Front crawl frustration

Hi,

On 23 May 2006 17:58:39 -0700 said:

I started recreational swimming since the age of 6 and swam on and off
for years, only in breast stroke. I won't consider myself a good
swimmer, but like alot of the breast stroke swimmers, I can go on and
on with breast stroke for many laps without being out of breath.

I have had a very similar experience; up to the beginning of last year I
could swim breast stroke any number of laps comfortably, but couldn't do
25 m crawl at a stretch. I can now do about 1 km slowly in the pool
swimming to and fro - and if I, at the age of 53 can do it, I am sure
you can too!

Quoted message said:

I never really learned the front crawl, but I kinda know how to do it,
but I usually cannot get more than 1/3 of a pool, then i am out of
breath, and had to stand up if it's shallow enough, or else, will have
to flip over to a more relaxing back stroke.

I suddenly determine to learn the front crawl and forced myself to do
it. I try to rotate my shoulder and make my chin follow my shoulder
when I breath, and try to exhale as much as possible while under water.
I've improved a little bit, now being able to finish 25 yards. However,
I wouldn't say that breathing is a breeze, I sometimes still cant
really grasp all the air and i am out of breath by the end of the lap.

I improved considerably by using a buoy that I tucked between the legs
so that the legs remained stationary and kept the lower part of my body
horizontal, while I concentrated on hand strokes and breathing (based on
advice from a swimming coach). I concentrated on swimming slowly,
keeping the upper part of my head above the water, focusing my eyes at a
point several meters ahead on the bottom of the pool, pulling with long
smooth hand strokes, rolling the shoulders as much as I could, and
starting the breathing process (turning head toward the side) early as
soon as I stretch one arm ahead so that I can take in adequate air
through the mouth. I think the buoy helped me a lot in improving my
posture in the water and in faciliating breathing. I am sure many
persons in this forum with more experience will chime in; I am but a
beginner, but I thought of putting in a word because I was in the same
position as you are now, about a year ago.

Quoted message said:

There is also something really wrong with my kicking, because when I
use a kicking board, I am not moving at all- tried kicking slowly,
relax my legs, use my quad to bring my legs to move, slightly bend my
knee. Wont move at all. Not sure if my front crawl actually worked
because of my arms??

Yes, I had this feeling too because I was kicking from below the knees
and not from the hip! If you imagine the kick as being powered from your
hip with the part of the leg below the knees to the toe as a loose,
dangling appendage attached to the hip that performs a lazy wave-like
motion, your flutter kick might become more efficient.

All the best with your front crawl.

Gururaj Rao, Kisarazu City, Japan.

I think I might have recieved some type of front crawl instruction when
I was a kid now.. coz I somehow remember the drill of putting the board
between my calves and work on my strokes, and I tried that today, I'll
continue to practice that.

When I try to use my hip to move my legs, my lower body will start to
sink even with a board. I am not nervous about water at all, I grew up
swimming alot, I'm not afraid of sinking in or drinking some nasty
chlorinated water, but it's just weird!!

Anyways, I wanted to add that, I timed myself doing the breast stroke ,
25 yards 30 seconds. Now granted, i did push off from the wall a
little bit, used about 70% effort, i know this is slow, but I have not
swam in over 15 years and just getting started. But my front crawl is
pathetic. It's slower than my breastroke!! I was so out of breath i
can't even lift my head to look at the timer. 🙁

My other question is, is it better for me to join a master group or
take some private lesson to get my stroke right?

I am a martial artist and my major workout will always be in taekwondo,
however, I do want to continue to swim for conditioning and leisure
purposes, that means i will not be able to hit the pool 4 times a week.
at most i can do it twice a week.

Thanks for any inputs!

Quoted message said:

I think I might have recieved some type of front crawl instruction when
I was a kid now.. coz I somehow remember the drill of putting the board
between my calves and work on my strokes, and I tried that today, I'll
continue to practice that.

When I try to use my hip to move my legs, my lower body will start to
sink even with a board. I am not nervous about water at all, I grew up
swimming alot, I'm not afraid of sinking in or drinking some nasty
chlorinated water, but it's just weird!!

