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
Great. Swimsmooth DVD package is great. Follow this.
Your attitude in learning how to swim should be quoted as a good example to follow.
Swimming, compared with other cyclic endurance activities, isn't just about training. Those who seem to never really improve are those who show up on the deck, jump in the pool and train.
You, on the other hand, are taking the time to discover and enjoy the sensations that come along with the process. You're becoming little more *fishy* every day. Wondering about how you should move in the water will bring you to a certain level, wondering about how you should FEEL while moving will bring you further.
As you increase flexibility, you will discover even better sensations. We can tell that you're becoming passionate about it, just by the way you swim. So keep going, keep feeling, you're on the right path.
In case you need more inspiration for stretching and dryland exercises in general, here are some swimmers' secrets. The first post shows stretching, and the other one shows tubing exercise, so beneficial for improving very specific movements involved in swimming. (note that I wanted to bring all these pics on USMS.org, however since they have disabled the html img tag, they don't come as handy. sorry)
stretching post
www.tritalk.co.uk/.../viewtopic.php
tubing post
www.tritalk.co.uk/.../viewtopic.php
Enjoy!
Great. Swimsmooth DVD package is great. Follow this.
Your attitude in learning how to swim should be quoted as a good example to follow.
Swimming, compared with other cyclic endurance activities, isn't just about training. Those who seem to never really improve are those who show up on the deck, jump in the pool and train.
You, on the other hand, are taking the time to discover and enjoy the sensations that come along with the process. You're becoming little more *fishy* every day. Wondering about how you should move in the water will bring you to a certain level, wondering about how you should FEEL while moving will bring you further.
As you increase flexibility, you will discover even better sensations. We can tell that you're becoming passionate about it, just by the way you swim. So keep going, keep feeling, you're on the right path.
In case you need more inspiration for stretching and dryland exercises in general, here are some swimmers' secrets. The first post shows stretching, and the other one shows tubing exercise, so beneficial for improving very specific movements involved in swimming. (note that I wanted to bring all these pics on USMS.org, however since they have disabled the html img tag, they don't come as handy. sorry)
stretching post
www.tritalk.co.uk/.../viewtopic.php
tubing post
www.tritalk.co.uk/.../viewtopic.php
Enjoy!
