This is a strange one so bear with me...
I have become addicted to swimming as a result of my son taking to the sport. So, I asked him a breathing question today and I found out that he exhales/inhales with his head out for *** and free, and inhales/exhales out on butterfly. His form is right on and I never would have known (I haven't had a chance to tell the coach yet).
On his *** - head comes out every stroke
On free - head out every 3rd (alternate breathing)
On fly - head out every other
ok...my questions are:
How can he be swimming faster consistently at each meet and maintaining his form (sprint and longer events) while breathing this way? He is one of the fastest on his year-round team in his age group. What is he losing by doing this? Or, the better question might be, what could he gain by learning the traditional breathing out under water method? He is very good at staying under water after the turn and can do a proper breakout and he doesn't typically look winded like the other kids.
And, if this were a drill, would there be any benefits?
Thanks!
Former Member
Meldyck:
Hijack in progress....
You're in Granby? I used to live in Winter Park....
Where do you swim.....Snow Mtn Ranch?
Do you know Karen W in Fraser?
Jack makes a good point. One with which I am struggling with right now. And that is the coach versus parent role. It's a very difficult thing for me with Erika as I see so much potential in her and am dying to help her do her best to reach it but I hold myself back as much as I can (which, contrary to my wife's opinion is a lot) but it is sooooooo hard.
Paul
I feel your pain.
It is really difficult not to cross that line. However, after a good year of backing off ME initiating the conversation about swimming - I've seen a transformation in my daughter (just turned 13). If she wants to talk about some aspect of swimming, that's fine but I always center my talks on team work, friends, good sportsmanship, etc. and not technique or results or anything technical.
Also, I speak of her coach with the highest regard, as I respect him and what he's teaching these kids. We are lucky to have a quality coach. It's still no cakewalk - I don't agree with everything that he does, but in every instance I've seen his reasonings always have the swimmers best interest at heart.
Meldyck:
Hijack in progress....
You're in Granby? I used to live in Winter Park....
Where do you swim.....Snow Mtn Ranch?
Do you know Karen W in Fraser?
Yup, I train at Snow Mt Ranch although there is going to be a new pool near Winter Park, probably by the end of the year.
I swim twice a week with Karen at our master's workout and, now, three other times on my own...where I practice my non-traditional breathing methods.
First, I am NOT trying to coach my son. It irritates me when people assume that because I am curious about something I am trying to coach him. I know a lot of people (me included) only read the last post on a topic so think they are replying to the initial message...
What happened was, I have started swimming and I was asking my son about a breathing question in relation to me. He feels good when he's asked for advice/input regarding swimming. Upon having the conversation with my son I discovered the breathing issue with him. I didn't tell him to change it or say anything except, "No way! I never would have known you did that!"
I emailed the coach to let him know...like I said, I doubt anyone has noticed because his stroke is so smooth and he is not slow. I am glad I found this out because with the COACH working with him, he may be even faster once this breathing thing is worked out.
Thanks for the replies!
"This line of reasoning seemed perfectly understandable to me. I have adopted this style of breathing for free, fly and *** and find it works for me. However, I generally don't discuss this with any of my own coaches because all I get is frowns and comments about not knowing how to swim."
Cool...that sounds like what my son does and the logic behind it seems to work.
From what I understand, this is more common than you might think. However, I've read that learning to breath properly will help to reduce the stress on the body and reduce the time needed to have the head above water to get both the inhale and exhale in. He may be getting faster simply because he's stronger, more fit, etc. I would, however, recommend discussing it with the coach so they can work on the proper breathing pattern.
I take my daughters to Wal Mart to discuss their swimming because it's legal to beat your kids there. You might want to try this yourself.
If you don't cotton to that idea, maybe just let his coach work on it with him. That's what you pay for, after all.
Jack makes a good point. One with which I am struggling with right now. And that is the coach versus parent role. It's a very difficult thing for me with Erika as I see so much potential in her and am dying to help her do her best to reach it but I hold myself back as much as I can (which, contrary to my wife's opinion is a lot) but it is sooooooo hard.
Paul
I'm not telling you how to parent your child, but.....
I suggest that you allow his coach(es) to coach his swimming - and you provide the love and support. It sounds like he's in a good program. The structure, coach and training that kids receive today in a good USAS program is both amazing and outstanding.
Parents, as well meaning as we may be, can totally screw up a great swimmer / coach relationship.
As I've backed further away from 'swim talk' with my daughter the more success she's enjoyed as a swimmer - and I'm not just talking about winning events. It's things like not wanting to ever skip a practice and making it up if she does. Eating healthy. Living through the dreaded Saturday 2.5hr 9K IM workout and laughing about it afterwards. Looking towards the summer knowing that while her friends are sleeping in, she'll be in the long course pool at 6:30AM six days a week - with doubles 3x/week. As she's taken ownership over her swimming I've seen her mature and genuinely love the sport - I just make sure she's got a suit and goggles!
Just congratulate him on his achievements and allow him to progress and succeed based upon the program that his coach provides - knowing that you're proud of him no matter what he does will take him farther in the sport than you trying to dissect his stroke/technique.
Just my .02 as one swim parent to another - FWIW.
Too many parents try to interfere with the coaching. Maybe your child does not actually know what the breathing sequence is.
If you have question ask the coach but don't make any suggestions to him.
