Head rotated too much while breathing, why?

[axyd]

As far as I understand, when you swim freestyle your head form a bow wave. This bow lowers the water level near your mouth and allow you to take breath kind-of below the water surface.

And you can check it by checking if one of your goggles stays underwater when you take a breath.

But, no matter what I do - I cannot utilize such breath technic. In order to take a breath I need to rotate my head more. Can you please tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Video with me swimming http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU0WUgCQuq0 (you can choose 720px to see the details).

Thanks, Alex.

[CoachStuartMcDougal]

Hi Alex,

Good news is you are getting breath early, and very close to an "easy breath". Head position is too high (looking forward about 45 degs) causing hips to drop about 5" compounding problem to find air. Lead arm scooping toward surface, pulling too soon - adding to hip sag. Overotating causing boady to drop a few inches and making it more difficult to get air.

1. Drop the skull, hang the head between shoulders, maintain head spine alignement in breathing and non breathing strokes.

2. Spear deep on right arm when breathing toward left shoulder (or spearing arm opposite breathing side), hand should be below lungs at forward extention at an angle that a marble could just roll down arm from shoulder to fingertips. Don't scoop spearing arm toward surface.

3. Hold lead arm longer (patient lead arm). You should have a full tank of air, head returns to neutral (nose down), Lead arm is still anchored in front.

Rotate through 1 - 3 above, one at a time until you find that nice bow-wave pocket for the easy breath.

Here's a still of good breathing timing and posture, notice bow wave in front of head, and lower breathing pocket at chin: Breathing timing and position

Stuart
MindBodyAndSWIM

[CoachSuzanne]

If all you did was lower the crown of your head you'd lower the trough of the bow wave as well. Not only that but with the crown pointed up, the chin goes down. point the crown down and the chin goes...up...more room for the mouth to clear. .

Also, aside from what Stuart mentions, you only need part of your mouth over the water. Both your goggles, your entire mouth and part of the face on the "underside" of your mouth are above the water when you breath. You simply don't need that much clearance. Try it without swimming and see. Rotate your head so that part of your mouth, the lower corner, stays in contact with the water. Plenty of air there.

[dougalt]

Suzanne: as per usual, your comments are very enlightening. In this case, your phrase, "plenty of air there" just somehow, for me, snapped into perspective the feeling of being "at one" with the water. We don't have to struggle "against" the water; we can relax and move along by just gently turning our heads and allowing some of that great volume of air just above the surface to slide right into our mouths. Oh, and by the way, a little water can slosh in and out of the corner of the mouth while that air is going by - no problem!
(Of course, I am still working on achieving this state of O2-gathering bliss, but your word picture helps with the journey...)

[CoachSuzanne]

Originally Posted by dougalt

Suzanne: as per usual, your comments are very enlightening. In this case, your phrase, "plenty of air there" just somehow, for me, snapped into perspective the feeling of being "at one" with the water. We don't have to struggle "against" the water; we can relax and move along by just gently turning our heads and allowing some of that great volume of air just above the surface to slide right into our mouths. Oh, and by the way, a little water can slosh in and out of the corner of the mouth while that air is going by - no problem!
(Of course, I am still working on achieving this state of O2-gathering bliss, but your word picture helps with the journey...)

Excellent Doug! Let me know how it goes.

[sojomojo]

Originally Posted by CoachStuartMcDougal

2. Spear deep on right arm when breathing toward left shoulder (or spearing arm opposite breathing side), hand should be below lungs at forward extention at an angle that a marble could just roll down arm from shoulder to fingertips. Don't scoop spearing arm toward surface.

Stuart,

I was having difficult breathing on my right side so I took your advice and experimented with spearing my opposite arm (left) deeper when turning to breath on my right. Your advice worked for me! I was surprised that this would make such a difference. I had thought that an arm closer to the surface would make for an easier roll to breath so this was a revelation to me.

THANKS!

[CoachStuartMcDougal]

That's great to hear sojomojo! When it comes to breathing, much is counterintuitive. Spearing below the lungs, rotating less, burying the forehead to get the 'easy breath' are so opposite what us hummans think we must do to breathe in freestyle.

Keep up the good work!

Happy Swimming and (easy) breathing!

Stuart
MindBodyAndSWIM

[Talvi]

Originally Posted by CoachStuartMcDougal

... burying the forehead to get the 'easy breath' ...

Another term I've found used with respect to getting easy breath is burying the cap. How do these two fit together? Bow waves need speed so may not be too much to rely on?