I only started swimming freestyle less than a year ago and I'm still struggling with quite a few issues:
1. When breathing to the left, my head head-spine alignment vanishes and it appears as if I'm trying to change direction while lifting my head; I have no clue why I might be doing that.
2. I over-rotate when breathing.
3. Even with a slow hand entry, there's a lot of splashing going on.
In the answers to a few other posts I read that videos help, so I've put a few online:
Back/front view:
www.youtube.com/watch
Right side view:
www.youtube.com/watch
Left side view:
www.youtube.com/watch
In general, breathing in freestyle is problematic for me. When I swim relaxed enough to breathe with ease, my form totally degenerates and I'm wiggling through the water, almost flipping on my back when breathing. If I focus on a certain aspect of my stroke, for example, keeping my chin close to the shoulder or reaching out when rotating to air, or synchronizing my kick with my stroke, I find that I build up so much oxygen debt that I cannot swim more than two lengths in a 50 m pool without pausing.
I can only guess why--I probably forget to breathe out with sufficient force because I'm busy with other things and when I realize that I need more air than I'm currently getting, anxiety kicks in and everything falls apart.
I'll happily accept any comments on my videos or general advice that might help me not drown and maybe even improve my stroke. :)
Thank you!
Parents
Former Member
Wow! That is quite a number of things to work on. Thank you so much!
I actually did make a list that I'm taking to the pool and it's getting longer. I will let you know what results the individual experiments and drills produce.
Just a side note:
I did a number of experiments yesterday before reading your new posts. For example, I tried not kicking at all, extending the leading arm more, synchronizing a 2-beat kick with the stroke, dragging my fingertips through the water, breathing to one side only, and a few other things...
The only time I achieved a (desirable) noticeable effect was when I focused on actively keeping the shoulder on the breathing side down (www.youtube.com/watch. However, even though the difference is minimal, it drastically narrows the time slot for breathing, which makes it even more challenging.
I am not sure but at some points I got the impression that your lead arm when extended directly in front of you is actually pointing somewhat downward, which could contribute to your low body position, you might like to try experimenting with trying to get that hand right up near the surface and see if that makes any difference.
It is true, I'm deliberately keeping my arm low because that's supposed to reduce strain on the shoulder and help with balance. That sounded plausible so I followed that advice.
I will try as you suggest; that is item number 5 on my list. :)
Wow! That is quite a number of things to work on. Thank you so much!
I actually did make a list that I'm taking to the pool and it's getting longer. I will let you know what results the individual experiments and drills produce.
Just a side note:
I did a number of experiments yesterday before reading your new posts. For example, I tried not kicking at all, extending the leading arm more, synchronizing a 2-beat kick with the stroke, dragging my fingertips through the water, breathing to one side only, and a few other things...
The only time I achieved a (desirable) noticeable effect was when I focused on actively keeping the shoulder on the breathing side down (www.youtube.com/watch. However, even though the difference is minimal, it drastically narrows the time slot for breathing, which makes it even more challenging.
I am not sure but at some points I got the impression that your lead arm when extended directly in front of you is actually pointing somewhat downward, which could contribute to your low body position, you might like to try experimenting with trying to get that hand right up near the surface and see if that makes any difference.
It is true, I'm deliberately keeping my arm low because that's supposed to reduce strain on the shoulder and help with balance. That sounded plausible so I followed that advice.
I will try as you suggest; that is item number 5 on my list. :)
