Hi all,
First of all, if there's already a thread concerning this issue, I would like to say sorry for opening an already existing topic, but also would like to ask the moderators to link me the topic discussing this, before closing this thread.
The thing I wanna learn is being face-up underwater without having water in my nose but also without releasing a bubble, using breath control. (not nose clips, not my lips, not anything else, I wanna do this with breath control)
I have been practising this a lot now. Yet still can't manage to do it. All my acquaintances who ever tried or practiced it and can do it say that it is easy and they didn't need to practice it for too long. I can do it vertically, btw. So no, before you say, I am not instinctively sucking in water.
What I start to think is that what prevents me from being able to do this is that I have adenoids. Most of the time I can barely breath through one of my nostrils, which makes an unbalance between the 2 nostrils and makes it impossible to even the pressure at the same time in both of them, resulting in flooding my nose in any way. I also realized that I can either blow very little bubbles, or stop my breathing out completely, but between the two, to apply a pressure which is enough to keep water out but not enough to release a bubble, is just impossible for me. There is a gap in the breathing out I cannot acquire. Even if I do, one of my nose gets flooded because of the give unevenity.
What makes me very sad is that all of my acquaintances who ever tried or practised this, could master it easily. I have been suffering with it now for so long.
But my fear is that with adenoid I won't be able to master this. Anyone any experiences on this one?
Any tips, suggestions on how to practice?
Thanks
I guess I'm just not clear on exactly what it is that you want to accomplish. If you're underwater...why does it matter if, or why would you want your face up? By "up" I'm presuming that you mean looking forward...toward the end of the pool???
Dan
I spent most of my swimming career up until the “ah-ha” moment trying to figure this out as well. What finally happened for me was I just went in for a flip turn and told myself I would not breathe out my nose while upside down...period. What I found was I instinctively scrunched my face up (in my household we refer to this as the “stink face”). I believe this action seals off the upper reaches of my nasal passages. So what goes up my nose but not far enough to cause that tickle that makes you sneeze.
TL;DR I just one day DECIDED to do it. The hardest part was switching off the muscle memory I had developed that said to always blow out my nose to keep from insuffalating water.
Thank you for your reply. For example doing dolphin on your back! I mean that.
I am pretty shocked watching the view and reply ratio of the topic... Seems like no one is really interested in this. I think it is very important. Isn't it badass to be able to equalize the pressure of your air with the hydrostatic pressure of the water in your nose? To freely roll underwater however you want, without wasting your air by exhaling bubbles or without noseclips. Pure nature. I think it is badass.
I have nothing against water invading my nose cavity, but it is unhealthy and unprofessional. Unfortunately, I cannot scrunch my face. I don't have the anatomy to be able to close my nasal passages in any way. I will have to learn breath control. I'm going to see a doctor abotut my adenoids and also, I wanna fight against my allergy, as I'm sure these 2 are main reasons why this thing is hard to master for me.
I have used a nose clip for 35 years (out of 65) - after sinus irritation finally got out of control. Best darn thing I ever did for my swimming. It is a piece of equipment everyone should try. All of my times - practice and racing improved greatly.
The reason the nose clip is good for all strokes is it forces the swimmer to make proper breathing important. Maximizing the exhalation of CO2 as well as inhaling new air does all kinds of good things - reduces that awful pressure in your chest, can change blood pH for the better, eliminates any bad turning technique that comes from trying to keep water from going up your nose, and provides much better volume exchange than exhaling/inhaling out your nose.
It does take some time to get used to. Once you do though - swimming is alot more fun. And it eliminates one thing to think about.
Windrath
Neither unhealthy nor unprofessional (assuming the pool is well maintained). It just is irritating! That said, you shouldn't be holding your breath, you should be gradually exhaling. Here you can watch a thing on Lochte using his new technique while he does his UDK on his back. You can see that he is exhaling slowly. I know when I am fatigued that it is easier to either hold my breath for a short period, or just exhale quickly, but with practice you should be able to meter it more. I wouldn't recommend you try to hold it in. www.youtube.com/watch
I have also seen an age group swimmer rotate her head as far over as she should while still being legal on the backstroke. I've tried it, and it helps a lot, but isn't perfect.
I do not see the functional point of holding breath while looking up as opposed to exhaling out the nose... but, an easy solution would be a nose clip.
Guys, thank y'all for the replies. First of all, I did not say "hold" the breath. If you just hold it, water invades the nose cavity. I said exhaling without releasing a bubble, to prevent water from getting in the nose. Why I think it's badass is because you can do whole lenght dolphins on your back without wasting breath.
The Lochte video was helpful, special thanks for it. You said I would be able to meter the exhalation more with practice. How much practice does it really need? as I have already spent at least 15-20 hours practising JUST this. Other people who can do it say that they spent like half an hour to master it. :-((((((
Well, I guess we are dealing with semantics. If you aren't exhaling, I'd call that holding your breath. I cant keep water out of my nose without exhaling, of course, after the fly leg I'm too gassed to, anyway! And I use a clip on back (I never could do what you describe). Of course, I have chronic sinusitis, so maybe it is easier than I expect.
