If we are supposed to be, in the front crawl, always rolling from side to side, what are the advantages of not breathing every other stroke or breathing less and swimming straight? Or should we roll to the side even though not taking a breath? Or is is the fact that the moving of your head a little more to take the breath making more drag? I can see the not breathing an issue in fly because breathing breaks the natural porpoising of the body. The more I swim the fly without breathing the faster I go, so I have to dwell with that, but in freestyle what is the deal? Newbie questions again. billy fanstone
Parents
Former Member
Here is a theory: it doesn't matter much how you breathe once you've left the realm of top class competition. I am talking bilateral versus one side, breathing every two strokes versus three or five, or breathing once you hit the flags and so forth. One other thought is that if your flip turns makes you work too much when in practice, why not just go for the open turn? Especially when swimming three or more to a lane where you are scared you might hit someone on the way out of a flip turn. Here is the deal: my coach is a normal coach in the day time with kids and some promising teenagers (at a private health club, where I live there is no swimming at school level) and so forth. These guys need to learn bilateral breathing, not breathing when finishing a fast 50 once you hit the flags and other tidbits of competitive swimming. But in the evening the same coach will sometimes want us slowpokes to emulate his teenagers. I know how to bilaterally breathe but the efficiency is so bad and such that I tend to sink on the other side and it is just too much of an effort with no returns. I've given up! If I am swimming a 50 free in a meet I will breathe a couple of times going but coming back I will probably breathe on every other stroke. The loss in speed is nothing compared to the sheer breathlessness that I have when not breathing. On buttterfly I try and breathe less up to a certain point because breathing takes such a toll on my form. I think to breathe or not to breathe cannot become a dogma, but each one (not in top class) will find his confort zone. Plus you can always do something which I have yet to do: time yourself doing 50 free with all variables. billy fanstone
Here is a theory: it doesn't matter much how you breathe once you've left the realm of top class competition. I am talking bilateral versus one side, breathing every two strokes versus three or five, or breathing once you hit the flags and so forth. One other thought is that if your flip turns makes you work too much when in practice, why not just go for the open turn? Especially when swimming three or more to a lane where you are scared you might hit someone on the way out of a flip turn. Here is the deal: my coach is a normal coach in the day time with kids and some promising teenagers (at a private health club, where I live there is no swimming at school level) and so forth. These guys need to learn bilateral breathing, not breathing when finishing a fast 50 once you hit the flags and other tidbits of competitive swimming. But in the evening the same coach will sometimes want us slowpokes to emulate his teenagers. I know how to bilaterally breathe but the efficiency is so bad and such that I tend to sink on the other side and it is just too much of an effort with no returns. I've given up! If I am swimming a 50 free in a meet I will breathe a couple of times going but coming back I will probably breathe on every other stroke. The loss in speed is nothing compared to the sheer breathlessness that I have when not breathing. On buttterfly I try and breathe less up to a certain point because breathing takes such a toll on my form. I think to breathe or not to breathe cannot become a dogma, but each one (not in top class) will find his confort zone. Plus you can always do something which I have yet to do: time yourself doing 50 free with all variables. billy fanstone
