In freestyle, there is limited time for breathing
you need to inhale as soon as your arm reaches your leg
you must have taken in breath
and your head must turn back into normal position
before your hand enters the water again
Inhaling should be quick and deep
Your head should be returned to a neutral position
before your arm recovers and enters the water
you can only start a new arm stroke
once your head is back, in this neutral position
Now we are going to overview two main breathing mistakes
and memorize the main points to prevent them
Usually this mistake comes when people have learned to swim without a coach
By lifting your head up
your breathing becomes strained
and swimming become hard due to the extra movements
Remember this:
turn your head to the side but don't lift your head out of the water when inhaling
part of the face should be underwater while inhaling
By implementing these steps correctly,
you'll find your swimming is easier
and you will be able to swim long distances,
for example, for triathlon without getting tired
This will add to your enjoyment of swimming
When inhaling, your arm should be in front of you
and your head turn to the side
use this arm for support on the water
and to keep your streamlined body position
and then turn your head and upper body back to the neutral position
before starting the next arm stroke
This is important
because if your head is turned to the side while performing the next arm stroke,
you will lose your support on the water
and your arms will follow the wrong trajectory in and through the water
You can start a new arm stroke
only when your head is turned back to a neutral position
Later in this video, I will show you some very efficient drills to correct these mistakes
Swimming is a great choice for your hobby
especially for those who care about their own health
There are 3 super efficient drills that I recommend to all of you
Catch-up drill
easy and useful drill to improve your freestyle technique
it will give you the correct feeling of how to catch the water and perform the arm stroke
Plus, it will improve your kicking technique
Counting strokes in freestyle
magic happens during this drill!
By counting your strokes, you are able to concentrate on every stroke
and by doing this,
the entire technique is improved automatically
Triathlon athletes need to swim efficiently to set the energy for cycling and running
this is why, during the swimming part we mostly use our arms
to get stamina and power in our arms, we need to swim freestyle with paddles
What is the most important for these drills?
To have a personalized training plan
this will turn your efforts into a greater progress
my SwimUp team and I are experts in: Swimming, Coaching and Technology
and have created
a great tool for you: the SwimUp app
this is your new swim coach with personalized training plans
that are made especially for you
So more features of the app:
4 training modes: Wellness, Technique, Masters, Triathlon
Unlimited access to thousands detailed technique videos and drills
Smart analytics of your performance
Wearable in the pool on Apple watch
In the description of the video there is a link
Go there and download the SwimUp app
Enjoy your next swim!
Now, I will quickly explain how to breathe correctly in freestyle
Out of the pool, practice turning your head to the side using the correct breathing technique
Bend forward and turn your head for inhaling
don't lift your head while turning to the side
inhale quickly and deeply
and then swiftly turn your head back to neutral position
In the next part of the drill, enter the pool
stand in the shallow area
and bend your body into the pool
now, simulate your freestyle breathing
Again, don't lift your head up while inhaling
keep one eye on the water
and alternate breathing on both sides
By doing this drill correctly,
you will prevent the mistake of lifting the head to take a breath
It is crucial to inhale quickly and deeply through your mouth
to get your lungs full of air
Also, you should exhale continuously in the water,
pushing out as much air as possible from your lungs
exhaling is done through your nose and mouth
Later in this video, you will learn some advanced and efficient drills
for even more comfortable breathing
Before building up the correct technique,
I'll briefly show you, how much body position affects breathing
And makes your swimming much easier or harder
This is a great example for you
to see what happens when a swimmer lifts his head while swimming
swimmer kicks off the wall and starts gliding
as you can see, using the incorrect technique
the legs drop down,
speed slows down,
water resistance increases
and a swimmer eventually stops gliding as his legs sink
Using the correct technique,
the swimmer has little water resistance
and that is why, his high speed lasts much longer
the swimmer glides in horizontal position and even when the speed slows down,
the swimmer stays horizontal and high on the water, not sinking
Using this example which is only for gliding, you can understand
how using the correct technique will also greatly improve your actual swimming
Body position is essential for freestyle swimming
correct head position is vital as it allows you to breathe correctly
and to keep your correct streamlined body position
This will all allow you to swim efficiently, almost without water resistance
However, using their wrong position of your head, pelvis or legs will increase water resistance
and slow down your speed
Breathing and turning your head is crucial for body positioning
if you lift your head up, your legs and pelvis can immediately sink into the water
Let's briefly review 2 crucial mistakes
that affect your body position and decrease your speed
Your arms and shoulders are there to use the water for support
and to help you keep the correct direction
this is not possible if your arm is in wrong position
For example, if your hand is higher than your elbow and shoulder
or your hand is at the same level as your elbow or shoulder
Also, if your arm is at angle and not straight
you won't get support either
