Pull buoy

Boris said:

Owing to knee pain, I started using a pull buoy (Speedo standard for
adults).
My problem is that I feel my head too low in the water, making breathing
difficult. I think that this may be due to too much lift of the lower body.
I also tend to arch the body in the lower back; I can swim reasonably well
front crawl, but in backstroke, again, my head lies too low; breast stroke I
find almost impossible to swim.

You wouldn't use a pull buoy in breaststroke lap swimming, only for
drills. It's hard.

Always keep the buoy tucked all the way up; don;t wear it down around
your knees.

Quoted message said:

I am very slim and small; my weight is 55 kg.
Any advice will be welcomed.

Use a smaller pull buoy.

Have you tried to do pull, without the pull buoy, by just not kicking? I do
this for both front crawl and backstroke sometimes as it keeps me in a more
natural position in the water than using a pull buoy.

Pauline

"Boris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Owing to knee pain, I started using a pull buoy (Speedo standard for
adults).
My problem is that I feel my head too low in the water, making breathing
difficult. I think that this may be due to too much lift of the lower
body. I also tend to arch the body in the lower back; I can swim
reasonably well front crawl, but in backstroke, again, my head lies too
low; breast stroke I find almost impossible to swim.
I am very slim and small; my weight is 55 kg.
Any advice will be welcomed.
Boris

Boris said:

Owing to knee pain, I started using a pull buoy (Speedo standard for
adults).
My problem is that I feel my head too low in the water, making breathing
difficult. I think that this may be due to too much lift of the lower body.
I also tend to arch the body in the lower back; I can swim reasonably well
front crawl, but in backstroke, again, my head lies too low; breast stroke I
find almost impossible to swim.
I am very slim and small; my weight is 55 kg.
Any advice will be welcomed.
Boris

You should be able to swim backstroke without the pull bouy (and without
kicking), or try putting it between your ankles instead of between your
knees or higher up.

For breaststroke, try just swimming with the arms and just skip the legs
entirely and don't use the pullbouy.

Inwood said:

Have you tried to do pull, without the pull buoy, by just not kicking? I do
this for both front crawl and backstroke sometimes as it keeps me in a more
natural position in the water than using a pull buoy.

You must have very light legs. I don't think that will work for most
people. The pull buoy is meant to keep the legs up where they would be
if you were kicking.

"MW Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Inwood said:

Have you tried to do pull, without the pull buoy, by just not kicking? I
do
this for both front crawl and backstroke sometimes as it keeps me in a
more
natural position in the water than using a pull buoy.

You must have very light legs. I don't think that will work for most
people. The pull buoy is meant to keep the legs up where they would be
if you were kicking.

Thanks to you and to all who answered my questions. I fully agree with your
answer to Inwood (thank you Inwood nonetheless).
I emphasize again that my problem is that, when using the pull buoy, my head
goes too low in the water, either in back or front crawl. In front crawl, I
can overcome the problem by rotating the body (as in total immersion), but
in backstroke no matter what I do, my head still goes down and I get some
water in the mouth.
I also feel a burden to my lower back, that seems to become arched, which is
very bad to the spine.
Anybody that cares to continue the thread will be welcome.
Thanks,
Boris

Boris said:

"MW Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Inwood said:

Have you tried to do pull, without the pull buoy, by just not kicking? I
do
this for both front crawl and backstroke sometimes as it keeps me in a
more
natural position in the water than using a pull buoy.

Quoted message said:

You must have very light legs. I don't think that will work for most
people. The pull buoy is meant to keep the legs up where they would be
if you were kicking.

Thanks to you and to all who answered my questions. I fully agree with your
answer to Inwood (thank you Inwood nonetheless).
I emphasize again that my problem is that, when using the pull buoy, my head
goes too low in the water, either in back or front crawl. In front crawl, I
can overcome the problem by rotating the body (as in total immersion), but
in backstroke no matter what I do, my head still goes down and I get some
water in the mouth.
I also feel a burden to my lower back, that seems to become arched, which is
very bad to the spine.
Anybody that cares to continue the thread will be welcome.
Thanks,
Boris

If you have pain in your spine, when you use the pull buoy doing
backstroke, that is of course a problem you should have checked, but
otherwise what you describe sounds like your form is in the range of
correct backstroke forms. If you watch backstrokers in a race, water
does wash over the head during the stoke. It indicates to me that your
head is probably at the right level. The problem with water in the
mouth is probably caused by inhaling at the wrong time.