The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hi,

Could you please answer a question relating to how to breath correctly for freestyle swimming. On the exhale phrase, do I breath out, underwater of course, through my nose or through my mouth or a bit of both, in a long release?

Also, when I use the 3 stroke method with a alternating head turning left and then right on the inhale phrase, I seem to run out of air, like I am rushing or something, maybe I should switch to a 5 stroke method?  I haven’t being able to find too much information on this question. I can’t seem to get this phrase of my freestyle swimming right.

Thanks

Shawn

ANSWER:

Hi Shawn,

Most swimmers learn to exhale underwater through their month, however there is no reason you could not use a combination of exhaling through your mouth and nose.  From what I understand, swimmers who try to exhale through their ‘nose only’, sometimes struggle to exhale all the air before turning to breath in again.

So to answer your first question I would say exhale primarily through your mouth.

In regards to your concern in regards to ‘running out of air’ and  the feeling of ‘rushing’ when you breath, this is often related to not exhaling fully before breathing in again.  If a swimmer does not exhale fully when they turn to breath in, there is not enough room in the lungs for a deep breath in. The air remaining in the lungs is stale air and needs to be exhaled to be replaced.  This often explains the ‘running out of air’ feeling.

Practise fully exhaling through your mouth before turning your head to take a deep breath in. It will take some time to get used to however should help you a lot.

If anyone else has some suggestions for Shawn, please leave them in the comments section below.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

For many parents having a “swimmer” in the family is not something they planned.  Most swimmers begin in a learn-to-swim program and progress through to advanced lessons. From there they are asked to complete a couple of sessions in a junior squad and before you know it they are entrenched and absorbed by the sport of swimming.  By this stage, parents begin to realise the commitment required by a swimmer to complete the necessary training and competitions offered in the sport.

As a swimmer I had the opportunity to observe my own parents first hand and how they managed me as a swimmer, and how they worked with, and communicated with my coaches.  I was also fortunate enough to be coached by three of the most talented and experienced swimming coaches in the world - Julie Dyring, Bill Sweetenham and Leigh Nugent.

As a coach for more than a dozen years I worked closely with swimmers of all ages and have been directly involved in the introduction of parents to the sport of swimming.

For a swimming parent, understanding the role of the coach, the role the parent is required to undertake, and the responsibilities of a swimmer is critical to ensuring a positive and successful experience for the whole family. Yes, the whole family is affected by having a swimmer in the family and learning how to balance your time and other family member’s needs around the swimming schedule can be a challenge.

Over the years I have observed many parents who are introduced to swimming for the first time when their child is promoted to a junior squad.

For most swimmers who train for competitions, the measurement of their improvement is through performance and parents are encouraged to understand the many different aspects to training and competitions in an effort to provide parents with a more complete understanding of the sport and what a swimmer is experiencing.

One of the aspects I love about swimming is that when swimmers compete, no one else can affect their performance.  They have their own lane and no one can tackle them, bowl them out, hit the ball past them or affect their performance in any way.  It is just the swimmer and the black line.

Children who choose to train and swim competitively learn so many life skills as they become more exposed to the sport.

In general their grades improve at school, their time management skills improve and they learn how to win and how to lose with grace.  They are introduced to goal setting and taking responsibility for themselves.  They are also exposed to the concept that if you work hard on a skill and commit to doing something correctly over and over again, it will improve.

‘Swimming for Parents’ is a vital resource for all swimming parents.  The book, available also as an eBook with instant delivery, is a lifelong project that draws on many of my experiences as a swimmer, coach, swimming administrator and now as a parent of young children who enjoy swimming.

This book has been written to educate parents of junior and teenage swimmers and has sold more than 3000 copies all over the world.

The second edition is now available at www.SwimmingForParents.com.

QUESTION:

My 7 year old son is a keen swimmer and trains 3 times a week (7 – 9 km per week). He has a problem on his crawl whereby when breathing his arm on the opposite side crosses under his body. Can you tell me the best way the fix this ?

