Hello, this is my first post in this forum. I am a 35 year old male with limited swimming experience and I am writing regarding a problem that has always been present in my swimming.
I have always been a very active person and I am in very good physical shape. I am a runner as well as a cyclist. I have a very good aerobic ability and I usually run 5 miles each time, at least three times a week. I have a fat percentage of approximately 8%.
When I was 19 years old I decided to start swimming. I joined a local public pool and tried to learn how to swim. The pool was 50 meters and I found it impossible to swim across it. The problem was only present when I swum the crowl style. In the backstroke or *** stroke I had no problem laping the pool back and forth. The reason i could not swim across in the crowl was that I could not figure out how to breathe without swallowing water. Therefore I tried to avoid taking many breaths and obviously I soon run out of breath. I was trying hard to find where my mistake was and I took advice from experienced swimmers but the problem still persisted. After about 3 months of trying I felt very discouraged and quit.
Well, a couple of years ago, I was living in an apartment complex and we had a very small pool. I decided to give swimming a second try and I bought a book that explained how to swim correctly. This book became my bible, I litterally had memorized it and I was practicing at least five times a week for an hour or so every time. The breathing problem still persisted. I kept swallowing quarts of water every time and despite my determination, I again got discouraged with my inability to make progress in my breathing and after about five months of trying I again gave up.
Finally a few months ago, I was introduced to an older fellow who is about 75 years old and is still an active swimmer. I soon learned that he had been swimming for more than 50 years many of them professionaly and has won countless competitions. He has also worked a s a swimming coach and in 1957 he had written and published a book on the technique of swimming.
I explained my problem to him and he offered to help me out. I started practicing and the first thing that he pointed out to me was that I was very tense when I was swimming. He tried to persuade me that I need to relax. He said I was as stiff as a rock. Well, I did make progress in this field and now I am more relaxed although he still claims that I need to relax more. He said to me repeatedly that the reason my legs are not floating is because I am so stiff. Well, I try as hard as I can to relax my legs completely but the more I relax them the more they sink. I asked him wether the fact that my legs are so muscular as a result of my extensive cycling training as well as my very low body fat make them sink and he said that this has nothing to do with it and that it is only due to my stiffmess. Anyway, after the two nonths I have been training with him, I still have exactly the same breathing problem. I still drink quarts of water every time I swim. We use a 25 yard pool and I can barely make it across. I am very discouraged again, and have tried every possible position for breathing. I still can not figure it out. I feel ready to quit again, and he is trying hard to encourage me but I just feel that I am wasting my time. I would love to make swimming a part of my life but I can not keep my spirit high enough if I do not see any progress in my breathing. The problem is still as bad as when I first entered a pool.
I know my posting is a bit long but only because I wanted to give you a thorough description of the problem.
I assume that most people in this forum are more experienced swimmers than me and I would really benefit from your thoughts and suggestions on my problem.
Thank you for any response.
Former Member
Well, I have wonderful news! I have been working on your suggestions and YES, I am finally improving. I am very glad to say that during my later swiiming sessions I seem to have conquered the problem. I think I am over it !!
I want to thank all of you folks that helped me out on this, i know it is probably a very trivial and basic issue but for a beginner like myself it was a very important issue.
One thing that i am trying to work on now that i am start figuring out the correct breathing pattern, is that I am exhausted after one single lap of 25 yard length. Is this normal because I am still in the beginning and will it go away with time. I mean have you people experienced this when you started or maybe I am doing something wrong?
Thanks again.
As you start out swimming, make sure on the first length you're not kicking and are breathing. Many swimmers don't breathe for 3/4 of the first 25 and then wonder why they're winded! They also kick quite hard and have no idea they are doing it. The mantra I give them is, "Breathe, don't kick." I'm glad someone recommend Total Immersion and Terry Laughlin. I've coached with Terry for over 10 years and highly recommend his approach to learning to swim or to changing your stroke technique. His book Swimming Made Easy is excellent. Good luck!
George,
Don't worry about it too much. Endurance will come with practice. Each swim you'll notice improvement over time. Even when I have taken just a few days off from swimming, next time in the pool I notice a marked difference in my own endurance.
Also, as you continue to work on your breathing and proper stroke, your endurance will increase. Watch your kicking too. Some people starting swimming or getting back into swimming seem to kick like mad. That can easily tire you out quickly.