To get high body position and proper support on the water
you need to have a correct arm position
This is achieved, by having your shoulder higher than your elbow
and your hand lower than your elbow
Only in this position, you'll be able to support your high body position for breathing
and glide with the least possible resistance
Here are 2 powerful drills to correct this mistake: Kicking on your side & Sculling
This kicking drill will help you to keep your arm and shoulder in the correct position,
so that you can get support on the water
Keep your shoulder near your head and knee your cheek
to ensure you are in the correct position
Remember to direct your body forwards
an important point for every swimmer is to keep your arms straight
and in a position where your shoulder is higher than your elbow
and where your elbow is higher than your wrist
in this position, you'll find the correct support on the water
Sculling helps to improve your ability to push the water
to feel the water resistance and will improve the initial moment of pushing the water
This first moment of pushing the water is what we call water catching
Doing this, you can easily get support on the water
and feel when these support is there or is absent
perform kicks in a good rhythm without pauses
Use your hands to push the water to the side
your main goal is to fill water resistance under your palm,
while performing the arm movements
When the body is not straight, people create additional water resistance for themselves
and this results in swimming becoming much harder
When you lift your upper body up, it works like a sets of scales
and your lower body sinks down immediately into the water
Resistance significantly increases and swimming feels much harder
It is easy and super simple for everyone to prevent this mistake
You need to keep up your entire body at the same level
and to not lift your head for breathing
you will notice how much easy it is for you to swim
If you feel you have these mistakes
Most likely you need to correct your head position
An incorrect body position will lead to more water resistance
and consequently you need to spend more energy to keep up your speed
Correct body position decreases water resistance
and that is why, it makes swimming easier
This is very easy to start doing
and it is so important to greatly improve your swimming
Here is a drill for you "Keep your stomach tense"
This will help you to keep straight and to correct your body position in the water
You need to practice it out of the pool
to ensure you are feeling the right things when doing it
Do you want to know why swimmers look good and fit?
Because they keep their stomach muscles a little tense all the time
Most amateur swimmers keep the stomach relaxed
and that is why, their stomach looks like it's hanging
Breathe deeply with your lungs and keep a consistent breathing rhythm
with your stomach relaxed, tense up your stomach muscles and pull in your stomach
the area just behind the belly button
This is the correct position for your stomach in swimming
Your goal is to train yourself
to always keep this stomach position while swimming freestyle
By keeping your stomach tensed or pulled inside,
you will experience a completely different freestyle technique
Because your water resistance will decrease significantly
and you will glide at high speed through the water
Of course, you need to combine breathing techniques with body position
here are the steps for ensuring correct breathing techniques in swimming:
Learn how to inhale deeply and quickly
and to exhale continuously and with as much power as possible into the water
Learn how to turn your head correctly to the side
Practice the correct breathing techniques for freestyle swimming
Master the correct timing for breathing
We are at the stage 3: practicing breathing technique in freestyle
so let's continue to this part
This is an easy and simple drill to practice breathing,
it gives you support on the water with a kickboard
and allows you to concentrate fully on breathing techniques
because you don't need to do arm strokes
this makes this drill very efficient
When you perform this drill remember following points:
Exhale continuously as hard as you can
Turn your head to the side and keep one eye and part of your face in the water
Perform consistent kicks even when inhaling
Inhale quickly and deeply through your mouth
and return your head back to neutral position
if you follow these simple steps,
you will get maximum results from this drill
and when you're using the correct head turning technique,
you will notice a great difference in your freestyle technique
Now we are on the stage of three and four:
Mastering the correct technique and correct timing
this means that you need to practice not only turning your head
but also turning it at the correct time
While holding a keyboard with one hand,
use your other arm to perform arm strokes
Don't worry if you don't know how to perform an arm stroke correctly,
you will learn it from my next videos
Remember the next points when you swim this drill:
Start turning your head at the end of the arm stroke
Recover your arm without pauses after your arm stroke
Inhale quickly during our recovery
Turn your head back before your hand slides into the water
This drill significantly improves your breathing technique
and set up the correct timing for breathing
To correct the mistake of performing an arm stroke while breathing,
use the following drills
One-arm freestyle with the other arm in front
Without a kickboard, use the water for support with your hand
Do this by stretching your arm forwards as explained earlier
Remember the following during this drill:
Keep your arm in front of you to get support on the water
Start turning your head at the end of the arm stroke when it is at your leg
Turn your head to the side without lifting it
This drill will help you to set up the correct timing for breathing
and make it easier to use this breathing technique for freestyle swimming
Now after all these drills you are ready for freestyle swimming
Let me know in the comments!