Freestyle: Breathing

Hey, guys! I'm back with more swimming techniques. You may know me as a blogger that makes book summaries but I'm also a swimmer. You may check my book summaries in: https://www.insidehacking.blogspot.com but it is inactive for the mean time. For more details about my blog crossover, you may check my first post about kicking, for it is the most basic thing to learn about in swimming. If you are a beginner and you intend to read this blog, I suggest you to read my older posts but if you're just reading this for breathing tips, it wouldn't be compulsory for you to read my older posts. It would be a nice suggestion for you to read my older posts for there are more to venture in the vast swimming world. Each style has a countless amount of aspects for the world of swimming is just another rainbow with more unclear colors. In my dictionary of phrases, that can be also be defined by saying 'a broad spectrum' of undiscovered colors. I would also like to mention that I enjoy writing my blogs in American-English; it just fits me better. Just in case I haven't mentioned in my older posts, I'm writing a blog everyday and I'm giving out a style per week while giving tips about different aspects per day. To find out more about my swimming habits, don't hesitate to ask me and look at my older posts at what styles I specialize in and how many metres I usually sprint. Some of these tips may be very common or maybe even uncommon. Note that these techniques I'm about to teach you are only effective when done correctly. If there are anything you would like me to know, please notify me.

Breathing correctly is a very important aspect in the many categories of freestyle because with just a few wrong breathing styles could cause you a few milliseconds and every microsecond in swimming counts. If you don't believe me, see Phelps's 7^th gold medal at Beijing 2008. He beat Milorad Cavic by a microsecond. Phelps was losing by hlaf a body and in the last 25 metres he caught up and when Milorad Cavic was a few millimetres to the wall, Phelps had a final stroke and beat Milorad Cavic. I remember the first time I learned breathing was when I was about 7 years old, and I first breathed with a 1-1 pattern. How inefficient. Plus, it made me dizzy. The most efficient pattern is the 4-1 pattern for long distance swims and for short distance sprints, I always intend to hold my breath. My high score for holding my breath is about a minute and 30 seconds but when I'm sprinting I can only stand about 25 or 30 metres. If you want to practice holding your breath outside the water, remember not to puff your cheeks and not to hold all the oxygen in your lungs. Also relax while lying down and closing your eyes.

Snorkels would help enlarge your lung capacity and while using a snorkel, always remember to keep your head low to reduce drag. When taking a breath, always remember to rotate half your head and not all. It saves a lot of time and effort. Bilateral breathing would do you more good and bilateral breathing is a pattern where you're breathing patterns take turns (Left and Right). Blowing air consistently during long distance swims would save more energy. Always remember to focus at exhaling more than inhaling because it conserves air. When doing flips, remember to exhale in your streamline position because it'll save you energy. Remember scissor kicking when taking a breath. Also remember a body roll to go well with the rotation.

Please come back for more swimming tips. I hope you enjoyed it!

Special Swim Post: Freestyle Hands

Hey, guys! I'm back with more blog content. If you don't know why I'm making a book summary about 12 Years a Slave, you should read my older post for more information. If we shorten the information I wrote in the older post, I was assigned to give out FREE swimming tips. I know. You're welcome. No need to thank me; it's what a blogger has to do. It's what I have to do and its for the good of a lot of people. It doesn't fit the title, I'm very sorry, but I'm just too tired of managing more than three blogs. Before you go to this post, I suggest you guys to see my older post because every swimmer starts with kicking. That is because kicking with a float board keeps you floating and you don't drown. Hands in swimming are more advanced than footwork because you learn to float while moving your feet. If you can't float, you can't swim. I watch quite a lot of sports; I'm into basketball, soccer, UFC, and some more sports. What I'm really hyped up for is the World Cup. I'm definitely rooting for Germany. Munich's season this year wasn't amazing, but it was quite nice; they won a double. Reus is expected to perform well and so is Neuer. I'm also excited for the full results of the NBA Playoffs. I'm going for Spurs. Now, let's get to the technique.

Hands take a big part in swimming. I myself enjoy hand drills because my hands are powerful enough to get me ahead of my training partners. Hands in freestyle take about 60% of the style so it's really important to have powerful hands. The core power that produces most energy for the hands are the palms. I'm used to putting my thumb above my index finger when swimming, and it slows me down quite a lot. What not to do when doing hand drills are keeping your hands straight. It doesn't make power and it slows you down a lot.

