keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Sat, 13 May 2006 05:42:21 GMT

:) thanks ill try

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Fri, 12 May 2006 15:17:23 GMT

Originally posted by payydro i alway came to the conclusion that if you breath all air out while swimming you will sink and have to trouble and raise up for air and distrupt your balance If you exhaust all the air out of your lungs and don’t move you’ll probably sink like a rock. If you have some forward momentum however, it is easier to expel more air, still remain afloat, and not break your rhythm. But getting from the point of doing beginner breath drills to hydroplaning on a sprint is a gradual process. The hours of practice and conditioning can get pretty boring, so try to make if fun and interesting. Maintaining as natural a breathing rhythm as possible is ideal. Obviously you will breathe more or less labored depending on how much you exert yourself (as in the difference between walking and running). Since in swimming there is a lot less time to take air in than let it out, it naturally makes more sense to exhale underwater (either slowly or all at once) before you lift your head up to take in air. The better you can refresh your lungs, the better your endurance will be. Breath drills (either on land or in the water) are no different that doing things like “catch-up drills”, and other stroke drills. These drills are simply a way to extend your knowledge of your capacity and help to develop a sub-conscious “memory” for that task. This memory will hopefully carry over to the actual event when you are distracted by everything happening at once (including “not drowning”). Drills frequently extend or exaggerate a small part of a process, so that when the effort is put into regular practice it will come out right. Simply paying attention to how you feel while going through the water will usually inform you about what is right amount of effort. Doing stretching exercises (like Yoga) to increase your flexibility (especially in your neck, shoulders, chest, and waist) will help a great deal in swimming. That, along with practice, study, and asking questions will take you a long way in a relatively short period of time. You will be even further challenged when you try to start answering questions. ;-) Initially (just as a friendly tip), I probably would not do any heavy experimentation with expelling all the air in your lungs while in the deep end… not that there’s anything wrong with that. :-D Somewhat related to this topic was a post in this forum regarding an underwater record that sparked some interesting responses regarding the pros and cons of holding the breath, which may be worth a look.

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Fri, 12 May 2006 13:59:03 GMT

When I teach swimming I teach students to blow all of the air out but only as a method to let the body sink to the bottom of the the pool, bobbing and exhaling, rolling while kicking and breathing on the side. My critisim was not in the theory of a coach saying exhale all the air, it is the over exagerating that happens and of course I just think it is wrong to say Exhale all the air. I don't have any problem asthma but maybe because of my age I have trouble when doing breath control swims of breathing every 5, or 7 or 9.

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Fri, 12 May 2006 13:17:52 GMT

dorothyrde Lets not breathe all the air out, every one may try to do this and exagerate the action, I believe (but it may be disputed) that the exhale portion should not be a complete forcing of the air out. Breathing should be natural almost the same as you would do for a jog or bicycle ride. I have never seen any athlete breathe all of his or her air out no matter the sport.

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

dorothyrde — Fri, 12 May 2006 10:21:51 GMT

ahhh, you need to be a singer/flute player, we have plenty of breath control. :D

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

dorothyrde — Fri, 12 May 2006 09:42:51 GMT

George, I know what you mean, but I have coaches tell me the reason people have trouble with the breathing is because they don't exhale all their air out into the water, so when they turn to breathe, they end up exhaling, before inhaling, and therefore disrupt the timing. This also leaves more CO2 in the lunges, and leads to the breathlessness feeling that many new swimmers get. Does that make sense? And I guess my description does sound like I mean go under and blow out hard, but that isn't what I meant((come on read my mind). It is true it is a slower exhaling, not a forceful exhaling, like breathing out underwater. For a newbie, this is a hard concept because breathing out naturally underwater is not a comfortable feeling. Again, observing a skilled swimmer underwater is a good way to see this. One thing to note, I know several swimmers who have asthma. When doing breathe control swims of breathing every 5, or 7 or 9, they cannot do the slow controled exhale. They actually hold their breath until last couple strokes and then exhale it out. They have found with their asthma, this helps them not have breathing difficulties. The slow controled exhale is especially helpful to learn for turns. There is no way I would have been able to learn a flip turn until I learned to breathe out in a controled way.

