Yesterday was the first time I swam across the breath of the swimming pool without stopping, all thanks to my regular swimming instructor who came back from break and a particularly nice swim mate of mine who offered some crucial tips. I was ecstatic on reaching the other side. I’ll now share the tips I learnt that have improved my swimming technique.
Breathing – you have to breath out SLOWLY into the water. Don’t force out air as this makes you run out of breath quickly. Also it seems this helps you relax. It’s like when in air. You generally breath out gently. Do the same while swimming, but into the water. Previously I used to breath out quickly in water and usually found out to my utter dismay, half way through the lap that I was already out of breath and ready to sink. When I controlled my breathing I found that I could travel longer before running out of breath. This I feel is the single most important factor I altered that improved my swimming yesterday.
You have to really kick against the swimming pool wall at the beginning of a push and glide, kick routine. This gives propulsion that takes you farther through the water. In previous lessons I used to give a soft kick to the pool wall at the start of a glide. But I tried out giving the wall a solid kick and watched in glee as I glided swiftly through the water.
Take a deep breath before taking the plunge. The extra air in your lungs keeps you buoyant for longer.
Kick fast. Fast kicks from the hips appear to propel the body forward and keep you buoyant for longer. The faster you kick, the faster you move through water.
Strengthen both arms. This applies especially when learning front crawl technique. I find my right hand is stronger than my left hand when making a stroke, most likely because I’m right-handed. As such I have to do some exercises to strengthen my left hand so that I can have equally powerful strokes on both hands.
Eat at least a few hours BEFORE going to swim. Eating a lot just swimming makes you feel heavier and gives you more work to do as you try to push your weight through the water.
That’s all for now. To my fellow new swimmers out there, I hope you find some of these tips useful. If you have comments or tips you like to share, feel free to drop a comment below. Enjoy!