OK spl & sr, but totally spent after 50 m!

[arunks]

Originally Posted by Butiki

In my case, I skipped whole stroke swimming altogether while going through the TI drill progression for about 4 months. (This was years ago before this forum even existed.) That was 4 long months of the acquired habit of holding my breath while drilling - even with multiple Overswitches. This habit translated into my whole stroke swimming and though I solved the other issue of continuous breathing, I was almost always breathless and gasping for air at the end of 25m or 50m. Like you, I was frustrated.

I too have this practice of not exhaling properly while drilling and the same happens when moved on to whole stroke.I keep my focus on one of the focal points and forget to exhale properly.Got to ensure that this does not happen in the future.
Exhaling properly is probably the most important thing in swimming.I have also found that having the mouth open while exhaling helps as if humming.

[foxjohng]

I have had a lot of success in overcoming breathlessness by consciously monitoring my breathing as I swim. Remember that not getting enough air on each breath is only one possibility; it's also possible to have too much air in your lungs, especially if you don't exhale enough on each breath.

When I'm swimming slowly for distance, I start from the premise that there's no reason I should feel out of breath. Therefore, if I begin to feel uncomfortable in my chest or in my breathing, I adjust my exhaling -- either more or less on each breath -- until I feel comfortable again, then I try to hold to that breathing pattern.

[andyinnorway]

I also found just getting on and swimming a few long sets helped. Once you have gone through 10 x one mile, even if it is hard on the breathing or you have to sacrifice a bit of form, it makes it a lot easier to train shorter sets as you have the mental and physical confidence. then you can start to try to swim 200 repeats quicker rather than just trying to survive.

Sometimes giving away a bit of technique is ok if it has purpose, just so long as you are not habit forming.

[westyswoods]

Since finding Total Immersion I have found it very difficult to put any distance together in a pool. Many reasons contribute to this, a big one being my mentality shifting to technique as a result of finding that conscious incompetence.

I too found much of my breathing difficulty with pool swims results from the slow pace of drills while breath holding.

Fast forward to present, I found my lack of pool distance directly impacts my OW swims. The first of this year I decided to increase those distances in the pool. One of the areas I need to get through is just what Andy says. Sacrifice some technique for an end result. With a habit of just stopping if I feel technique breaking down, this is a new dynamic. Keep going and remember what is falling apart.

My plan is to increase distance by 50m per week until I get to 800.
This AM it was 150 no problem doing it other than really needed to focus on the last 50 keeping head down and stream line. Plan is that after each of these swims I will spend at least 5-10 minutes working on areas I felt falling apart.

The OW distances are no problem, just find it easier definitely a mental issue I have developed.

Hope the above makes sense. Now the Packers are toast, justifiably so I should be able to video this weekend. If my lovely bride agrees. Lap swim just falls in bad spot for watching football.

Swim Silent and Be Well
Westy

[WFEGb]

Rickard,

let me recommend RobM77's thread "Getting out of breath". You'll find nearly each breath-facette there.

Further breathing tipps surely will be found for eachone in Terry's "O2 to H2O" DVD.

But what thousands of swimmers really would need might be a program: "Freestyle breathing for everyone in 16 weeks" (That's a 2012-wish to the TI-coaches...) And when you went through the program you'll be able swimming freestyle (with many TI-aspects) in an aerobic state.

Endurance in sport was a problem for me all my life. But in the seventies K.H.Cooper came with a program for jogging. You had to run a 12 minutes test and depending on how far, you got a 10/12/14/16 weeks program. And this program definetely gave you success after this time with one or two steps every week.

Similar I'd like to see in the TI-world for breathing. And as far as I know they'd be the first. (If it is helpful I promise translation into German. That's the better direction for me...)

Btw: Cooper had also a similar program for swimming, but that one does not work (for me) even today. Because 100m time is set to 2minutes. Today I'm glad being able to swim freestyle for 40min continuous, but 100m in 2min could only be swum once a day and never "easy TI". (Yes, surely most can...)

Best regards
Werner

[PlumFlower]

I had my lesson 2 with Shinji earlier this week.

This lesson we focused on breathing. First, we worked on how to breathe-turning head properly, not lifting head, imagine laser beam etc. This is already familiar to all of you so I am not going to elaborate.

Then we worked on timing of breathing. I had a habit of spearing first, then turning head. Shinji said that's a big no no. Instead, I should spear and turn simultaneously.

When will the head turn back to water? It turns out that the head should turn back to water along with the recovery arm. I used to turn head back to water before the recovery arm does. I practiced and found Shinji's way allow me more time to inhale, and be able to examine my recovery arm movements when breathing.

Just something I wanted to share. Hope you all the best in your effort for better breathing!

[CoachSuzanne]

Originally Posted by PlumFlower

I had my lesson 2 with Shinji earlier this week.

This lesson we focused on breathing. First, we worked on how to breathe-turning head properly, not lifting head, imagine laser beam etc. This is already familiar to all of you so I am not going to elaborate.

Then we worked on timing of breathing. I had a habit of spearing first, then turning head. Shinji said that's a big no no. Instead, I should spear and turn simultaneously.

When will the head turn back to water? It turns out that the head should turn back to water along with the recovery arm. I used to turn head back to water before the recovery arm does. I practiced and found Shinji's way allow me more time to inhale, and be able to examine my recovery arm movements when breathing.

Just something I wanted to share. Hope you all the best in your effort for better breathing!

Good share. I find the timing of returning the head to water to vary for me personally, but allowing the breath to last the duration of the recovery stroke...and allowing for visualization of the recovery arm...can lead to improvements in both breathing as well as the recovery. So many people close their eyes adn rush to breath without having the patience and peace of mind to take in what's happening around them on braething.

Having just returned from teh open water trip in Maho, I found my breathing taking on a luxurious role as each adn every breath allowed me to observe the smooth surface of the water, the beach, the clouds, the sky, my fellow swimmers, other boats, moving boats, children watching me swim past (4 little boys lined up on the beach, their bodies still, heads turning in unison as I glided by)...etc, etc.

[CoachSuzanne]

It's easy to get paralyzed and stop swimming longer distances in the pool. But having just returned from an open water camp in which we had novice/intermediate swimmers swimming up to 3 miles (with breaks) in open water, seeing them experience such incredbile success has given me some new insights.

it's OK to swim with a less than perfect stroke. Even Terry and Dave will admit that there are some elements of their stroke to work on. Shinji is constantly working on improving his stroke as well.

I think the more important outlook is not that we delay swimmign long until we swim "perfectly", but that WHILE we are swimming long, we are focused on imprinting some positive change in the stroke. Long uninterupted opportunities to focus, refocus, refocus again are valuable.


I found myself swimming in sets of 300-500 strokes this past week. I'd hold one stroke thought for 100 strokes (about 125-150 yards), then select a new stroke thought. I'd choose 3 stroke thoughts and rotate them per swim. AS we regrouped, I'd pick another stroke thought or set of thoughts.

Some of the thoughts were things I already thought taht I did well, and soem of them were very new thoughts to address known problems with my stroke.

I guess my point is, don't be afraid to "just swim". But if you choose to do so...have a plan of action for what to do. Swim with focus, and have a plan for improvement.

Yesterday I took this into the pool and rather than swimming set yardage (or rather, in addition to it), I swam 100 strokes at a time rotating thoughts, and swam a set of 299 strokes (hit teh wall at 299). I'm fairly certain by the time that it was 450 yards worth of swimming. it lent an entirely new sense of purpose to swimming "in the box".