Looking forward to your advice,

Howard (UK)

ANSWER:

Hi Howard,

This question is asked regularly as many swimmers, both young and old, have this problem.

As a swimmer turns to breath on their right hand side, their left hand should be entering the water out in front (and vice-versa).

As the left hand pulls through, the head is turned to the side to breathe and some swimmers will cross their hand over midline to gain balance in the water whilst they are breathing.  They will also often drop their shoulder and elbow and let their hand go straight towards the midline (and further) at the beginning of the stroke.

To correct this, when the front hand enters the water, the swimmer needs to scull (or press) slightly outwards and then scull back in towards the midline whilst maintaining a high elbow position. I will be doing a video on this soon and this will help greatly for your son to understand this better.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hi Gary,

How do I stop my legs from dragging low in the water when I’m swimming freestyle?

Thanks, Terry

ANSWER:

Hi Terry,

This is a common question from males particularly.

A humans centre of buoyancy is in their mid chest and their centre of gravity is closer to the chest than a man’s centre of gravity, leading to a lower leg position in the water.

The attached photo demonstrates this and is quite exaggerated compared with most swimmers.

Interestingly, in the Journal of Sports Sciences: by Scott P. Mcleana and Richard N. Hinrichsa
• tested the center of buoyancy in males and females vs. their kicking rate
• found that female’s center of buoyancy was higher up on their chest than on men’s (meaning that the males have more of a pivot point than females)
• as a result, males have to kick more than females to go the same distance
• this is because the females have a better level of balance while in the water

My suggestions are to:

1. really work on your kicking to be able to kick your legs up higher near the surface

2. make sure your head is down in a streamline position and not lifted slightly (as this will also cause your legs to drop)

Give this a try and let me know how you go?

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hi, in freestyle my child has a short stroke both at entry & at the end of the pull.

How can this be corrected? Are there drills they can work on?

Thank you Jenny

ANSWER:

Hi Jenny,

For swimmers who short stroke at the beginning and end of their stroke I would recommend taking a video of them swimming and letting them view what they look like and see what they are doing wrong.  This will assist them to correct it.

With the hand entry, encourage the swimmer to enter the water at least two thirds of the way forward and extend their hand forward until there is a slight bend remaining and the elbow is in a high position.  From this position, they can press with their hand,  downwards and slightly outwards at the beginning of the arm pull.

With the back part of their stroke, ask them to brush the outside of their thumb past their thigh on every stroke.  By doing this, you are providing them with a reference point that their hands must push back further and their thumb must touch their thigh.  They will find this difficult and after a lap or two will need to be reminded to brush their thumb past their thigh.  The swimmer will often complain that it feels like they are going slower because their hand is pushing through further however explain to them that they will actually be moving forward through the water more and once they get good at it, will actually be swimming faster.

In regards to drills, one is to do single arm freestyle with the second arm holding the board at the end and enter the other arm just in front of the board and extend it forward under the board.  They can do 25s or 50s with one arm and then swap to the other.  This is a teaching drill and provides them with time to practice the correct stroke technique.

If anyone has other suggestions, please feel free to include them below.

Regards

Gary

The Swimming Expert

QUESTION:

Hi Gary, First of all, your website and book have been great – definitely an important tool for parents with kids who swim.

I would like to ask how I can help my son… he’s 11 years old, he is in the swimming squad, he trains 4 times a week (1.5hours per session) and most of all he loves swimming.

The breathing problem started early this year, at an inter school competition, and since then he has been anxious about races/competition.  He still enjoys training very much.  I have informed his coach about it.

According to him, after the dive, as he swims, his chest felt tight and he felt like he couldn’t breathe.  This happens with the breaststroke and butterfly, but more so with freestyle.

Yesterday we had a club race, he joined the backstroke event but backed out on the other styles.  I am very happy that he went to the race and joined, even though it is just one event.

He has asthma, but it hasn’t been bad in the last 4 years and I think swimming has helped him a lot.

