I have been a right side breather for over 50 years. Last year, I tried for a full year to breathe on the left but encountered a lot of problems and I am a patient person when learning something new/different.
Here are the problems:When I breathe on the left: I get a headache quickly; also, I get extremely dizzy, and finally, I start seeing spots optically. I also don't swim straight which I am famous for doing and that is because my non-breathing arm is probably traveling to the left.
I can breathe on the left for about 10 to 20 strokes before these problems start occurring. Today, after I came home from swim training, I started thinking about why all this is. The one thing I did do was, as I was sitting, was I turned my head to the right and my chin goes beyond my shoulder. I tried this to the left and it wasn't even close to my shoulder. So now I am thinking that muscles/tendons in my neck are not lengthened and flexible when turning it to the left thereby the problems I may be encountering when I try to breathe to the left.
So, if anyone has any ideas, or knows of any exercises I could implement to get my neck to turn to the left, let me know. I truly don't think that swimming 19 miles breathing only to the right is the way to go; it may even cause me to abort the swim.
Breathing to the left is almost impossible because once my vision starts to go, I get nauseaous. Ideas?
Donna
Parents
Former Member
My effort to bilateral breathe began in earnest when I started coaching. I think it is the best way to develop the most symmetrical stroke.
On long swims (>mile) I find it useful to breathe ten right: ten left. During each cycle of 20 breaths, focus on one very specific part of your body (chin position in relation to shoulder, head tilt, right hand entry position, left hand entry position, etc.) Start on your comfort side and maintain the same focus through the 10 breaths on your developing side.
Although I am very comfortable breathing both sides in all kinds of training conditions, I still return to my comfort side when racing (almost exclusively).
My effort to bilateral breathe began in earnest when I started coaching. I think it is the best way to develop the most symmetrical stroke.
On long swims (>mile) I find it useful to breathe ten right: ten left. During each cycle of 20 breaths, focus on one very specific part of your body (chin position in relation to shoulder, head tilt, right hand entry position, left hand entry position, etc.) Start on your comfort side and maintain the same focus through the 10 breaths on your developing side.
Although I am very comfortable breathing both sides in all kinds of training conditions, I still return to my comfort side when racing (almost exclusively).
