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Posts: 50
Location: United Kingdom
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Hi all
I am desperately attempting to learn front crawl but with very little success. I have someone who helps me from time to time but my problem is breathing.
When I swim breaststroke I seem to have an eternity to take a breath but with the crawl I really struggle, I have tried lots of different things but nothing works.
I can just about manage 25m (if lucky), everything seems very claustrophobic and I start to panic. When I run or cycle I can breathe when I like but not with swimming.
I want to do some open water triathlons and maybe aim for an 1/2 Ironman but everyone tells me that breaststroke is frowned upon and very inefficient for these.
I would be grateful for any help
Shaggy
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Posts: 4,379
Location: United Kingdom
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Quote:I want to do some open water triathlons and maybe aim for an 1/2 Ironman but everyone tells me that breaststroke is frowned upon and very inefficient for these. I don't think it's frowned upon - in fact I don't think I've ever really seen anything frowned upon at a tri race. So don't worry about it if you do need to breast-stroke. However... breast stroke is less efficient than front crawl, especially when you get in a wetsuit - wetsuits really don't seem to help the breast stroke thing. To cope with the claustrophobic/panic thing... there's no magic formula. To me, it just seems you have to keep trying and then one day it clicks - one day you go from doing 1 length to 2 lengths, then within a few more days you can do 40... However, if you want a bit more helpful advice... then keep trying to slow things down. Most of the trendy teaching techniques like TI all seem to work by getting you comfortable in the water, then getting you to move slowly, deliberately and with balance - it's all about being in control, rather than in panic :) Hope that helps a bit...
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Posts: 4,379
Location: United Kingdom
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Also... from this old thread, http://www.runsaturday.com/Talk/g/posts/t/215 there are a pile of sites that can help (honest) Plus http://www.swimsmooth.com/ and lots on http://www.youtube.com/
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Posts: 50
Location: United Kingdom
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Thanks Hollywoof I will keep trying. I do have the Mr Smooth animation and I will definitely check out all the other links. People do tell me it will click but it is so frustrating. Thanks again  Shaggy
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Posts: 410
Location: Waipukurau, New Zealand
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Shaggy, all the drills, videos and books in the world will do you little good if you do not have some good solid instruction to build upon. Unless you know what a good stroke feels like, what a good drill feels like, how can you know whether or not you are doing it correctly? Well, you can because you will just continue to struggle, particularly with your breathing. The key to breathing in freestyle is to give yourself time to breath. That has to be learnt.
Swimming is undoubtedly the most technical of the three triathlon disciplines and really does need some good instruction in the early stages. I would strongly urge you to take some swimming lessons, perhaps a month of once a week of one-on-one or small group, followed by once a month for another 6 months. A local tri club will likely be of great help.
It will take time, but it will come right...eventually.
Philip Shambrook
tcecoachingATgmail.com
Completitive Edge Coaching
"You succeed when you believe you will succeed. Start believing now!"
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Posts: 859
Location: United Kingdom
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Hollywoof wrote:
However, if you want a bit more helpful advice... then keep trying to slow things down. Most of the trendy teaching techniques like TI all seem to work by getting you comfortable in the water, then getting you to move slowly, deliberately and with balance - it's all about being in control, rather than in panic :)
Hope that helps a bit...
Slowing things down was the thing that made it click for me. OK I'm still not a good swimmer, and I'm not fast. But I've got to the point that I can swim quite a way comfortably. I found in a pool I was trying to go to many strokes without breathing, and also my arms were going like a blender. When I started OW the water was so cold that I couldn't keep me breath for a long time so it forced me up to breathe. It was then I realised that I was slowing things down. I agree with Philip get lessons. I had about 3-6 months of small group lessons which just helped me get a lot more comfortable. Like I said I'm no great swimmer but I can go the distance at my own pace - but I am looking at having more lessons to see if I can actually master the water!
