arm dominance and breathing side

The category I fall into is unfortunately not listed in the poll :shakeshead: ....and that is that I am right handed but I don't have a breathing side preferance....I typically breathe on one side for a while until I get bored with it and then I will switch to breathing on the other side for a while...(also keeps me from getting a stiff neck from breathing on the same side all of the time). I do NOT, however, like to alternate my breathing side continuously back and forth between so many storke cycles....I like keeping it on one side for at least a 25 before I switch to the other side. I wonder how common that is?? ....or if I am the only one who prefers to breathe this way? Newmastersswimmer

Right-handed and breath exclusively to the left

I voted for right/ right, but over the last 8 years with my current masters team, have developed a really good left-side breathing skill. I tend to do a 3/2 breathing pattern these days, and for whatever reason, whenever it becomes 2/2, it tends to be left-side focused. For the shorter races, the few breaths I take are mostly to the right. I will note that it feels like I get a stronger pull from my left arm, which I think makes sense from the right-side breathing, as that arm would be underwater holding me up at the surface while I breathe. :dedhorse:

I was first to vote for left and left. Glad to see some others have joined the club.

"I am one side dominant, but have trained my self to be a comfortable bilateral breather" This is an option in your text but not in your poll. So I didn't vote. I would defintely vote for this one. I remember starting out I naturally was a right/right breather but I've trained myself to be bilateral so naturally that even when gasping for air either side feels comfortable.

Michele--I apologize; screwed up a bit with my poll, not knowing exactly how to do one. I put down the possible answers in the text part, then submitted it, and the poll form came up, and I tried to recreate the answers from memory... Ivor--might I just say that Upwithbeavers is an extremely funny website. Like Ricky Gervais bringing The Office to America, I would love to get an Americanized UPwithBeavers version for the US of A. Finally, in terms of breathing generally, this poll has proved revealing, at least to me. The Swiss have a term "the chocolate side" for which half of your body is generally more limber, flexible, etc. I think they use this for skiing--it's easier to execute certain skiing maneuvers (I'm not a skiier myself, so I am not sure what I mean here by maneuvers, but it probably has to do with kick turns, etc.) on the chocolate side than on the non-chocolate (vanilla?) side. I learned about the "chocolate side" from a yoga teacher years ago, who used it to explain why some contortionistic yoga poses are so much easier to execute on one side vs. the other. I think swimming is the same. Nobody yet appears to be a natural bilateral breather. The biggest chunk of responses so far is a discord between hand dominance and breathing side. In my own case, I am ever-so-slightly ambidextrous--I shoot a rifle and play pool left handed but do pretty much everything else right handed. I wonder if this might figure in to my own discord (right handed for the most part; breathe on the left side.] This whole breathing business and handedness also seem to influence directions of flip turns. I am trying to remember which direction my body angles off the wall at (left or right tilted downwards) but for some reason can't recall this. I do know that I take my first stroke wrong--you should probably use whatever arm is deeper, but I tend not to do so. I wonder if anyone has scientifically studied swimming, handedness, etc. I guess it matters less in fly and breaststroke...

Right handed, used to breath to right side almost exclusively. Injured left shoulder and because of the discomfort began breathing to the left. Am now comfortable breathing to either side. Don't alternate breathe but throughout a workout will switch every 2,3 4 breaths or by laps or whatever. One thing I've noticed since learning to breathe to the left is that my balance is better when I breathe left. My hips drop slightly when I breathe to the right.

Naturally right/right, but comfortable bilateral breather now. This whole breathing business and handedness also seem to influence directions of flip turns. I am trying to remember which direction my body angles off the wall at (left or right tilted downwards) but for some reason can't recall this. I do know that I take my first stroke wrong--you should probably use whatever arm is deeper, but I tend not to do so. I took some lessons from a woman who swam for Wisconsin. She mentioned that her coach had changed her flip turn rotation to better match up with her first arm stroke, so there is evidently some school of thought about this. She didn't elaborate, and I didn't follow-up.

I took some lessons from a woman who swam for Wisconsin. She mentioned that her coach had changed her flip turn rotation to better match up with her first arm stroke, so there is evidently some school of thought about this. She didn't elaborate, and I didn't follow-up. I was told by a coach that the first stroke after the turn should be taken with the arm closest to the bottom. I didn't change my turn rotation though, just changed which arm was taking the first stoke and by doing so it also made it easier to take at least 2 strokes before breathing after each turn (something else the coach was constantly emphasizing).

Right Right Forcing my self to go bilateral...3 strokes.