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!
I haven't been on the forum for quite a while. Today, for some reason I thought about this thread that I had started more than ten years ago. I'm still swimming, enjoying it more and more each day, and still making progress – very, very slowly. :)
After a couple of months of no swimming at all due to Corona, I'm now swimming in lakes, exclusively, because my favorite pool remains closed. Yesterday, my wife recorded a video from her SUP board. My stroke still leaves much to be desired but I'm quite happy. I'm swimming better than I thought I ever could when I started: Swimming at the Kollersee
In September, I'll participate in my first open water race, at the Chiemsee in Germany, just for the fun of it with a couple of friends. Thank you all for encouraging me when I was struggling the most! forums.usms.org/attachment.php
Thank you, Steve! I totally agree with you: It did indeed take me twelve years (and counting). I assumed that it was just me being a slow learner. :)
Looking at the historic water temperature data for the Chiemsee, the average minimum/maximum values are 16/22 °C (61/72 °F); around 20 °C (68 °F) is what I'm counting on. For me, that temperature is okay for swimming with or without wetsuit. I will probably put mine on.
