I took lessons when I was a kid and never mastered the breathing technique for freestyle swimming so I gave up on swimming. Now it is 30 yrs later and I am determined to learn how to swim and have been taking a group class at the local natatorium.
I have been making a lot of progress and learning things that I don't remember from my childhood lessons (keep your chin to your chest, making the S-pattern during the pull stroke, etc). I have also been focused on rolling of the body more - and especially rolling to breathe so that my head is on my left arm/shoulder (breathing to the right).
However, I'm still struggling with the breathing in that I am sucking in water and end up choking. I've had multiple people watch me and they say that my form looks good and even the part when I roll to breathe - but they are unsure at what point I am getting water in my mouth.
It's been hard for me to figure it out - here's some of my thoughts - it's a bit hard to self-diagnose and so far the people watching are not catching it -
Is the timing of the opening and closing of my mouth just a bit off that I am sucking water when I turn to breathe and return to face down?
I'm not the best at exhaling underwater so I wonder if I'm trying to exhale and inhale during the short time that I am turned?
Do I need to turn my head more (look at ceiling)?
Am I slowly sucking in water when my face is down since I'm not exhaling correctly?
Any thoughts on how I can figure this out or other things to look for?
Thanks
Mike
When your go to breathe, you should have your mouth out of the water, but one goggle in and one out. This means you sort of have to reach your mouth out to the air. What I would suggest (I'm not a coach or anything, but I had the same problem and this is what I did) is to over rotate so that your whole face is out of the water, tucking your chin back towards your shoulder. I've also found that it doesn't help any if your mouth is wide open; in fact, it just leads you to mouth breathe rather than take any air into your lungs where you need it. So, keeping your mouth open only on the side that's out of the water will help eliminate the choking and will force you to take a nice sharp breath into your lungs.
Also, I'm not sure who told you to tuck your chin while you swim either. Everything I've read and all my coaches have said that you should have your head in a natural position just like when you are standing up. Unless you naturally tuck your chin to your chest when you stand up straight, then you shouldn't be doing that.
As far as not exhaling underwater, that's something you have to pay attention to while you swim until you get it down. My mouth doesn't close when I swim, because I have found that if I try to exhale out of my nose, I either can't completely exhale before I go to take a breath, or I choke a bit when I do take a breath. If you try to inhale immediately after exhaling, it can close your throat and make you choke--especially if you have water in your mouth.
I'm sure someone will correct the finer points of my "advice", but that's just what I've gained from personal experience and either reading or been told by my coach.
When your go to breathe, you should have your mouth out of the water, but one goggle in and one out. This means you sort of have to reach your mouth out to the air. What I would suggest (I'm not a coach or anything, but I had the same problem and this is what I did) is to over rotate so that your whole face is out of the water, tucking your chin back towards your shoulder. I've also found that it doesn't help any if your mouth is wide open; in fact, it just leads you to mouth breathe rather than take any air into your lungs where you need it. So, keeping your mouth open only on the side that's out of the water will help eliminate the choking and will force you to take a nice sharp breath into your lungs.
Also, I'm not sure who told you to tuck your chin while you swim either. Everything I've read and all my coaches have said that you should have your head in a natural position just like when you are standing up. Unless you naturally tuck your chin to your chest when you stand up straight, then you shouldn't be doing that.
As far as not exhaling underwater, that's something you have to pay attention to while you swim until you get it down. My mouth doesn't close when I swim, because I have found that if I try to exhale out of my nose, I either can't completely exhale before I go to take a breath, or I choke a bit when I do take a breath. If you try to inhale immediately after exhaling, it can close your throat and make you choke--especially if you have water in your mouth.
I'm sure someone will correct the finer points of my "advice", but that's just what I've gained from personal experience and either reading or been told by my coach.
