroke back together after a breath (or not work on not having it fall apart after a breath in the first place).
Due to accumulated injuries I've been using a swim snorkel 100% of the time for the last three years, it makes a world of difference in how long I can swim each session. As Sumorunner said, your head position is right where it needs to be with snorkel, so you should level out nicely.
Just in case you aren't aware, the snorkel style most swimmers would recommend is a center mounted style like the one sold by Finis. A pull buoy might help you feel the correct body position but it might not help you find it when swimming normally. Often you can prevent the legs from sinking by lowering the head. Swimming with a snorkel alone should help with that as you don't need to breathe. It is fine to use a pull buoy or fins but you should do some swimming without them every practice.
