Often when I make the approach for a flip turn I'm out of breath and take a last gasp before the turn. I blow bubbles as I rotate and during push off. After this short amount of time and blowing bubbles, I'm desperate for air and can't glide very far from the wall before taking a breath. How does one learn breath control?
I've always thought coaches put too much emphasis on breath control. Does breathing really slow down your stroke that much? Maybe it does, but I've never seen any empirical evidence. I'd like to see an experiment where several swimmers swam all out 50s, one taking their normal number of breaths (maybe 3 or 4 for the 50), and one breathing every stroke (i.e., breathe every stroke on the right or the left). I wonder how much different the times would be? Obviously for a 50 even a tiny difference in speed could be critical, though. I could see how breathing too often in a 50 or 100 might slow your turnover, and I think this may be the primary factor for holding your breath in sprints. However, for longer races I think holding your breath is crazy. My gut feeling is that any gain in speed is offset by your muscles getting less oxygen.
As for breathing into turns, coaches are constantly harping on "no breathing in and out of turns." I'm not convinced this is really good advice. I do see people take a last breath when both arms are already at their sides immediately before flipping. There's no question this is poor form, but I can't see what's wrong with breathing on your final "real" stroke into the wall.
If some one can prove me wrong go for it :)
I've always thought coaches put too much emphasis on breath control. Does breathing really slow down your stroke that much? Maybe it does, but I've never seen any empirical evidence. I'd like to see an experiment where several swimmers swam all out 50s, one taking their normal number of breaths (maybe 3 or 4 for the 50), and one breathing every stroke (i.e., breathe every stroke on the right or the left). I wonder how much different the times would be? Obviously for a 50 even a tiny difference in speed could be critical, though. I could see how breathing too often in a 50 or 100 might slow your turnover, and I think this may be the primary factor for holding your breath in sprints. However, for longer races I think holding your breath is crazy. My gut feeling is that any gain in speed is offset by your muscles getting less oxygen.
As for breathing into turns, coaches are constantly harping on "no breathing in and out of turns." I'm not convinced this is really good advice. I do see people take a last breath when both arms are already at their sides immediately before flipping. There's no question this is poor form, but I can't see what's wrong with breathing on your final "real" stroke into the wall.
If some one can prove me wrong go for it :)