Good luck with your continued swimming!
Dan
George,
Another tip: as you swim try to let go of every muscle you are not using to move your body. Sometimes when we try to swim with precise mechanics, we tense up every muscle and fight our own body trying to make sure we do the motion EXACTLY the way we intended. This is a big waste of energy in swimming. Let you lower arm just hang there from your elbow (like you are a marionette) as you recover your arm. Let your head just float, rather than tensing up your neck muscles trying to hold it in place. If you use a 2-beat kick (one kick for each arm stroke), let your leg just hang there until you are ready to kick again. Literally, hang loose baby.
Please let the record reflect that not one, but two people said the T-words (Total Immersion) before I did. I heartily endorse their methods from my own experience. One quick question for Ann, does "Swimming Made Easy" include all four strokes? I have the first book "Total Immersion" and Emmett Hines excellent book "Fitness Swimming." As good as they both are, they only talk about freestyle. I'd like to see some sample TI-oriented work-outs for the other strokes.
Matt
Matt,
Yes, Swimming Made Easy does cover all four strokes and includes drills and pictures of them to help you learn them. Everyone I know who's read the book has learned a lot from it and recommended it to others. Good luck.
Ann
Matt,
SME covers all four strokes. Its his earlier book, Total Immersion (yellow cover) that is all freestyle. But you're right about it not providing any practice structures.
Originally posted by kellyray
The instructor also noticed that I tend to exhale everything pretty quickly, leaving me with no choice but to come back up for air.
....in the meantime, can any of you suggest a drill or two whose primary goal is to focus on breathing?
Two (amateur) suggestions:
1) Learn to play a wind instrument (like the trombone). :) Seriously, I think it is one of the few things that simulate the breathing pattern during swimming: a quick full intake of air, followed by several seconds of controlled, pressured breathing out.
2) A relaxation technique (done on land) that might help is to breathe in for 4 seconds (or so), hold it for 4, and breathe out for 4 seconds.
In the water, you might want to take a big breath, then hold it for a stroke or two, then breathe out slowly over the next several strokes. If you are breathing out too fast, purse your lips to try to increase the air pressure in your mouth/lungs as you breathe out.
I use a bobbing exercise with people learning to swim to help them get comfortable with the timing of exhaling and inhaling in a vertical position before they try it in a horizontal one. In the shallow end of the pool, squat down so your head is just above the surface. Take a deep breath and submerge yourself and beginning blowing bubbles. Just before you run out of air, jump up high enough so your head clears the surface and graba quick bite of air and let yourself submerge again. Don't stop when your head is above the surface--occasionally people who are trying this for the first time wil pause to finish exhaling, inhale & exhale a couple of times (or wipe the water off their faces, or some such movement) before submerging again. You have to jump up, take a quick breath, and instantly submerge again. Take your time exhaling, but not inhaling. When swimming you have to exhale almost all your air BEFORE you roll to take a breath--there isn't time to exhale & inhale when your face is clear of the water. Also, be sure to inhale only through your mouth (you can exhale through both mouth & nose). If you find you are getting too much water up your nose, try a nose clip til you get used to the breathing pattern. Good luck! It will come quickly.
I just wanted to thank everyone for this thread--and ask another question. I had my first swimming lesson in about 20 years yesterday (I'm 26 now), thinking that I just needed to work on stroke mechanics and the like. After a lap, the instructor pointed out that my breathing was my biggest liability. Like the original poster, I'm lifting my head up unnaturally to take a breath. The instructor also noticed that I tend to exhale everything pretty quickly, leaving me with no choice but to come back up for air.
I made some modest improvemends during the group lesson, and I'm hoping to get in a private lesson sometime soon, but in the meantime, can any of you suggest a drill or two whose primary goal is to focus on breathing? Just hours before running across this site (and seeing the recommendations), I bought "Total Immersion." It appears to have some great drills on stroke mechanics, etc., but I didn't see anything specifically dealing with getting the air in and proper exhalation. (Of course, I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, so I might have overlooked something.) Basically, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the things I know I should be doing (rolling, keeping a straight line, moving my arms, yadda yadda), and I'd like to find something that, as much as possible, isloates the breathing so that I can lay a nice foundation for the rest of the form.
Any ideas? Thanks so much!!
