Swimming

nottscobb

I'm currently taking swimming lessons to give me more fitness options as I bunked off my lessons as a kid and have pretty much regretted it ever since.

I'm doing OK at most things but when I try to float on my back it doesn't matter what I do my feet just sink to the bottom even though my upper body seems quite happy floating. My initial thought is that my legs are much more muscle and very little fat so this won't help with boyancy but then this all sounds very vain as I'm definitely not overly muscular by any stretch of the imagination.

Do other people on here have the same problem or should I just stop trying to make excuses and keep practicing?

captain_oakley

When you swim on your back your legs will always sink, you should have been told
that what ever your head does, the rest of your body will follow. Once on your back
lie back and look at the ceiling, this will raise the shoulders, the torso, etc.

Using a wave type motion, kick from the hips through the knee and to the ankle, so
the bottom of the foot is pointing downwards, the toes should be just breaking the
the surface. Keep the knees below the surface of the water.

Practice your kicking by placing a float under each arm, lie back (always keeping
the head right back) and practice the backstroke kick. Another way is to hold on
to the side with your back against the wall and practice kicking the legs. The secret
is not to push against the water , but to push down against it. You are not riding an
underwater bike!!!

If you need any drills, etc, get back to me. Good luck


'Never knowingly underweight....'

LittleB0b

1) why is it a problem that your legs droop when you are floating?

2) What are you doing with your core to hold your legs in line with the rest of your body?

jellybellywmb

Is it not because your upper is full of two big airbags called lungs??
Try kicking your legs and that should keep them up.

STEFANOS4784

Yep my legs sink, unless i really try, but then who wants to spend their life floating about like some corpse :?

SpinningJenny

Yep, your legs will sink naturally (from the knees down usually in my case) if you float. That's not necessarily a problem! However, as Captain Oakley says, if you modify your position in the water, your legs will come up.

Enjoy the lessons - and good for you for doing it!

nottscobb

Captain Oakley wrote:

You are not riding an underwater bike!!!

This is the issue I have with all the exercises we do. My legs have got so used to riding a bike I find it hard to do anything different and it's taken me a while get used to kicking but not going round in circles. I don't think it helps that the only way I can get to the gym is by bike either!

We do get told to keep looking at the ceiling, I it feels like I am doing this but reading these reponses makes me think I'm doing it too much with my head and neck and not enough with my torso. I'm not fussed by the issue in itself but I get the feeling that getting it right might help my all round technique in the pool.

Thanks for the replies, I'll let you know if I get on any better next week

captain_oakley

Do not try everything at once, break your training into sections, 20 mins arms,
20mins legs, etc. The water should not run over your face, imagine you are
trying to balance something on your forehead!

When you kick relax, a good swimmer (except a sprinter) will not make lots of
splash, keep the legs stretched, with minimal knee bend, work on the wave
motion of the leg. A good drill is to lie back, arms at the side, skull gently with the
hands, bring the legs up, and kick gently, use shallow water, so if you start to
struggle you can stand up. The arms are used to balence, so the swimmer can
concentrate on the legs.

'Another coffee or are we off...'

cullen_bay

im glad ive been swimming competitively since i was 5!

once you are comfortable going for 1 hours sessions, it starts to boost your fitness a LOT!

JGS

While all of the advice here sounds quite good, if you are having lessons ask your instructor about this and get them to analyse your position. It always helps to have someone watch and point out where you're going wrong.