For beginners, hand drills could be done by just swimming a few laps. remember to keep your hands pivoting. If you keep it straight it slices the water. You want to palm your hands effectively you'd better keep your hands pivoting from your elbow. Hands are like the opposite of legs; do it from your elbows, not the arms. Get used to folding your elbows when taking a breath. It would save a lot of energy when doing long distance races.For short distance races like 50s or 100s, just throw your hands to the front since long term energy won't be needed.

For intermediate swimmers, hand drills should be done by using buoys and paddles. Fold your legs to keep it from interfering with your hand movement. Paddles should keep your hands heavy so when you pull the water it tires your hand. Never slice the water with your hands; palm it. Slicing the water would be way faster but it slows you down a lot. Never take the easy way out; take the hard way because it would improve your hand movement. Also remember about the bodyline I told you in the first post; never break it. Always rotate your body when moving your feet and match it with your arm movement. Also remember to push your hands to the very back to reach maximum glide. Always remember a high elbow to conserve energy in long distance swims. Remember to put your middle fingers to the water first so you don't get a late grab. After you grab the water, immediately pull the water.

Training your hands should be optimized by some serious training attire like the pullbuoy and the paddle. Waterproof training could be done by doing pushups or pullups. Come back for more swimming tips.

Special Swim Post: Freestyle Kick

Hey, guys! Its been an awfully long time I haven't updated. I know, don't be surprised, I blog, swim and play games. I am also a student that watches quite a lot of sports. I have been swimming seriously for three years, and my time is a bit above average for swimmers in my age category. I just join minor competitions, and not national ones. I specialize in short distance breaststroke and freestyle. My coach trained the national swim team and with his support for the national team, our swimming accomplishments are quite good. We reached Asian opens and the South East Open games. So, lets get to the drills now.

I am not a kicking powerhouse; I enjoy doing hand drills more, but my improved kicking really helped me swim faster. Kicking in freestyle doesn't speed you much. The main points to focus in freestyle are your hands and hand to feet coordination but if you're talking about breaststroke, kicking takes over around 70 percent. For beginners that are learning to swim, take your float board in your hands, and don't keep your head in the air for the whole time. If you keep your head above the surface, your body weight will push the board down and slow you down. Don't fold your legs too much, it will drag you and slow you down. Just get used to keeping your legs straight but if it's too hard, you can fold your legs but don't overdo it. If combined with hands, remember a two beat pattern. Don't keep your feet silent; keep moving it and do one foot for each hand you move. To keep it moving, move your hands quite quickly and match it with the feet. A six beat or a four beat would be easier though; just do more feet than your hands.

For intermediate swimmers, use fins for additional weight in your legs. Still keep your legs straight although with the fins it would take you to your destination faster if you fold your legs but that would be useless because the main use for the fins are to make your feet heavier so when you take them off it would feel like kicking air. Hands take longer to do than feet and that is when you move your feet. Always remember hip rotation, for there is an imaginary line in the middle of your body that keeps your position streamline so always remember to rotate your hips when moving your feet. Keep your feet straight to decrease drag.

For advanced swimmers, you could start drilling and counting your time for your feet speed. Another useful drill for your feet is sculling. Spread your hands in the front to keep you floating and move your feet while doing so. When sprinting, hit your feet deep underwater but still keep up the speed. Hit your feet deep too when doing drills. Don't kick with all your power; when you are doing long distance swims, it wastes a lot of power. Just kick with low effort, and with the right technique, you'll get far. Kick from the hip, not the knee, that is a vital part in swimming. Never kick to the front; it creates lots of drag. Kick down, where it doesn't drag you. When taking a breath, open your feet wide; it saves lots of energy and gives you a push forward. That could be practiced by kicking wide in the water.

For swimming practices when not in the water, just jog to keep your feet flexible. Also stretch your feet to keep it flexible and to prevent cramps and injuries. Specific stretches are stretching your ankles by putting your feet in the front and taking a leg then folding it towards your crotch for a few seconds. Take turns and switch your feet. Do it repeatedly for 5 or 6 times. Kneel on your tibula and keep that pose for 30 seconds or more. Also remember to point your feet while stretching so you are used to doing that in the water.