Just a few random questions

How can I improve my lung capacity? I need to be able to hold my breath longer so that my underwater kicks can take me as far as I know they can and not be hindered by a need for air. originally posted by Seagurl51 Have you ever seen any Cheech and Chong movies?....(i.e. I'm referring to a lung exercise that involves the use of a device that rhymes with Chong).....only kidding of course! newmastersswimmer

The trick is to learn just how little air you need to expell to keep the water out of your nose. You want it to be the bare minimum so you can conserve the rest of it and kick as far as you can underwater. I just started playing around with it. Knowing that you might get a chlorine rushes is a really good motivator to get it right

Ok, so the chlorine rush, or stinging chlorine death ray as I call it won't kill you right?!

hehehe I like the stinging chlorine death ray...that's funny. I agree though...definately clears the sinuses. I cleared mine several times today :D. But no, it won't kill you. ~Kyra

Gotta love the stinging chlorine death ray. Nothing will wake you up faster during an early morning workout!

A few thoughts on the water-in-the-nose problem. Practice speeding up your flip turns. the longer you take executing the turn, the more air you will be blowing out that you need. conversely, the faster you execute the turn, the less air you lose. In thinking about how to do a "fast" flip turn, I use my extended arm to pull my head and torso down as I pull throught the last stroke before the turn. Then I give a quick dolphin kick to bring my legs over. But it all happens in what seems to be one continuous motion. Once again, my two cents (one-cent over-priced).

I just wrote this in a nohter thread. I have asthma. I have huge lungs. I have a terrivble time getting all of the waste gases out of my lungs. A very long time ago, a pulmonologist(sp) suggested that I get some large balloons & try to fill them up with as few breathes as possible. As for figuring out how much air to let out as you flip, there is a very simple solution - nose plugs. I've had polps removed from my nose two times. the last time, the doctor told me if more appeared, he wouldn't be able toremove them becasue of the small amount of tissue. I began to ware nose clips & now no problem for six years.

Originally posted by Seagurl51 1. When I breath to my left before I do a flip turn then I can't do a good one. I end up rolling sideways, like over my shoulder, rather than front, tucking my head and going. I've tried looking to the left and then rolling in the middle of the pool and the same thing happens. I just can't seem to get my head back to being straight before I roll. Any ideas of how to fix this other than just breath to the right because sometimes my stroke count doesn't work out so that I can do that all the time? One of the most useful flipturn drills I've ever done entails practicing the "flip" part while you're swimming lengths of the pool. Since you're not at the wall, you just let yourself roll 360 degrees, then resume swimming. If you keep practicing this, alternating the side you do it on, you should be able to figure out how to equalize your flipping motion on your left and right sides. 2. This new backstroke rule...Im still kinda confused. So when I roll onto my stomach then I have to either roll immediately or take a stroke that is part of the continous roll motion right? I can't glide to the wall? The first time somebody posted something on this board about the "new" backstroke turn rule, I remember downloading the latest copy of the rules so I could see what the change had been. When I did so, I discovered that the "new" rule was the same one I had learned when I was being trained as a competitor back in the 1990s. It's really not "new" anymore! What the rule clearly forbids is rolling onto your *** and then taking one or more kicks before you start your "continuous turning action" (which can include a single or a simultaneous double arm pull that you use "to execute the turn"). 3. How can I improve my lung capacity? I need to be able to hold my breath longer so that my underwater kicks can take me as far as I know they can and not be hindered by a need for air. I strongly disagree with Fred Johnson's advice that you not breathe right before your turn. If you're running short on air during your streamlining, one of the things you should do is to breathe right before your turn. You shouldn't try to breathe on the stroke you use to execute your turn, but it's perfectly okay to breathe on the stroke immediately before that. Make a point of exhaling completely underwater and then filling your lungs completely on the final breath. You should also work on making your flip as fast as possible. As somebody else noted, you can use your final arm stroke, your head tuck, and a bit of a dolphin kick to give yourself as much angular momentum as possible. Then keep your body tucked to keep your moment of inertia low, so that the angular momentum translates into a fast rate of spin. As you complete your arm stroke, turn both hands palm downward and then use them to help you get the rest of the way over. You should end up pointed the way you came with your fingertips in front of the top of your head (they'd be above your head if you were standing). Snap your arms into a streamline and then a split second later, kick off forcefully.

Originally posted by Bob McAdams One of the most useful flipturn drills I've ever done entails practicing the "flip" part while you're swimming lengths of the pool. Since you're not at the wall, you just let yourself roll 360 degrees, then resume swimming. If you keep practicing this, alternating the side you do it on, you should be able to figure out how to equalize your flipping motion on your left and right sides. The first time somebody posted something on this board about the "new" backstroke turn rule, I remember downloading the latest copy of the rules so I could see what the change had been. When I did so, I discovered that the "new" rule was the same one I had learned when I was being trained as a competitor back in the 1990s. It's really not "new" anymore! What the rule clearly forbids is rolling onto your *** and then taking one or more kicks before you start your "continuous turning action" (which can include a single or a simultaneous double arm pull that you use "to execute the turn"). I strongly disagree with Fred Johnson's advice that you not breathe right before your turn. If you're running short on air during your streamlining, one of the things you should do is to breathe right before your turn. You shouldn't try to breathe on the stroke you use to execute your turn, but it's perfectly okay to breathe on the stroke immediately before that. Make a point of exhaling completely underwater and then filling your lungs completely on the final breath. You should also work on making your flip as fast as possible. As somebody else noted, you can use your final arm stroke, your head tuck, and a bit of a dolphin kick to give yourself as much angular momentum as possible. Then keep your body tucked to keep your moment of inertia low, so that the angular momentum translates into a fast rate of spin. As you complete your arm stroke, turn both hands palm downward and then use them to help you get the rest of the way over. You should end up pointed the way you came with your fingertips in front of the top of your head (they'd be above your head if you were standing). Snap your arms into a streamline and then a split second later, kick off forcefully. Ouch! I'm smarting. A swim coach strongly disagrees with my comment; I better re-read what I said. I may have not been clear in my comment about not breathing right before the turn. What I meant was, don't breath on the stroke you use to execute your turn. When I swam as an age-grouper, our coach did not want swimmers breathing two strokes before the wall. But to practice making a proper flip turn, I was referring to the stroke you use to make the turn. Breathing on this stroke puts your head sideways and turns your body slightly to the breathing side creating a bad position for executing the turn. Sorry about the confusion because I agree with the comment above.