I would appreciate if you can give me suggestions on how I can address this problem.  I thought of maybe approaching a ‘doctor’ but Im not sure who and a specialist in what field..

Thank you very much. Jinky

ANSWER:

Hi Jinky, Many swimmers, both children and adults, have various different breathing problems when they swim.

I have coached a number of swimmers over the years who have had a similar problem to your son.  In most cases it was a small case of anxiety and then gradually it built up more and more until they didnt want to compete.

As a coach, this is what I did.

We often did time trials at training where all swimmers had to stand at the end of a lane and maybe 4 would go at a time for a 100m freestyle, then the next 4 and so on.  This way the boy got to practice a type of racing without realising it, because it was part of training.

Next we started doing some gamble swims.  For example if I put 20 x 50 on the whiteboard and then nominated someone to go within 2 seconds of their PB for a 100 freestyle time trial and if they achieved it, the set would drop to 10 x 50. Their team mates would cheer them on (more pressure) and they would often swim a PB.  After a few weeks the boy had a turn and thrived on it.  We then discussed that what he just did was harder than going in a competition and he excelled, and then entered him in a low level meet to try competition again and it worked well.

In regards to the tight chest feeling, it is important that he relaxes and enjoys racing before concerning himself with times and places.  This step must come first, with no outside pressure from anyone.  If he can enjoy racing again, he will have no problem with his breathing over time.

Having said all that, if he continues to have trouble breathing and does have a history of asthma then it would be a good idea to see a sports doctor who understands asthma.

Regards Gary

The Swimming Expert

Recently I posted an article and some tips on http://theswimmingexpert.com/how-to-fix-my-sons-freestyle/

Following this article there has beena good response from a number of coaches, however one of them has stood out, and I will share it with you below.

Hi Gary,

Concentrating on kicking to keep the legs together while breathing may stop the leg spread as described in your article but I wonder whether there is a simpler solution.

As a swim teacher my aim is to develop safer swimmers by making swimming as relaxed and simple as possible, making swimming efficient. Expending less energy will enable the swimmer to swim further. And if swimming is more efficient, greater propulsive effort can be made when required.

For every action there is a reaction. Is the spreading of the legs during breathing a cause or an effect? What does the spreading cause or what causes the spread?

The spread only occurs during breathing. Possibly the breathing action causes the spread. Concentrating on kicking will only mask the effect of the poor breathing technique; Poor breathing will still have a negative effect on the body position in the water, will still unbalance the stroke and interfere with with the propulsive force produced by the stroking arm during the breath. The extra effort kicking will have an unnecessary energy cost.

There are a number of reasons why some swimmers turn their head too far while breathing.

• Often they simply take too large a breath, meaning that the mouth needs to be out of the water  for a longer time (Most swim teachers talk to their learners about taking a big breath)

• Some swimmers will breath in too slowly, again meaning that the mouth needs to be out of the water for a longer time

• Many swimmers will not completely exhale under water and will exhale somewhat to the side again meaning that the mouth needs to be out of the water for a longer time.

• Some swimmers will breathe well but still turn their heads too far because of habit again meaning that the mouth needs to be out of the water for a longer time.

• And there so many swimmers who lift their head as they turn to the side again meaning that the mouth needs to be out of the water for a longer time.

• Some swimmers will breathe at an inappropriate time forcing the head to turn further than necessary again taking longer.

The common denominator is the length of time  taken to turn the head to the side and back under.

These problems can be easily corrected. Once a correct breathing action motion has been learnt (ear in water developing to one eye in the water during the head turn) the emphasis must be increasing the speed of the breath intake so the mouth is out of the water for the minimal time possible. This will minimally disrupt the body balance  (streamline). There will be no need to counterbalance by spreading the legs. There will be less energy expended turning the head and no need to expend extra energy kicking.  There will be minimal disruption to the stroke while breathing. Even the speed through the water of a slow swimmer or someone swimming slowly will increase as the streamline is maintained.

