Sinking Issue

Learned swimming when I was 40. I struggled with breathing until I started TI method about 6 months ago.

Main issue -Sinking

History
I have dense boned so I sink quickly unless I am kicking. Also, I do not have have ankle flexibility reduces my forward movement.

My swim story
I started my TI journey and I was encouraged with all the balance drill. I still kicked a lot to keep my afloat. About two months ago, my TI instructor talked about 2 beat kick and swimming from hips. I realized that I used a lot of my shoulder to propel forward.

When I started training on this one, I hurt my back (old injury) and then my sinking issue became very prominent. I have to say to a point of frustration. I started using fins just to get some movement in the water. When I remove the fins, all the techniques are lost as I get the feeling that I am a foot below the water. Especially when I have to breath, I have to get a slight lift to get air.

Help...

Everyone can float level without kicking
practice this, when your achieve final position just start swimming from there never losing that position, take a few stokes and go back to the pencil float to reafirm position then continue.

https://youtu.be/YwOHzq8Qgso

[novaswimmer]

Originally Posted by Mushroomfloat

Everyone can float level without kicking

https://youtu.be/YwOHzq8Qgso

I don't agree. Every body has a different aquatic signature and different centers of gravity and buoyancy. Especially thin men with skinny or dense legs have a hard time. That isn't to say we can't all learn to swim. It just takes some adjustments and practice.

So not everyone can float level without kicking, nor do they need to. But we need to be able to swim as level as possible.

[daveblt]

I mentioned this in another thread a couple years ago, that if I try to float on my back without moving I need to kick just a very little with a slight sculling of my hands beside me so my legs don't drop. My wife is not a swimmer at all but she can do a back float by just lying there on the water and do nothing else. So body type does have some role in this to some extent .

Dave

[CoachStuartMcDougal]

Yeah - videos can be misleading, we all have unique signatures. Females typically have a much higher profile or signature than most males. Although I know some guys that can float on surface by adjusting position only much like the young lady in the video, arm weight in front of lungs (or center of buoyancy), hang head - pop up to the surface. Most males are pitched at 45 degs or lower with heavier hips, but takes very little kick to lift hips to the surface. This is in clear water lake or pool however. My profile is very low in clear water (60 degs), but in the salt water of the Pacific, the body is much more buoyant - I can easily float to surface with body position shift only, no kick.

So it depends on swimmers' profile or signature *and* the body of water they are swimming in, whether clear or salt water.

Stu

I found i could achieve that with my arms at shoulder level about 200mm below the surface
at the surface my legs started to drop and i needed a very light kick to stay level

adding a just breaststroke kick from this position (heels came out of the water on chamber) i was absolutley zooming in a glide

i agree though females have higher hip position due to anatomical fat storage being around the hips whereas men tend to be top heavy so need a deeper arm position usually at sholder level