Top Tips for breathing more comfortably during front crawl for beginners!
When learning front crawl there’s a few common fears people experience:
1. Swallowing water 2. Fear of not getting enough air in 3. Not being relaxed e.g. anxious in water
Try these few tips to help conquer those fears:
1. Blow air out underwater with controlled breathing and try the drill below "kicking on your front with a board".
2. Ensure your body is balanced and learn how to breathe in for longer with better timing of your arms and breathing action. You should be breathing in by the time your arm is passing your shoulder with your hips having rotated to 45 degrees. This will give you more time to breathe in and help reduce the feeling of panic.
3. Try floating in the water in a shape of an X keeping your arms and legs close to the surface. This will help you to relax more in the water. When you transfer this feeling to normal swimming you should aim to be high in the water so that you're legs don't drop, head is neutral and rotating on a long axis from your head to your feet.
Try the drill below using fins and a kickboard to help you develop the confidence, relaxation and rhythm for breathing more comfortably in the water
Kick On Board For Breathing Drill
Kicking on your front with a kick board, and your hands and elbows resting on the board. Place your face in the water and breathe out for 2 seconds, then breathe in for 2 seconds. Exhale almost fully but leave some air in your lungs so you don’t have a feeling of panic set in.
Helps with the rhythmical nature of breathing for front crawl, and getting you used to placing your face in the water and exhaling without running out of air. Relax your muscles and breathe more from your diaphragm than your chest.
To learn how to overcome all the above and more for beginners sign up to a series of Private Swimming Lessons with video analysis in the endless pool in Chertsey, Surrey
Photo courtesy of Finis
