Swimming! Im doing it wrong!!

Bump to read later as have the same issue.

Throw a mechanical shark in there…. that'll get you to figure out your "natural" rhythm…. lol

….Sorry. I have no good input. I suck at swimming.

:flowerforyou: love it

I am another vote for lessons. Most pools have adult lessons in different levels - from beginners to those working on skills and form.

Also most areas have a Masters Swim club or team.

I am joining mine tonight.

Breathe to the side, leave half of the goggles on the opposite side you're turning to in the water and make sure you get a good breath. Focus on your breathing technique.
You can do drills of breathing every 2,4,6,8 strokes of 3,5,7,9.

I don't really have any advice on form as mine is far from perfect. But it is adequate.

I can say that I took swim lessons at the age of 41 and there is no shame I doing it. I'm glad I did because I had a good instructor who had me swimming well in just a few lessons.

Secondly, developing swim fitness sufficient to swim fast freestyle for lap after lap takes a lot of consistent training so be patient.

I didn't learn to swim until I joined water polo, Freshman year. The coach showed us the basic form, pushed us into 13ft water and said, "Swim to the other side. When I blow the whistle change direction." I couldn't even DOGGY PADDLE!! XD

Okay now I'll get to the main topic.

When you trying out a new stroke, you want to go at a slow steady pace where you can really focus on your form.
The way that my coach taught us the arm motion for Freestyle ((or Front Crawl as some call it)) is Submarine, TP, Rainbow.
I'll explain. Just do this in the shallow end, standing up so you can really see where your arms are going.

Submarine: With both arms extended forward, take one and put it under water like a submarine, pulling it to your side. Do NOT go straight down to your side, use those elbows. Hahah

TP: When your arm reaches your side, bring it out of the water to form a TP behind you. It'll feel a little awkward, but you'll get used to it. To get what I mean be this, put your hand on your hip. It makes a triangle, right? Upper Arm, Forearm, side. Now move your elbow behind you, without letting go of your hip. Then lift your arm up, keeping it in the same position. It'll make a "TP".

Rainbow: Self-explanatory. With your hand leading the way, rainbow over to the starting position.

I tried my best to explain that without visual representation.

Flutter-kicking~ Keep your hips up and legs moving! Remember, your kick starting at your hips, NOT your knees of feet!

As you swim, your body should be rocking back and forth. Whichever arm is taking a stroke, your body turns slightly in that direction. As you breathe, use this to your advantage. Right before/as your arm starting "rainbow"ing, look to that side and take a breathe through your mouth. Never breathe in with your nose! It's terrible!!!! DX After taking a breathe, exhale from your nose as your head is underwater and you are swimming. It makes it easier to take your next breathe. If you just hold your breathe, it's very difficult to take one in, because in the short period of time you have to both exhale and inhale. I'm bad and am only able to take breathes from my right side, but it is best to learn to breathe on both sides.

One last thing. Don't look forward! If you do, your hips start to sink creating a lot of unnecessary drag! Look at the pool floor.

I hope I helped in some way~!

Bumping to read later - loads of good stuff here.

- and you didn't do it wrong - because you went along. Doing it wrong would be not turning up at all.

I felt the same way when I started training for triathlons. I eventually worked up to a mile swim before I realized how wrong my mechanics were and how much harder I was working than was needed. I discovered Total Immersion and it transformed my swim. Before I changed technique, my best mile was 1:07. After just 7 workouts I dropped to a 38 minute mile and eventually below 32 minutes. I used the 8 tips for novices in the link below and watched the video of the Japanese swimmer before and after every workout as a reference. I didn't bother buying the book. Bottom line, I work half as hard as I used to and am twice as fast.

Hope this can help. Good luck!

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/08/13/total-immersion-how-i-learned-to-swim-effortlessly-in-10-days-and-you-can-too/

So I decided to hit the pool last night as I ran a race on Sunday and wanted a break from running. Ive always found swimming easily, plodding up and down the length of a pool doing breaststroke. Anyway, last night I decided I would try swimming the way I see fast swimmers swim! So I bought a pair of goggles at the reception and I was lucky enough to get a whole lane to myself!

So I started swimming up and down - I was averaging 40-50 seconds a length (much faster than breaststroke!) but I was absolutely knackered! I also got cramp 3 times (yes I ate before I went, lesson learned). So after about an hour, the lifeguard came up to me and politely told me that I was doing it wrong and that I must learn to control my breathing so Im not so out of breath at the end of the length. Well I spent the next 10 minutes trying that which resulted in me swallowing some water and almost choking!!

Does anyone have any hints and tips on how I become a better swimmer. I would eventually like to do a triathalon and swimming is a big part of that! Im more than happy to put the time in, i just need the technique - help!

I feel like everybody has already given you plenty of tips on the technique.

But for the cramps...it's not about food, it's about water. If you haven't drank enough during the day, you're much more likely to get cramps.
Also where did you get cramps? Cramps at the wrong place may indicate bad technique as well.

As for the breathing: Keep your head in line with your spine, looking just slightly ahead. Start breathing before your opposite hand hits the water at full extension, so it's seamless with your rotation. As soon as your fingers on the right hand touch the water, turn to the left to take your breath. Allow only the left eye to lift from the water. Repeat to the opposite side, allowing only the right eye to emerge. Empty lungs with a full exhalation between breaths.