Anyways, I wanted to add that, I timed myself doing the breast stroke ,
25 yards 30 seconds. Now granted, i did push off from the wall a
little bit, used about 70% effort, i know this is slow, but I have not
swam in over 15 years and just getting started. But my front crawl is
pathetic. It's slower than my breastroke!! I was so out of breath i
can't even lift my head to look at the timer. 🙁

My other question is, is it better for me to join a master group or
take some private lesson to get my stroke right?

I am a martial artist and my major workout will always be in taekwondo,
however, I do want to continue to swim for conditioning and leisure
purposes, that means i will not be able to hit the pool 4 times a week.
at most i can do it twice a week.

Thanks for any inputs!

You might want to consider the Total Immersion program
(http://www.totalimmersion.net). TI runs weekend freestyle workshops
which often dramatically improve the strokes of those who attend, and
also provides a self-education program through books and DVDs.

Bob

I thought about that Bob, but $4XX seems a bit steep for me...
WOuld just watching the video help?

Quoted message said:

I thought about that Bob, but $4XX seems a bit steep for me...
WOuld just watching the video help?

Just watching it won't help, but actually doing the drills should. ;-)
You can also get free advice in the TI discussion forum.

It's possible in swimming to waste an enormous amount of energy if
you're not doing your stroke correctly. It sounds from your description
like that's what's happening to you.

Bob

LOL, yep, practicing the drill would do. I think my stroke is
absolutely incorrect and it's not efficient at all.

I am fairly confidence that my breastroke is alright since it doesn't
tire me out, but I would love to be able to do freestyle. 🙁

On 23 May 2006 19:42:29 -0700 said:

I think I might have recieved some type of front crawl instruction when
I was a kid now.. coz I somehow remember the drill of putting the board
between my calves and work on my strokes, and I tried that today, I'll
continue to practice that.

When I try to use my hip to move my legs, my lower body will start to
sink even with a board. I am not nervous about water at all, I grew up
swimming alot, I'm not afraid of sinking in or drinking some nasty
chlorinated water, but it's just weird!!

Try pulling in your stomach so that the lower part of your body remains
parallel to the waterline and your legs don't sink. This is where the
buoy helps to pull up the legs.

Quoted message said:

Anyways, I wanted to add that, I timed myself doing the breast stroke ,
25 yards 30 seconds. Now granted, i did push off from the wall a
little bit, used about 70% effort, i know this is slow, but I have not
swam in over 15 years and just getting started. But my front crawl is
pathetic. It's slower than my breastroke!! I was so out of breath i
can't even lift my head to look at the timer. 🙁

My other question is, is it better for me to join a master group or
take some private lesson to get my stroke right?

Lessons from a coach always helps - even a friend who can pinpoint your
mistakes will improve your posture and help you swim better.

GR

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi everyone,

I started recreational swimming since the age of 6 and swam on and off
for years, only in breast stroke. I won't consider myself a good
swimmer, but like alot of the breast stroke swimmers, I can go on and
on with breast stroke for many laps without being out of breath.

I never really learned the front crawl, but I kinda know how to do it,
but I usually cannot get more than 1/3 of a pool, then i am out of
breath, and had to stand up if it's shallow enough, or else, will have
to flip over to a more relaxing back stroke.

I suddenly determine to learn the front crawl and forced myself to do
it. I try to rotate my shoulder and make my chin follow my shoulder
when I breath, and try to exhale as much as possible while under water.
I've improved a little bit, now being able to finish 25 yards. However,
I wouldn't say that breathing is a breeze, I sometimes still cant
really grasp all the air and i am out of breath by the end of the lap.

There is also something really wrong with my kicking, because when I
use a kicking board, I am not moving at all- tried kicking slowly,
relax my legs, use my quad to bring my legs to move, slightly bend my
knee. Wont move at all. Not sure if my front crawl actually worked
because of my arms??

Any suggestions??

You have a simple problem. You are working harder than you can sustain;
whether because of absolute work rate, or limited air exchange. It does not
matter which is the limit, only that they are out of balance.

To fix this, you must change how you swim, globally. Work less, breath
more.

