Help :)

Well,

let me preface by saying, anything im about to say, you all have probably heard 100 times...


So im 38, and never really knew how to "Swim correct". Could i swim across a pool? sure... could i swim in ocean? sure.... but never efficiently. I commited a few weeks ago to learning how to freestyle correctly so i could easily swim in first pool ( 50 y/100 ya/ 250..etc) then transistion skills to open water...

now... I am a sinker. :)

I focused on bodybuilding and personal training for the better part of 10 years, i have a low BF (8-9%) and a strong developed upper back. (*Now im also aware top swimmers are pretty ripped too, but they worked there way up )


I am working with an instructor once a week, but get to my gym pool 4-5 days, and im 10000% committed to fixing this and learning, I WILL overcome this obstacle.

After few weeks here is what i have accomplished/concluded

1. I can float and tread water on my back at about 50% ease. i have to push my shoulders back and lean my head back and lift my hips to the surface, but i can do it...

when i flip over, face down.... i can do the same, ( i reach out my hand and i can feel the back of my head (most times) out of the water... i try not to kick to hard. Im defniitely one of those that has to "push the bouy" to create the lever.

practice alot of the drills below..

http://www.enjoy-swimming.com/freest...your-back.html


2. i absolutely am one of those swimmers, where if i lift my head/chin "up" even a little bit, my legs drop faster than the stock market in 2007. and the recovery is so difficult i lose my momentum.

3. When i go to move my chin to my shoulder to inhale...im still 2-3 inches underwater, i just end up swallowing water. and then stop-city :). I dont feel like im "on the surface enough"... to continue to provide this point, i dont worry about inhaling, i just keep exhaling slowing to kind of "watch" my bubbles, and yes 9/10 my head is still too much below the surface...

WHen i super man, glide, i feel my head decent above the surface, but any "head/neck" engagement, seems to sink me. (INstructor thinks perhaps my developed neck/trap muscles" are part of the issue) hard to argue....any neck lift, i literaly feel like my feet running to pool bottom...lol

Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated....will try to get video this week

as a side note

http://www.totalimmersion.net/forum/...hp/t-7216.html

this forum thread starter.... seems like a similar issue to mine... good advice given? drill advice?

Hi, try a pair of short fins and kick on your side ...lower arm is reaching for the far endwall and upper arm with hand retsing near your hip....just an easy quiet compact kick from the hips....you may need to roll past 90 degrees slightly onto your back to get up to the air

when comfortable with this roll to a 90 degree shoulders stacked position and swivel your head to breathe exhaling looking toward pool bottom and swiveling back up to the air

the fins will get you some momentum and help create a bow wave to breathe in

it's not about strength....it's about balance and streamlining

Originally Posted by ti97

Hi, try a pair of short fins and kick on your side ...lower arm is reaching for the far endwall and upper arm with hand retsing near your hip....just an easy quiet compact kick from the hips....you may need to roll past 90 degrees slightly onto your back to get up to the air

when comfortable with this roll to a 90 degree shoulders stacked position and swivel your head to breathe exhaling looking toward pool bottom and swiveling back up to the air

the fins will get you some momentum and help create a bow wave to breathe in

it's not about strength....it's about balance and streamlining

Thanks! i will be trying in next 48 hours, and will provide feedback. Appreciate you taking the time to respond to the desperate :)

Originally Posted by ti97

Hi, try a pair of short fins and kick on your side ...lower arm is reaching for the far endwall and upper arm with hand retsing near your hip....just an easy quiet compact kick from the hips....you may need to roll past 90 degrees slightly onto your back to get up to the air

when comfortable with this roll to a 90 degree shoulders stacked position and swivel your head to breathe exhaling looking toward pool bottom and swiveling back up to the air

the fins will get you some momentum and help create a bow wave to breathe in

it's not about strength....it's about balance and streamlining

UPDATE:
Didn't have chance to use fins today... But focused on advice and continuation of "balance"


Here is what's weird

If I start on my back I can achieve great balance... Even if I turn 45 degrees, I hit that "awesome" ( I believe ) sweet spot everyone talks about... Literally easily moving through water while barely kicking and arms on hips... If I try to do the face down opposite... I seem to have to "fight" for that balance and even noticed today I end up "going crooked"

Any idea why on back it seems 10 times easier? Obviously struggling with laser ...