How important is bilateral breathing? Do you do it? (Page 2)

Not a whole lot to add to what has been discussed pretty well already aside from my own experiences.

I do bilaterally breathe.  When swimming at a comfortable pace, I breathe on every third stroke.  If I am pushing I breathe on every other stroke, or just on one side.  I do try to switch which side I am breathing on every 25 to 50 yards though.

I find that if I am breathing only on one side, that I run the risk of neck problems.  My chiropractor is happy to have me as a client.  Breathing on both sides evens out the stress on the neck/shoulder muscles on both sides, not just one, which can put my neck out of whack.

I've also found that I tend to drift more breathing on one side than the other.  I don't remember which side, but to keep going in a pretty straight line (aside from sighting) I switch every 25 to 50 yards like I said above.

Lastly, as well as to avoid the sun or waves, it also helps to be able to see the people around you.  Maybe there is somebody that you could draft off of right next to you... on the opposite side that you are breathing on and you might not know it.

So those are my thoughts.  It took a little practice, but I've found that it paid off.

This is a repeat for sure....

It's good to know how to do.  There as been too many times I have waves or a person to my right that make breathing from the right difficult or impossible to do.  If that is the case, I switch to the left.

However, I'm more efficient and smoother breathing on the right, so unless I am forced to switch, I stick to that side.

It's just another tool in the bag of skills that is good to know depending on the situation.

I'm in the "it's useful" camp, and breathe usually every 3rd.  I would add that in addition to all the other reasons (sun, waves, etc), that flexibility in breathing has led me to some great breakthroughs.  I have found that I can breathe every 5 strokes when I am fresh, for a while anyway, and that really speeds things up!  Or, when I am sprinting and every 3 isn't enough, I switch to every other. 

Basically, I breathe when I need to and thus I need to have access to air on both sides.   Just wanted to add that...

If you really want something to work on, try looking up and sighting while you're in the pool.   Find something at the end of the pool to look for (clock, water bottle) and practice finding it.    This is done when you breathe, so that's why I bring it up...

Since you are a beginner swimmer, it's too early for you to have developed a dominant side.  Fixing this imbalance now, early on, will benefit you for the rest of your swimming or triathlon career. Once you fix this simple issue, it remains fixed.

Also, consider the potential path of an OWS. Suppose you are swimming out, then turning left, then turning towards shore. Under placid conditions, breathing only to your right might pose no problems at all. Throw in choppy conditions and you may be taking a face full of wave every time you turn to breathe to your right. But, being the wise and well-conditioned swimmer you have become, you easily solve this problem by breathing to your left.  

You've heard enough about being able to deal with chop/sun/bouys on your dominant or off side where bilateral breathing can be your "ace in the hole." 

You mentioned a shoulder injury.  If you breathe to the right, and your left shoulder is injured, breathing to the left will most likely reduce the stress on your bum shoulder.  Why?  If you lift your head even a little, you tend to compensate by making a deeper arm pull (you're trying to get/keep your head out of the water).  When your hand is farther away from your chest, the forces through your shoulder increase.  By breathing to the side that is injured, you remove this stress.  Now if you're purely rotating and your arm stroke is flawless, you won't gain anything by breathing to the other side.  If you already breathe to the injured side, be careful trying the non-dominant side for exactly the reasons above.  You don't want to do more damage to your shoulder as you work through the learning process. 

Another motivator:  By slowing down and focusing on the non-dominant side, you'll become more aware of subtle changes and how they either help or hurt your performance.  You may discover how much you lift rather than rotate.  You may discover how deep your pull is. 

I started breathing on both sides a few years ago (like...1981...) when I was teaching swim lessons.  I wanted to be able to show kids how it should look for them and not just "like this, only a mirror image..."  I usually breathe every other cycle (4 arm pulls), to the left on the "down" part of the lap and to the right on the "back" part.  If I'm trying to do a fast set, I'll breathe every third pull. 

If you have a race coming up, learning bilateral breathing may be a distraction.  Save it for the off-season when you aren't focused on a great workout/race.  Trying a 100 yards during warmup/cooldown (as long as it doesn't hurt your shoulder more) is probably a good way to start. 

The two questions in the Subject line seem mutually exclusive, at least to me.