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
George: "fast speed swimming" isn't part of my vocabulary. ;)
I'm having trouble swimming faster because my stroke totally falls apart that way. So even if I spend more energy, I don't move forward much faster. And since I have so much basic stuff to work on, I never tried to become better at swimming faster.
I will, however, try to record and post a video of a "strong" effort so you can judge for yourself.
SolarEnergy: In fact, I don't remember anybody pointing that out and I am definitely guilty of not stretching enough; the amount of stretching I do gravitates towards zero. But I acknowledge that not stretching hinders my progress and I will include it in my workout.
I always assumed that core stability, i.e., letting my gut hang down, was more the issue than flexibility but in all likelihood it's both.
Thank you both for your replies!
George: "fast speed swimming" isn't part of my vocabulary. ;)
I'm having trouble swimming faster because my stroke totally falls apart that way. So even if I spend more energy, I don't move forward much faster. And since I have so much basic stuff to work on, I never tried to become better at swimming faster.
I will, however, try to record and post a video of a "strong" effort so you can judge for yourself.
SolarEnergy: In fact, I don't remember anybody pointing that out and I am definitely guilty of not stretching enough; the amount of stretching I do gravitates towards zero. But I acknowledge that not stretching hinders my progress and I will include it in my workout.
I always assumed that core stability, i.e., letting my gut hang down, was more the issue than flexibility but in all likelihood it's both.
Thank you both for your replies!
