I just started doing this this week and have already felt an improvement in my stroke. So I was just curious to know if anyone else breathes to the side on fly?
If you do, do you keep your head to the side, or do you flip back and forth between front and side? What advatages to you notice to side breathing as compared to front? How to you make adjustments for the arm you can't see?
If you don't, have you ever considered trying it? What advantages to you see in breathing to the front as compared to the side?
Just thought it would be interesting to find out about different peoples swimming styles.
Former Member
Hi Kyra -
I just recently started trying it too and I like it. It seems that my fly is smoother and I'm able to keep my head close to the water when I take a breath.
I breath to the side then put my face back in the water facing down, so I'm turning my head each time.
It just feels more natural to me.
Esposito is famous for his side breathing in butterfly.Check out the videos here(you need to download them first, it might take some time, but it's worth it - I am sure a lot of your questions will be answered after you've watched the videos):
swim.ee/.../fly.html
I like to side breath on breaststroke. This seems to disturb a lot of people at meets! :p It seems to make it easier to stay low and get that "over the top of the wave and down the other side feel" while avoiding inhaling water. After I master butterfly (yeah right! :rolleyes: ) I'll learn to do breaststroke correctly, I just can't get the across the top of the water arm recovery and the submerge and glide both going at the same time. I'm just too uncoordinated to learn to do two strokes correctly at the same time.:(
I remember that Swimming Fastest had a couple reasons why side breathing should not be encouraged but I don't remember what they were anymore, perhaps someone with a copy will look them up and post. If your stroke feels better breathing to the side it is probably a hint that you are lifting your head too much when you breath forward.
Esposito also does a one-kick fly, I wonder if there is a correlation...
There are enough great side-breathing flyers out there that I think it's crazy to suggest it isn't a good way to swim it. Besides Esposito another one that comes to mind is Mel Stewart. It definitely seems to help some people keep their heads lower when breathing and that's very important. Once your legs start dropping you're done!
I don't do it personally because it just doesn't feel natural. That said, my front-breathing fly isn't exactly setting the pool on fire :D
I must be weird then because after I started doing it more, then I thought it felt more natural to breathe to the side. Like I said before, I am actually seeing improvment in my stroke. I feel like it helps get my body waving better because I can see my head moving in relation to the lane lines and if they seem to be going just up and down then I know to put my into it. I also keep my head to the side the whole time...I tried breathing to the side and then putting back down, but that just made me dizzy.
~Kyra
Originally posted by LindsayNB
I remember that Swimming Fastest had a couple reasons why side breathing should not be encouraged but I don't remember what they were anymore, perhaps someone with a copy will look them up and post.
I would look it up but my copy is now being used as a doorstop, so I can't. :D
His comments are on p 167-168.
1) The range of motion of the neck is very limitted. therefore, the side-breathers must lift their heads further out of the water than forward breathers. The next paragraph he says that might be okay.
2) Side-breathers rotate their body to the side they are breathing on.
When I watch side-breathers, I notice that they tend to break the flow of their stroke for an extremely limited time. It is enough to cause drag though. They all tend to recover their arms & hands unevenly. It seems to me that they are beeaking some of the forward motion they have created.
I have never tried side breathing fly. It just seems like it would feel unnatural. Of course, my fly is about as unnatural as it comes anyway.:( It has been compared to those speed boat wrecks where water and parts go flying all over the place.:rolleyes:
Where I swim, there is a very heavy set boy who side breaths. His stroke doesn't seem to be any different than anyone else's stroke except for the head motion. When I've tried it, it has seemed very ackward. Maglischo does not recommend it.
Also, frequently, I have enpough problems doing fly!!!!!!!!
