I've been teaching myself to swim and I'm trying to develop good technique right from the get go.
I've been reading about body rotation in free stroke and bilateral breathing.
I'd be considered an adult learner and I've never been in the water before. I started teaching myself 5 days ago and I spent 1 hour a day in the water.
When i get in the water, I kick off, begin exhaling through my nose strongly, kick with my legs but be careful to not bend my knees, look straight down at the pool, keep my fingers together and point my elbow angled towards the sky when my arm breaks the water's surface and then I angle it in and bring it down in front of my face and pull it towards my waist.
I'm finally at the point where I can swim half a lap on one breath but I can't get breathing down unilaterally or bilaterally.
When I turn my head to get a breath, I don't ever experience the "bow wave" and water just rushes into my mouth from all sides and from the top of my head and goggles.
Also, as of yesterday I've been experiencing dull aching shoulder pain when trying to swim *** stroke.
I get the pain if i'm standing up and raising my right shoulder to neck height.
What can i do about this, I don't want to give up swimming as well because I can't run due to flat feet and previous meniscus complications.
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Former Member
I took a day off from all physical activity...I'm doing olympic style weightlifting for an hour and then did 1 hour of swimming everyday with lifting every other...it was an overuse injury and thankfully just a minor ache.
I also read that it's bad to have your arm come down towards the center of your body...and that you should have your arms coming down towards their respective sides? Basically you don't want your arm to cross over as this causes a greater rotation and puts stress on your rotator cuff?
Two questions that I have not been able to find an answer to are, HOW EXACTLY do I begin the stroke and what is the proper technique for when an arm breaks the water's surface and comes forward into the water again?
Let's say I jump into a lane, how do i begin? Do I push off first and glide, how long do i glide for? When I'm gliding do I kick? Do I exhale when gliding???
When bringing my arm OUT of the water, how do I execute this?
Do I bend my arm with my elbows pointing at th ceiling?
How far should the arm re-enter the water? In front of me? Near my head?
Also, I've read that I should enter fingers first, hand and arm flattened, but with the elbow bent downwards??? What does this look like and how do I do this?
I took a day off from all physical activity...I'm doing olympic style weightlifting for an hour and then did 1 hour of swimming everyday with lifting every other...it was an overuse injury and thankfully just a minor ache.
I also read that it's bad to have your arm come down towards the center of your body...and that you should have your arms coming down towards their respective sides? Basically you don't want your arm to cross over as this causes a greater rotation and puts stress on your rotator cuff?
Two questions that I have not been able to find an answer to are, HOW EXACTLY do I begin the stroke and what is the proper technique for when an arm breaks the water's surface and comes forward into the water again?
Let's say I jump into a lane, how do i begin? Do I push off first and glide, how long do i glide for? When I'm gliding do I kick? Do I exhale when gliding???
When bringing my arm OUT of the water, how do I execute this?
Do I bend my arm with my elbows pointing at th ceiling?
How far should the arm re-enter the water? In front of me? Near my head?
Also, I've read that I should enter fingers first, hand and arm flattened, but with the elbow bent downwards??? What does this look like and how do I do this?