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

dorothyrde — Fri, 12 May 2006 08:59:51 GMT

You need to breathe all your air out, so you can get a fresh supply when you breathe. The air in your lungs is not the only contributing factor of keeping afloat, body position as you have found out is more important. To practice breathing all your air out, do bobs, go under breathe it all out, come up, breath in, do again. You can also hang on the side of the pool with legs out floating, so you are lying stomach down and practice doing the breathing in and out to the side. The side rotation breathing is a hard skill for someone who is trying to learn as an adult(actually for kids as well), and takes practice. You will find one side feels better than the other, but practice on both sides. I agree with Matt that watching good swimmers, especially what they do underwater is good. I love to swim next to the Senior/National team from our swim team and watch their body positions, and how they stroke the water and turn. And then I do poor imitations!

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Fri, 12 May 2006 08:57:04 GMT

i alway came to the conclusion that if you breath all air out while swimming you will sink and have to trouble and raise up for air and distrupt your balance

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Thu, 11 May 2006 15:04:23 GMT

Hi Bud, I find very interesting, your description about Yogic breathing exercises. I don't know anything about Yoga, in case you wonder. Thank you very much for sharing your experience.

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Thu, 11 May 2006 08:08:50 GMT

There are a number of other posts/threads in this forum regarding swimming and yoga, just use the search feature if you want to seek them out. The easiest way to ruin your body position and throw off your form in swimming is to try and keep your head lifted up. I wholeheartedly agree with the ease and grace theory of swimming. The people you want to ask questions of (or recruit to critique you style) are the ones who don’t look fast, but are. Of course those that splash around a lot can be fast, but the swimmers who exhibit both speed and power with the least disturbance of the water probably have the best notions on technique and form. Also, like The Buddha said: Don’t take anything at face value, prove it to yourself by putting it into practice. Stroke count (the number of strokes it takes to get from one end of the pool to the other) is one of the simplest measurements of swimming efficiency.

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Wed, 10 May 2006 14:24:44 GMT

Glad it worked for you. Hopefully there are competent swimmers at the pool you swim at because this can be a valuable resource to draw from. Even without talking to them you can watch how they move, their body position, the way they breath, etc.. The best swimmers can be picked out not just by speed but also by a perceived lack of effort and lack of splashing and noise. An efficient swimmer will make very little splash, take few strokes per length, and appear to not be working very hard to accomplish each lap.

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Wed, 10 May 2006 13:39:40 GMT

thank you all for your help .. scyfreestyler & dorothyrde - u were right ... i was leaning my head backward and i guess thats whre the problem was ... today was my second class and i tried to keep my head towards the water and it was much better .. thank u so much ... i am originally from india but unfortunately never thot of learning yoga or any kind of meditation technique ...

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Wed, 10 May 2006 11:11:46 GMT

