The
most common question I hear in the triathlete world about the mysteries of
swimming efficiently usually involves something with breathing. In freestyle,
it is the first step to get your body position right. Then, for many, you throw
in breathing and everything goes haywire! This has to do with lack of balance,
using your head instead of your core to breath, and a few other factors.
Here are the top 5 challenges in learning how to breathe in
freestyle, along with the remedies on how to get over these:
1. Not getting enough air
There are a couple of reasons this typically happens in
freestyle. First, make sure you breathe out all of your air before you rotate
to take a breath. When learning, some people try to exhale and inhale while
they are rolling to the side for air. There simply is not enough time for this!
Your exhalations should only be in the water in the form of bubbles. At first
the timing may seem difficult, but eventually you will get used to it. Second,
you may be sinking as you breathe. Make sure you are rolling to the side to
breathe, and not rotating your head and looking straight up.
2. Extended arm sinks while taking a
breath (elbow drops)
This is mainly a balance issue. While you breathe to one
side, your other arm should be extending. For many swimmers, this extended arm
pushes down into the water and they are sinking while trying to inhale. The
side kicking and shark fin drills will also help to improve this. Another drill
also discussed in the materials that will help with this challenge is the fist
drill, which forces you to not use your hands, therefore improves your balance
in the water.
3. Speed is sacrificed because of a
"Pause" while breathing
A typical scenario is that you feel like you are cruising
along just fine and then you take a breath and it feels like you have just lost
all your momentum. To remedy this, when you breathe, concentrate first on
breathing to the side (as in #1), then on having your mouth parallel to the
water, instead of over the water. The latter will take a while to master, but
once you do, it will take care of the pause, and improve your speed overall.
4. Difficulty breathing while
navigating in a race
You need to look up to see where you are going, and at the
same time grab a breath. How can you do both? Start with bilateral breathing
(breathing on both sides every 3 strokes). This will help you to see about
where you are without lifting your head up as much. When you need to lift your
head up to sight, try not to look straight ahead as this will make your hips
sink and throw you off balance. Instead, take a quick peek at your target, roll
to the side to breath, and bring your head right back down into position.
5.
Sucking in water while taking a breath
In practice, this will sometimes occur because
of #1 and #2 above. In a race, the waves may cause the inhalation of water
instead of air (bilateral breathing will help here as well). The drills to
practice to improve balance and avoid this unpleasant occurrence are the side
kicking and
shark fin drills, as well as the
one-arm drill. To perform the one-arm drill, swim a full stroke with one arm
while your other arm rests at your side. Breathe on the opposite side of the
stroking arm. This is a difficult drill and takes some practice, but it will
pay off!
