Is Breathing after every 3 strokes on diff sides help you go faster?

Maybe pose this question to Ande or hope he chimes in. He knows what breathing patterns work for 50's. I would stick to his guidelines.

If you're breathing every three strokes in a 50 free, you're breathing way too much. If you want to improve your time, you're probably going to want to breathe a lot less. I think my last 50 I swam, I was 2 breaths down and 3 back, which is more than most people (alas, sprinter I am not), but it is a good place to start. Breathing is horribly ineffecient. The less you breathe, the better. To answer your question, I don't think breathing every three strokes will help you go faster per se, but it will help you balance out your stroke, which will drive effeciency which will help you go faster.

Exactly, you don't want to breathe much on the 50. honestly in order to reach your goals i wouldn't worry about going no breath, i just watched a kid do a 21.3 at our pool with 2 breaths. you just want to work on your strength and having an early catch and fast stroke turnover. for longer distances it's up to you. if you watch most swimmers on the international circuit, alternate breathing seems to be a lost art except for a few (laure manadou for one). you don't even need to be that balanced in your stroke during breaths (watch phelps 200m free wr, he has a pretty big gallop). the main thing you want to do is just make sure that you are breathing on both sides at least in practice, otherwise you'll have neck problems. if i'm doing longer distances, i do 4 laps breathing on my right, then breathe on my left the next 4, and so on. but really if you are going for the 50 don't worry about breathing, just get in the weight room and do a bunch of sprint sets.

Breathing to one side doesn't cause neck problems. Having poor timing, lifting the head instead of rolling/turning it causes neck problems. I think that you should breath whenever you feel the need too...be it the 50 or 1500. If you need to breath a lot in the 50, then work on improving your timing for the breath, so that it doesn't interfere as much with your stroke rate. If you are able to breath less, and feel that it is a benefit, then go for it.

you don't need to alternate breath, but you should breathe less, especially in the shorter races, as breathing does slow your stroke down. I try to breath every 4 (I suck at breathing on my left) in the 100 in practice for as long as possible, at least for the first 50. I notice its 2 to 3 seconds faster per repeat than breathing every stroke.

the main thing you want to do is just make sure that you are breathing on both sides at least in practice, otherwise you'll have neck problems. Bah. I breathe almost exclusively to my right and have never had neck problems. I think everyone should learn to bilaterally breathe and do it in practice on occasion, but during a race you should breathe however is most comfortable to you. Personally I breathe every cycle on anything over 100 yards.

Some good advice here. For a 50 SCM Free I would go one breath down and 2 back. (Or less, if possible, but that is my limit at the moment). You absolutely have to train yourself to take fewer breaths. For me it is quite simple: the fewer breaths I take, the faster I go. Remember to keep your head down. An early catch, hugely strong pull, powerful kick and perfect streamline are all equally important. The alternate breathing is going to help you so don't give up on it yet. It is going to help you balance your stroke out. Also ( and this might be its greatest benefit) if you usually breathe every second stroke like I do, it is going to train you to hold your breath. I have only started alternate breathing every third stroke recently and already I can feel the difference. At first it destroys your rhythm and you feel out of breath very soon. Persevere. Remember it will take at least 3 weeks before you can develop a new habit. After three weeks report back and tell us how it has gone. I can almost guarantee it will have positive benefits. Another way to train yourself to take fewer breaths is do 10 x 25m fast no breathers at the end of practice. Don't give in to the urge to breathe. Syd

I swim (and swam) faster breathing every stroke (always on my left, 50 LCM. Between 1960 and 1962-ish went from 30" to 27".2). The rolling pattern is part of the style. When I breathe, only my left eye is above water and when I'm on my -almost- left side, my left eye is under water. That's my rhythm; if I try to not breathe, I'm just not as comfortable -or as fast. I can't just bury my face and windmill it.

It takes approximately 10 seconds to gain the benifits from the oxygen you breathe in. If you took a breath approximately 10 seconds before the end of your race it probably wouldn't be advantageous to take another breath. The efficiency of person's lungs and how they transport O2 is also a consideration that will effect the breathing pattern of a swimmer. The action of breathing, in long-axis strokes (free and back) causes a up and down motion due to the increasing and deacreasing of oxygen (bouyancy). A controlled breathing pattern allows the body to maintain a more stable body and that's an advantage. You can't choose a breathing pattern the disrupts the streamlining of the body. In short-axis swimming, breathing every stroke in breaststroke and every other stroke in butterfly is an accepted norm. With all this being said, trying to reduce oxygen debt and it's by-products are important considerations when choosing a breathing pattern. So, as distance increases it's a good bet that a more liberal breathing pattern should be established. On the 10 seconds to benifit guesstimate - breaths per distance might look like this: 50 Free 1-2 -3 maybe 4 breaths 100 Free 10 breaths 200 20 minimum - max would vary This is a great question and I know someone who watches world class swimmers knows the answer to it.

geez, you can't even make a suggestion on here that seems like common sense for most swimmers without people jumping on you with "well i don't need to do that" well congratulations, but that's not the point here. is it a good suggestion for jonathon to breathe only on his right from now on? no, ok thank you. Are you forgetting this is a discussion forum? We're having a discussion here. Yes, I'm sure it's possible breathing to one side can cause a neck problem, but you stated it almost as if neck problems are a given if you only breathe to one side. No, I do sometimes breathe to my left in practice, but not much. I really don't think this uncommon at all. As I said, I do think it's advantageous to be able to breathe to both sides, I just think in races you should breathe however is most comfortable. Besides, the original question was about breathing during a 50. Most elite swimmers will not take many breaths and I would guess they typically takes whatever breaths they do take to the same side. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I do think most swimmers have a preferred side for breathing.