I used to be a Red Cross WSI (water safety instructor), so I’ve got some experience with teaching swimming. The first thing I ALWAYS did with a beginner swimmer was teach them to float, both face up and face down. Learning to float will not only give a person confidence in the water (helping one to overcome any fear of the water one might have), it will also help in a big way when you start to learn various swimming strokes. Good buoyancy, or flotation, will make it MUCH easier to maintain a good body position in the water as you move through it while swimming. If you do not have a lot of natural buoyancy then you can probably develop your own. I have a fairly lean build, yet my body has excellent buoyancy. I attribute this to the fact that my lungs are very well developed, which may be genetic, but I believe is mostly due to practice and effort. Proper swimming will help develop and maintain good, healthy lungs. This is especially true in strokes where your face is under water most of the time. Unfortunately, if you are a beginner swimmer, this is a catch-22. But there is hope! Yogic breathing exercises helped me a lot in understanding proper breathing both in and out of the water. In particular, the "complete" or "three-part" breath cycle. Basically you start by drawing in the breath using the diaphragm and lower abdomen, gradually expanding the rib cage until the lungs are full of air from bottom to top. To exhale you reverse the process, beginning with the abdomen and gradually collapsing the ribs and upper chest. One common practice is to count for each exhalation and inhalation, making them equal in duration. It does not take long to figure out that we typically do not exhale fully enough for each breath we take, always keeping a surplus of stale air in our lungs. This practice crosses over into swimming really well. The main difference is that you usually have a lot less time to get air in while swimming, so you need really well developed abdominal and chest cavity muscles. Remembering to make full exhalations is really important too. A well-developed diaphragm and chest cavity can really jet in the air as you come up for breath, which will increase your endurance and efficiency. The good news is that not only will breath training make you feel healthier and more energetic due to the increased oxygen content in your lungs, you will also develop a nice, tight set of abs. It also aids in helping your body in having a good “memory” for proper spinal alignment and posture. As you develop your lung capacity, you will find it a lot easier to maintain good buoyancy in the water while swimming. I get complimented on my swimming form and technique on a regular basis. I firmly believe my success in this regard is significantly affected by my increased lung capacity, which enables me to more easily maintain an efficient body position in the water while swimming. I believe my constant training and awareness of proper spinal alignment and posture has helped a lot too. It is important to find good teachers when you are first starting out in any swimming or Yoga practice. Here are a few stories for illustration. A friend of mine, a very accomplished Yoga instructor, once went to India (around 1986) to study for a month at the school of BKS Iyengar (who is one of the most noted Yoga teachers of our time, especially in the west). About the only time she actually saw “the old man” was when he gave a demonstration of a variety of asanas and practices. I can still vividly recall her excitement as she recounted the experience in regards to the breath demonstration. Initially he demonstrated what appeared to be full breathing. But then he said, “Actually, it is supposed to be like this….” She was absolutely astounded by how large he was able to expand his chest cavity, appearing nearly double its normal size. My point to this is that, like most things, no matter how far along you think you are in your swimming practice, there is probably room for improvement. I’ve had a number of Yoga teachers, some better than others, but all of them constantly stressed proper breathing during class. I recall one telling of an elderly man who came to her complaining of constant chest pain and trouble breathing. She said he was so bent over and stooped in his posture that she could tell that his rib cage was pressing into his lungs. “What happens if you do this” she said, urging him to straighten his spine and put his shoulders back. His face lit up like a Hollywood marquee. As he released the stress of his bad posture he was immediately able to breathe easier, and the pain began to subside. Her point was that habits (good or bad) can develop over time in a very subtle way. And that in some cases where the effect is detrimental to our health, we can fail to see even the simplest and most obvious solution simply because the detriment is nothing more than just a habit. I used to stress out and obsess over my bad habits a lot more than I do now. I used to give them way too much attention. But some kind words from Paramahansa Yogananda have helped me out a lot over the years. "Cultivate good habits, and your bad habits will eventually disappear....”

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

dorothyrde — Wed, 10 May 2006 06:45:53 GMT

At 100 pounds, you are probably fairly lean, and it is harder to float without body fat. So you need to find your balance point that you float and that would be where you will be able to kick better. You do that by playing with your head position as someone mentioned above. The kids I teach I always say, head up bottom down, head down, bottom up. Everybody's balance point is a little different, that is why you have to play with it.

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Tue, 09 May 2006 13:54:37 GMT

whn i said 'above water' i meant kicking/pushing the water with ur feet ... i guess one needs to do that and its the basic step in swimming ... i am sorry for my english .. thats not my native language ...

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Tue, 09 May 2006 13:40:15 GMT

For one thing your feet should not be above the water. The heal can break the surface a little but the feet should remain in the water.

RE: keeping feet above water .. plssssssss help ...

Former Member — Tue, 09 May 2006 13:20:33 GMT

Are your feet sinking? If so then the answer would be to push your head and shoulders deeper into the water. While you might not feel up to swimming without instruction perhaps you could just work on kicking with a kickboard or on your back (even better IMHO) to build some stamina. This will help to prep you for full stroke swimming.