Don't know how to swim!

[snowtulip]

Ok ladies, I've hit a wall. I'm mentally incompetent with this whole swimming thing. For the life of me, I cannot seem to get a breath in while swimming. This is what happens:
I push off the wall, my head is in the water, I do three arm pulls forward, then it's time to stick my head out to get air and I end up sucking in water, so then I end up having to stand to breath and start over.

Swim instructor says I'm still exhaling and start to inhale when my head goes back in the water, says I need to have all my air expelled by the time my head comes out of the water so that I can quickly inhale. Yes, makes sense, but for the life of me I can't seem to do it!

Any suggestions, it's beginning to really get to me because I can't move forward until I GET this. I can't seem to fully expel until my head is out of the water.

HELP!

[Kimmyt]

It seems like you would benefit from doing some really basic breathing/kicking drills. Take a kickboard and do a length of the pool. Put your head in the water and BLOW BUBBLES until you run out of breath, then pick your head up to breath. Really concentrate on blowing out your air. I think once you become more comfy doing this basic thing you can throw in some more complicated drills while doigmn the actual stroke. Also, you might want to try breathing every 2 strokes, the problem might be that you're taking too long to do your strokes and so feel the need to gasp for air once you bring your head out of water.

Good luck!

K.

[wemoon]

Sorry to hear that you are having some troubles! I think some breathing drills, like what was just mentioned, should help you out. I'm new to swimming too. I used to be on the swim team waaaaaay back in jr. high, but I was a horrible swimmer. I just got back into the pool this last weekend with a swim instructor. I feel pretty OK about it so far. I'll be going swimming on my own tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

Hope that the drill will help you out!

[alpinerabbit]

........ I do three arm pulls forward, then it's time to stick my head out to get air and I end up sucking in water, so then I end up having to stand to breath and start over.

Swim instructor says I'm still exhaling and start to inhale when my head goes back in the water, says I need to have all my air expelled by the time my head comes out of the water so that I can quickly inhale.

I can't seem to fully expel until my head is out of the water.

Start by practicing blowing bubbles underwater until you have expelled everything. Maybe standing with your upper body and arms horizontal.

Then go on to the following drills:

http://www.limmatsharks.com/basic_drills.html

Do these religiously. We still do these in Tri Club practice.

Then start back on the arm stroke.

There are more excellent articles on freestyle and other strokes: http://www.svl.ch ---> Tips in English

[Dogmama]

Start by practicing blowing bubbles underwater until you have expelled everything. Maybe standing with your upper body and arms horizontal.

Then go on to the following drills:

http://www.limmatsharks.com/basic_drills.html

Do these religiously. We still do these in Tri Club practice.

Then start back on the arm stroke.

There are more excellent articles on freestyle and other strokes: http://www.svl.ch ---> Tips in English

I was going to suggest the same thing!

I'm a newbie swimmer & I bought Laughlin's book - Total Immersion. He does these drills starting with swimming on your back, then tilting to the side.

On breathing, his drills say that rather than just moving your head, you need to tilt your entire body during freestyle. He also talks about slipping through the water and not expending a lot of effort, but being slower and more controlled. It works!! I'm working on these drills & they're helping!

I suggest his book for the visuals, like slipping through the water with the smallest form - he compares a tug boat to a kayake. He gives some excellent drills too.

signed - former "glub glub club"

[luv'nAustin]

Gosh, I really shouldn't be giving you this tip because I became dependent on the darn thing but it really worked for me.

I was doing something similar to what you are doing when you swim. I think mine was a type panic breathing and I believe that I was taking a quick "sip" of air with my nose as it hit the water. So, I purchased a nose piece and it took care of the problem and two years later I was able to ditch it and swim on my own.

Hang in there...it will get easier!

[snowtulip]

As always, you gals have great advice! I go to the pool with DH tomorrow to practice. I've printed out all the recommendations, I also plan on picking up a kickboard and noseplugs!

I WILL get this!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!

[HillSlugger]

I tend to expel about half my air under water and the rest as I turn to breathe. This morning I made a conscious effort to expel more and it made my breathing easier. It's definitely something I will keep working on.

[smilingcat]

Signed up for my first swim lesson in decades.

Okay so I have all the bad forms and habits. Never really learned to do the freestyle/crawl. just never could get the breathing thing right. interesting first lesson.

