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
mjgold - your comments are interesting because I was thinking that might be part of the issue is that my mouth is always open and I'm accidentally sucking water in. You said that trying to inhale immediately after exhaling can close your throat - makes sense - so clarify what do you do? This is different than alot of things I have read where they tell you to exhale everything before turning to breathe.
I don't usually get any water in my mouth using my technique. Sometimes I do, but if you're head is positioned properly when you breathe, you shouldn't inhale any water. It's like breathing while you have some soda in your mouth or something.
But, essentially, I was always taught that you should never hold your breath while swimming. You should always be either inhaling or exhaling. So, right after I've taking my breath and am rolling back into my next stroke, I begin to exhale as soon as my mouth hits the water. I take my next stroke, and then as I roll to my breathing side again--still exhaling--my face comes out of the water, which is where I finish exhaling. I was taught that you can finish your exhale just as you roll your head to breathe in order to get that film of water off your face. Then, when I'm at the midpoint of my roll, I inhale sharply. I don't try to take in an enormous amount of air, just enough to get me through the that stroke cycle; I found that when I opened my mouth wide to try and get a lot of air, I ended up just breathing a lot into my mouth and throat rather than into my lungs where it's needed.
You just need to experiment. Someone likened it to the way you breathe when you sing. Sharply inhale before a somewhat prolonged exhale.
mjgold - your comments are interesting because I was thinking that might be part of the issue is that my mouth is always open and I'm accidentally sucking water in. You said that trying to inhale immediately after exhaling can close your throat - makes sense - so clarify what do you do? This is different than alot of things I have read where they tell you to exhale everything before turning to breathe.
I don't usually get any water in my mouth using my technique. Sometimes I do, but if you're head is positioned properly when you breathe, you shouldn't inhale any water. It's like breathing while you have some soda in your mouth or something.
But, essentially, I was always taught that you should never hold your breath while swimming. You should always be either inhaling or exhaling. So, right after I've taking my breath and am rolling back into my next stroke, I begin to exhale as soon as my mouth hits the water. I take my next stroke, and then as I roll to my breathing side again--still exhaling--my face comes out of the water, which is where I finish exhaling. I was taught that you can finish your exhale just as you roll your head to breathe in order to get that film of water off your face. Then, when I'm at the midpoint of my roll, I inhale sharply. I don't try to take in an enormous amount of air, just enough to get me through the that stroke cycle; I found that when I opened my mouth wide to try and get a lot of air, I ended up just breathing a lot into my mouth and throat rather than into my lungs where it's needed.
You just need to experiment. Someone likened it to the way you breathe when you sing. Sharply inhale before a somewhat prolonged exhale.