The breathing can be improved by simple practice. Lie face down in the water supported by the instructor and practice breathing. Work on technique and then speed. As soon as the mouth comes out of the water it should be submerging again. Breath intake is momentary. As the learner relaxes with a quick breath less support can be given and the swimmer will be able to lie prone in the water and practice their breathing with little leg movement.

When my swimmers practice floating as a water safety exercise they prefer face down to floating on their back.

The next drill is kick and breathe (No kick boards as the boards will make the body position non specific to freestyle). One arm extended, one arm at side, breath away from the extended arm. No arm movements allowed.

This drill helps swimmers learn the feel of the correct breathing timing and cannot be performed with the arms still if the breath is slow or high or if great streamline is not maintained. They need to look at the bottom beneath them. Swim blind, like Bill Boomer told us years ago.

Then concentrate on short swims with great technique not allowing fatigue to build  which would encourage the swimmer to return to habitual swimming. Only extending the length of the swims if technique is maintained. Stopping the swim if technique deteriorates.

If you are standing on the pool-deck of a 50 metre pool with a great swimmer swimming towards you the breathing movement will be difficult to observe.

Breathing unbalances the stroke, poor breathing unbalances the stroke even more. If the stroke is unbalanced there must be a reaction. Spreading the legs is a simple method to maintain balance in the water.

During swimming the mouth needs to be out of the water for the least amount of time possible to maintain maximum streamline (keep the body balanced).

Often I believe that freestyle kicking can be over emphasised. I agree with Maglischo, “Swimming Even Faster” (pg 380) that too much energy can be expended kicking (Concentrating on kicking to mask poor breathing). Rushall in his Carlile Coaches’ Forum also discusses this. Freestyle kicking is for sprint swimming. Why do we emphasis kicking for beginning swimmers? Safety, being able to swim further is more important than being able to swim faster for the majority of swimmers. Long strokes with the legs moving to balance the stroke.

Regards, Phil Gavin, Sydenham St Swimming

QUESTION:

My daughter is 9 years old and has shown potential for swimming from a young age.  She is very tall for her age, very lean and long (her legs go up to her armpits!!).  She would be described as gangly.

She is having a weekly 1 hour “squad” lesson with a very competent teacher.  Over the last few weeks I feel her skills are deteriorating – she seems to be struggling to get her breathing right with freestyle (when previously it was very reasonable) and her backstroke (which used to be flawless) seems to have deteriorated.

My question is really whether it is common for kids to go backwards before they go forwards?

I realise that one hour a week is probably not enough but it is all we can manage right now.  My aim is for her to be a competent swimmer and to ultimately enjoy swimming, as well as to assist her lung function as she has asthma.  I’m keen to encourage her, however I’m feeling completely frustrated.  Her instructor has told me to persevere as she potentially has the right physique to be a good swimmer.

I look forward to your response and appreciate very much any further suggestions.   We live in Tassie.

Best wishes Kylie

ANSWER:

Hi Kylie,

Often as children grow they will go through periods where they will lose coordination or feel awkward in the water.  This will happen on and off as they grow up, especially between the ages of 9 and 18 years.  So yes, it is common for children to go backwards before they go forwards as they grow and develop, and yes this can be very frustrating for a parent to watch.

When she begins swimming twice a week, which I would recommend she do as soon as possible, you will notice an improvement in her swimming after 8 to 10 weeks and she will become more consistent with her strokes as she develops a better feel of the water.

By the description you give of her body, it sounds look she has some good attributes that will assist her to be a strong swimmer as she gets older.  Be patient as her coordination may take some time to develop but when it does, and she gets some strength into her body she has every chance of being a competent swimmer.

At the risk of self-promotion, may I suggest that you get a copy of the Swimming for Parents book.  You will particularly enjoy the sections on ‘Athlete Development’ and ‘Female Development’.  You can access the book at www.SwimmingForParents.com.

I hope this helps Kylie and let me know if you have any other questions.

Regards Gary

The Swimming Expert