I'm swimming because of my back problem. hoping to strech out muscles in my back, IT band, ham string and glutes. So its more of PT thingy than training for a tri.

Swimming has never been my favorite cup of tea:
nearly got drowned by local boys at a swimming area on a river near my uncle's place.

my younger sister decided to stand up in a canoe on Lake Tahoe and panicked when we hit the waer and she nearly drowned me.

had to swim 50yds or 100yds in college fully clothed with tennies. coach said we had to wear sweats full length. safety requirement (NY state law) to be on crew (I was a coxswain for men's 8 men crew sometime on 4 men crew.) rowing that is.

and my good friend from college and I rolled the canoe on American Thanksgiving day while in northern Ontario. coldest 100 yard swim fully clothed in my life. I almost didn't make it. My friend carried me out of the water cause I was shivering so hard.

so I can swim, poorly.

so twice a week. This will be good. maybe I wont thrash so much in the water. I prefer breast stroke over the crawl. Did learn to do the butterfly but for the life of me, I would not even know where to begin today.

Hopefully I wont hold up the class. and oh thanks for all the good suggestions here and links.
smilingcat

[KSH]

For what it's worth Smiling Cat... I had to swim for 6 weeks on my HS swim team... in FULL SWEATS. Yes, the top even had a hood to cause more drag. It was my punishment for failing a class.

[teigyr]

I was reading an article for beginner triathletes about common problems in swimming. It mentioned a fear of difficulty in breathing. It said:

"When you get out of breath, the natural instinct is to stop, pull your head out of the water, and breathe. But swimming requires that you're comfortable with your face in the water -- a major source of anxiety for many new swimmers."

The paragraph basically states that when we're anxious or nervous, we want to breathe more often and get more air. As we get more oxygen in, carbon dioxide can build up which, in turn, makes us think that we need more air. We end hyperventilating instead of being calm. (Thanks to Triathlete Magazine)

I think that's a lot of the problem I have in swimming. I did take Total Immersion lessons and that has helped. If you're just learning to swim, try to relax and take it step by step. I wasn't scared of the water at all (in fact I love the water!) but when faced with a non-stop swim, I felt like I couldn't breathe. The more I practice, the better it gets. The less I practice, the more I have that "learning curve" once again.

Give it time, be patient, and it'll come. I know that's easier said than done because when I'm in the water I try to remember every little thing and I get worked up all over again. When I read the bit about carbon dioxide, I realized that it's a very real thing (this feeling that I need more air) and with that, maybe I can do something about it. So maybe do some reading too and you will see that so many people have the same problem and it is completely normal as you start swimming. And congrats for doing it

[Jolt]

For what it's worth Smiling Cat... I had to swim for 6 weeks on my HS swim team... in FULL SWEATS. Yes, the top even had a hood to cause more drag. It was my punishment for failing a class.

LOL...I'll bet you were fast after that though! When I did summer swim team as a kid we'd have things like pajama day, jeans-and-sneakers day etc. at the end of the season, so I know exactly how much harder that makes swimming! And then on high school swim team there was the famous garbage-bag relay (actually, I think we did that on summer swim team as well--same coach)...that one took the cake as far as drag goes!

[Dogmama]

Signed up for my first swim lesson in decades.

Okay so I have all the bad forms and habits. Never really learned to do the freestyle/crawl. just never could get the breathing thing right. interesting first lesson.

I'm swimming because of my back problem. hoping to strech out muscles in my back, IT band, ham string and glutes. So its more of PT thingy than training for a tri.

Thanks for the post. I need to get back into the pool for my back, etc. I saw that the local Y is offering lessons. Suppose I should sign up & cross my fingers that I don't get some buffed out 20 year old...

...hmm...or not?

[snowtulip]

Good luck Smilingcat! I'm having a difficult time, but never learned in the first place and not in control of the fear as much as I thought I was. So hopefully you will have a better time with it than I'm having!

[SwimBikeRun]

Check out the Total Immersion method. Though I was a lifeguard and WSI, I never learned how to really swim, that is to swim competitively. It wasn't until I purchased the book and DVD Triathlon Swimming Made Easy and worked through the progression of drills that I trained my body and develop the muscle memory to be able to breathe on both the right and the left and to relax in the water. It took me several months to learn to swim again but it has been well worth it.

http://www.totalimmersion.net/

The key is to practice, practice, practice!