You may find that you need to allow yourself to sink deeper in the water;
people with this type of Front Crawl difficulty frequently are unconsciously
continually attempting to force themselves above the water.

You may find that you need to roll farther, and for a longer time, so that
you can get more air in.

You may find that you need to make your arm actions weaker and slower, so
that you are not unconsciously holding your breath.

You may find that you need to deliberately exhale underwater, timing the end
of exhalation so that just as your face rolls above the surface you are
ready to inhale.

As for kicking, don't worry. Kicking doesn't help propulsion much, if at
all - the main function is to keep the legs up. If you have a pull-bouy,
use it; that will let you focus on your arms and body and rolling and
breathing.

So if you were me, would you:

1. Buy a TI video
2. Go take lessons
3. Join a masterclass?

Please vote!! 🙂

Quoted message said:

Hi everyone,

I started recreational swimming since the age of 6 and swam on and off
for years, only in breast stroke. I won't consider myself a good
swimmer, but like alot of the breast stroke swimmers, I can go on and
on with breast stroke for many laps without being out of breath.

I never really learned the front crawl, but I kinda know how to do it,
but I usually cannot get more than 1/3 of a pool, then i am out of
breath, and had to stand up if it's shallow enough, or else, will have
to flip over to a more relaxing back stroke.

I suddenly determine to learn the front crawl and forced myself to do
it. I try to rotate my shoulder and make my chin follow my shoulder
when I breath, and try to exhale as much as possible while under water.
I've improved a little bit, now being able to finish 25 yards. However,
I wouldn't say that breathing is a breeze, I sometimes still cant
really grasp all the air and i am out of breath by the end of the lap.

There is also something really wrong with my kicking, because when I
use a kicking board, I am not moving at all- tried kicking slowly,
relax my legs, use my quad to bring my legs to move, slightly bend my
knee. Wont move at all. Not sure if my front crawl actually worked
because of my arms??

Any suggestions??

Unlike you, I find the breast stroke difficult to coordinate. I cannot
do the frog-like kick without my butt floating almost up out of the
water or, worse still, getting a chlorine douche, if you'll pardon the
imagery. The only way I can do it is to very gently kick one leg at a
time. I find the breast stroke to be a highly inefficient way to move
across the pool. I didn't learn how to do the front crawl until my
late 40s, so the experience is still sort of fresh.

While kicking may not propel one as much as the arms can, it does help
move one through the water and gives a better all-around workout.
Kicking during the front crawl is, for me, a matter of rhythm. Three
kicks per arm stroke works for me; i.e., as you pull your right arm up
and over, kick L-R-L, then R-L-R as you bring the left arm over and
into the water (or reverse that, if it feels better). You could even
try counting 1-2-3 1-2-3, which might help take your mind off trying to
breath.

And as you practice and get warmed up, you'll find that you seem to
expel lots more air than you take in. You don't need to take deep
breaths - in fact, keeping your lungs full of air will make you feel
more short of breath than expelling lots of air and taking in small,
but efficient, gasps. If you try to keep your lungs full, you'll end
up trying to fill and empty a smaller space and you'll never feel like
you have gotten an adequate breath.

Lastly, some people use those floats between their legs because they
think they aren't buoyant. That pretty much eliminates one's ability
to kick. Once you give up trying to stay on top of the water, life in
the pool gets much easier. If you still think your legs are hanging
too low, just kick a little harder and they'll come popping right up
and then you can start annoying people with lots of splashing (kicking
in the air offers no propulsive force whatsoever).

Hope I've been of some help.

MLW

MLW, thank you so much for your advise. I decided to join a masters
swim team to get some coaching, i really cant do this on my own. I told
the coach about my limits and what i can and cannot do and he assure me
that I can fit in. I watched them practice and almost faint when he
told the members to do 400 freestyle and 300 backstroke on this fin.
I've never worn a fin in my entire life. And i've never swam more than
50 meters freestyle nonstop either. But he assure me that it'll be okay
and that I can stay on the fast lane (they go from fast, faster and
fastest, i find that very funny.)

I'll let you know how that goes!!