Intro swimmer help (Page 2)

As a former competitve and collegiate swimmer, you need to focus on two main things.  Swimmers never swim flat.  There is a constant rotation from side to side and kicking is vital.  The kick comes from your core as well as your legs.  Advantage of the pull bouy is that you are just focusing on your arms and this keeps you afloat.  Disadvantage is that you are not learning how to motion w/ you kick side to side.  You are losing your breath b/c you are kicking incorrectly and "fighting" the water.  I definitely suggest finding either a coach or when you go to lap swim ask a person who is a former competitive swimmer.  I've helped countless individuals when I go lap swim. 

See if you can do this:  No kickboard.  Kick on one side w/ arm extended.  Then rotate to the other side and kick.  When you rotate, pull your arm as if you were swimming.  I would kick 10 times on each side.  Do this drill all the time.  The more comfortable you get your body to rotate the better off you will be.

Note:  Men struggle w/ the kick more than women.  Concentrate on getting your hips up. 

Good luck!

Above all else, learn to breathe. I know it sounds simple but most beginners are out of breath because they don't fully exhale before inhaling, causing you to almost hyperventilate.

try this, get a kickboard and stretch it out over your head, so that you can put your head in the water, begin kicking, put your head in the water and breath out. When you are ready to take a breath, pick your head up and breath, then repeat until you've done two laps or more.

Then lose the kickboard, push off the wall and start swimming slowly. Breathe out underwater and regardless of how many strokes you take, breathe when you need air, could be 2, could be 10, depending on how fast you are moving your arms. Once you figure out how to slowly breathe out and take a breath when you need one, then you can work on getting faster which is a mix of good technique and strength.

Good luck!

Maybe the more experienced can comment on this but here's my $0.02 worth on something I've been doing lately (I'm currently at a decision point in terms of which club to join for masters swimming).

My brother told me my form is "off" in terms of my left arm was extending out and not entering the water like my right arm.  Anyhow what I did was use a pull bouy and slow way down.  I then started the "drag the fingertips" drill.  When bringing my arms back to the front I would keep my hands close to my body, trying to drag my fingertips along the water surface.  Using the pull bouy allowed me to focus on my form etc.

Now when I swim w/o the buoy it seems like I'm using less effort for the same distance.

From what I've experienced in the last few weeks and what I've read, slowing it down really helps form development.  I think the pull buoy is a great tool because you can drill w/o getting too tired, have your feet drag etc.  I’ll bet there's some great videos on line showing good form etc. but x2 on masters swim programs if it's in the budget.