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Posts: 80
Location: Australia
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I've always found front crawl to be a struggle too. I can swim forever doing breaststroke, but freestyle I generally found myself getting really tired out after 50m and doing 100m without stopping was a real push. I got the TI dvd and have found it really good for me. Just the first few lessons in positioning your body in your water were a revelation for me. Just seeing how a slight change in the position of your head in the water can affect the buoyancy of your whole body. It's still a work in progress for me. I'm still not yet pushing for distance rather than trying to get all the components of the stroke together. At the moment I'm mostly trying to get to the point where I automatically take a breath every third stroke without thinking about it. I often find myself getting caught up in trying to do a good stroke that I go five strokes between breathing and that's too many I find. I'm also aware that my two-beat kick isn't quite right and my right arm spears a little across my body... I think the thing is I've found that following the lessons on that dvd has taught me to be much more aware of the position and action of the different parts of your body in the water. Now and then I pull out a lap which feels fantastic like I've just cruised through the water with no effort at all. Now the trick is to bottle that and get it repeatable :)
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Posts: 50
Location: United Kingdom
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Hi All An update on my front crawl progress. At the end of October I decided to have another go at crawl, my mate (swimming coach) gave me a few 30min seasons and he made me persist. Last night I managed 8 lengths then 10 lengths without stopping, I now can't wait until Monday when my next season is. I am aiming for the Outlaw next year (iron distance event) and finally believe I will get there. two weeks ago a length was a real struggle. The reason for this update, for anyone else struggling with the stroke PERSIST I thought I would never get there but now with fingers crossed and a lot of hard work who knows.  Then I can wave goodbye to the breaststroke. Shaggy
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Posts: 410
Location: Waipukurau, New Zealand
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Keep at it over the winter and you'll be in the water in Nottingham next year. It takes time and patience to learn to swim properly. It is very hard to learn good form from books and DVDs without the support of someone knowledgeable. You can believe you are doing things right, but only when someone looks at you can you be sure.
Take the time to have some lessons, practice the drills, and swim regularly. It will come.
Philip Shambrook
tcecoachingATgmail.com
Completitive Edge Coaching
"You succeed when you believe you will succeed. Start believing now!"
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Posts: 4,379
Location: United Kingdom
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Eureka Good effort and super result, Shaggy Listen to PS - he speaks wisely! Also, the good news is that once you've had a Eureka breakthrough and can swim lots of lengths without stopping then it also becomes easier to do some drills - once you're "swimming" rather than "just trying not to drown", then you find you have some balance to try catchup, zipper, etc. Congratulations!
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Posts: 410
Location: Waipukurau, New Zealand
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I was thinking about this as I was talking with some of the athletes I coach. I try to stay away from using 'slow' when talking about training, for fairly obvious reasons. Then I realised I had said that in a reply here in reference to the swim stroke. So a bit of clarity... In the context of swimming, the trick is to aim for a long stroke - from fully extended at the front, to the arm exit past the thigh, elbow leading with a good rotation. This allows time to breathe. Clearly, the shorter stroke allows less time to breathe and we get out of breath and shorten the stroke more, then less breath and so on. It requires a positive effort to lengthen the stroke, rotate fully and breath properly. You might even find it better to stop and tread water, or hold the side of the pool, until you get your breath back, before continuing. Breathing is the key to a good stroke. Naturally, taking a longer stroke will give the impression of slowing down, but, if done properly, there is more likely to be an increase in forward speed as the stroke become more efficient. There is much more of course, but focus on a long stroke to allow time to breath and life will get much easier, as then it is only a matter of getting stronger in the water. Have fun and chase that black line
Philip Shambrook tcecoachingATgmail.com Completitive Edge Coaching "You succeed when you believe you will succeed. Start believing now!"
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Posts: 52
Location: United Kingdom
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Interesting stuff this, I to have only just learnt front crawl and had some 1 to 1 lessons which really helped. I had the same breathing problems as mentioned above which also turned out to be me kicking to hard and not doing nice long full strokes. Am doing drills now with a group of people and loving it.
Glad its going better for you shaggy
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