Advice please

clickerquicklic

Hi im keen to teach myself to swim, i am willing to put the effort in and do things properly.

My problem is with breathing i think, this looks like a common problem from reading other posts.

When i went swimming last night i took it really slowly i seem to be getting the hang of it but water seems to get up my nose, and causing me to cough.Also when i go to take a breath a small bit of water that would get in my mouth would cause a similar coughing and discomfort experience.

Sorry i hope thats not too hard to understand.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.Thanks.

padraig_f

I had similar problems when I started. I think breathing becomes easier when your form gets better. If you're doing it right, your body should be rotating on every stroke and to breathe, you rotate your head to the same side (usually every 3rd stroke). if your body is not rotating (which is common for beginners) your head needs to turn more and you end up getting a mouthful of water instead of air.

one thing I find that helps with body rotation is getting a high elbow when your arm is out of the water. to practice the high elbow, look at the fingertip drag drill here: http://www.goswim.tv/entries/5058/freestyle---fingertip-drag.html, it's a pretty easy one to do.

also try breathing on alternate sides, every third stroke. when I started, I'd only breathe on my right side (which seemed like it would be easier as I'm right-handed). when I started to breathe on both sides, I was surprised to find it easier to breathe on my left side (I think it was because my stronger right arm was giving me more support in the water). now with more practice, I don't notice a difference between the sides.

keep at it, it won't happen overnight but you'll slowly get the hang of it.

[disclaimer: I'm not an expert but have just worked through similar problems recently]

Green Hornet

Would you not consider getting lessons?

There are so many things such as how to use arm recovery efficiently, co-ordinating breathing with stroke etc. that you need to be shown by an instructor.

Best of luck if you want to teach yourself but usually a session of lessons is only 70-80 Euro and they are tailored to beginners, improvers and advanced.

Killgore Trout

What Green Hornet said. I've met people who taught themselves how to swim - but they wouldn't be the best guys in the pool. It is good to have a teacher to correct your stroke to avoid bad habits and maximise efficiency.