Learning to Swim As An Adult

So far, my girlfriend and I have been going to our local gym and she's teaching me the basics. I was never a certified instructor, but I taught lessons for many years for our club team when I was younger. Here's a couple bits of advice: 1. Take it slow. It is difficult to focus on correcting multiple things at the same time, so you want to slowly put all the pieces together. 2. It starts with the kick. Learn the kick of any stroke first, usually with a board because it provides stability and the person instructing you can give you advice while you do it (except for fly, go without a board for that). With freestyle, we always taught this progression for brand new people (maybe too basic for you, I don't know): kick with a board (arms out in front of board, not on top) - make sure you're not kicking with your legs straight, but the knee shouldn't bend *too* much. If you can get it on video, we can help you with this. kick w/ board, now practice inhaling, face in water and exhaling, head lift up and repeat kick w/ board, practice arm strokes alternating left and right kick w/ board, arm strokes and breathing kick w/ board, arm strokes and now breathing to the side instead of up and down kick w/ board, arm strokes and 3/3 breathing pattern (left arm, right arm, left arm - breath, right arm, left arm, right arm, breath, repeat) swim w/ 3/3 breathing pattern (usually assistance is required at first, but once you get used to keeping your hips up, you should be good) Good luck!

So far, my girlfriend and I have been going to our local gym and she's teaching me the basics. I was never a certified instructor, but I taught lessons for many years for our club team when I was younger. Here's a couple bits of advice: 1. Take it slow. It is difficult to focus on correcting multiple things at the same time, so you want to slowly put all the pieces together. 2. It starts with the kick. Learn the kick of any stroke first, usually with a board because it provides stability and the person instructing you can give you advice while you do it (except for fly, go without a board for that). With freestyle, we always taught this progression for brand new people (maybe too basic for you, I don't know): kick with a board (arms out in front of board, not on top) - make sure you're not kicking with your legs straight, but the knee shouldn't bend *too* much. If you can get it on video, we can help you with this. kick w/ board, now practice inhaling, face in water and exhaling, head lift up and repeat kick w/ board, practice arm strokes alternating left and right kick w/ board, arm strokes and breathing kick w/ board, arm strokes and now breathing to the side instead of up and down kick w/ board, arm strokes and 3/3 breathing pattern (left arm, right arm, left arm - breath, right arm, left arm, right arm, breath, repeat) swim w/ 3/3 breathing pattern (usually assistance is required at first, but once you get used to keeping your hips up, you should be good) Good luck!