Difficulty in breathing when swimming freestyle

This is the biggest difficulty in mastering swimming. Don't give up! you can make big progress on this and will feel much better about it after a few more tries.

You are lucky to have a 50M pool to train in - this will be a huge help when you get ready for open water!

Breathing advice - First, swimming is done on your side, not your front or back. roll completely to the side to breathe. Second, keep your head in the water (not your face, your head) the most common mistake in swimming is lifting the head. This forces your body into a lower, less efficient position. Third, don't slow down - sounds like you are thinking a lot in your stroke. The comment about the glide makes me think that you are holding a position. When you are making forward progress, your body position is higher and it is easier to breathe.

Finally, get help - there are lots of good coaches, swimmers and teachers out there - if you don't make progress pretty quickly after you read the responses to your post here and try a few things, go find someone who can stand on the pool deck or get in the water with you and really teach you something!

Good luck!

It helps me to sort of try to remember to try to touch my chin to my shoulder when I turn to breathe. This keeps your head in the water, creates a "channel" for the water to flow through eliminating drag and helps with the timing. when that shoulder is moving "backwards" the face is going along. When the shoulder is moving foward, the face goes back down.

Concentrate on the exhale being full and underwater. BLow bubbles!!! and make sure you only inhale when your face is free. Many people try to exhale and inhale when the face is turned out of the water and this is a waste.,

Hope this helps...

steve

It is hard- I am going thru the same thing.

First I sprnt a lot of time on balance drills using Total Immersion. Having your balance is very important, it allows you to feel comfortable turning to the side (either side). You also learn about the bouancy and pushing your shest downward and your legs coming up creating a streamlined, horizontal vessel (your body). You also go thru drills to feel more comfotable with stretching out with your arms. It really is about learning to crawl before you run-

As far as breathing-
look downward and start that body roll with that stroke. I keep my chin "attached" to my shoulder. By the time I am finished with my stroke (my thumb hits my thigh) my face is already in the air, I am on my side and my chin is practically touching my shoulder. With your chin like that, you should be able to see behind you. This creates a pocket of air for you to breathe. It really is amazing when you first experience it! When I did I stopped right in the middle of the pool and looked around in amazement!

Breathing is the hardest issue for me. I love the water and my biggest fear is drowning. I just had my first lesson last Friday. I was waiting to hear how bad I sucked- but by practicing the TI drills, reading the book- the only thing I have a problem with is breathing!! My kick is good, my stroke is OK, my balance is good, my rotation is good- just that damn breathing thing!! But she talked to me and I expeirenced the pocket of air- now it is just a matter of time- doing the yardage. I still get breathless but it is less and less.

Good luck- and you may want to consider a few lessons- and go from there

Here's more wisdom from Finding Nemo: swim down! If you think about swimming with your head a little lower than your shoulders, you'll move through the water better and create a little pocket to breathe into when you turn your head to the side.

And here's a drill from my crazy Lithuanian coach that, once I stopped feeling like I was drowning, really helped my breathing:

Swim with one hand flat at your side, taking strokes only with the other arm. You'll find that you have to swim mostly on your side, and you have to take a breath very early in your stroke, as your arm is reaching forward. If you can master this, it will be way easier to breathe properly when you go back to swimming with both arms. If you're like me you should not do this in the deep end.

Just keep swimming!

Carrie

Edited by CLLinIA 2004-03-16 3:53 PM

The trick is to breathe when your head is out of the water. ROTFLMAOATWMP! Sorry, I just couldn't help myself when I say the topic heading.

Well.. it sounds like you have some experience w/swimming already. I would have to ask you about your kick efficiency..... are you kicking enough or are you solely relying on your arms. next, i would have you take a look at your body position.... are you pulling your chest downward, so that your butt is in the air? [i wish i could draw on this thing]. If your body position is not correct, or if your kick is off.... you will be doing more work than necessary- thus possibly causing your shortness in breath.

one last question to ask yourself.... how long has it been since you started to do freestyle swimming.... sometimes you just have to build up the endurance.

I would say that the best thing to do is either
1. have somebody video tape you while swimming, then you can evaluate yourself/form
2. take a swim class to get the proper form
or
3. join a masters swim team.... don't be intimidated, the masters is just referring to individuals older than 25 yrs of age [usually].... you will not only build up endurance, get more individual coaching, but also build up endurance in no time.

good luck with this- i hope you figure it out!

Milly

Thanks for all the advice. I have got used to the breathing(exhale or blowing bubbles when face in water and exhale when head is tilted to breathe) for the freestyle and is able to complete the 50m length of the pool. I still have to worked on my technique(not efficient each pull does not take me very far) as I have to take about 1min 10sec to complete 50m(even slower than my breaststroke) and it's more tiring than doing breaststroke.
I am swimming with the local triathlon club and have been getting tips on ways to correct my freestyle. I still have problems with keeping my butt above water and not letting it sink when doing the freestyle.

I got the Total Immersion book Triathlon Swimming Made Easy and it's made a big difference. I did my first Tri in the Fall. I had worked up to the 1/4 mile swim, but all that was my first "real" swimming experience. Then I didn't go near the pool till a couple weeks ago. But in the meanwhile, I read this book. Finally when the pool opened (after winter break), I followed the drills and after only a couple workouts, I swam a 1/4 mile time trial - faster than I did last Fall!

Ok, so it's still not too speedy, but last year, I had all sorts of trouble breathing, usually swallowing a mouthful every so often Now, I don't even really think about it. The book's message really is all about balance and streamlining, and I guess once you start achieving that, the breathing just comes natural.

I can definately relate to your difficulty. Today, for instance, I was only able to swim freestyle in 50m incriments as well. However, by the last few laps I sawm I realized something: When I was concentrating on speed as opposed to my breathing and endurance, I actually felt better and less fatigued after the 50m. I found that my stroke/breathing was smoother than before; I wasn't using so much energy gasping for breath. Try speeding up just a little. It might help.
~dorian

I am now able to swim freestyle for 50m in 1 min and have got used to the breathing but still not as comfortable as the breaststroke. I am still not able to breath on both side. I can only breathe on the left side if I try to breathe on the right side I will lose my rhythm and balance (butt starts to sink) and lift my head to breathe.