New to swimming

[canabiz]

Hey guys i took my first swimming lesson today at a community centre, learning how breathe out under the water

Pretty fun so far but there's quite a bit of work to do before I can go out to the beach on my own LOL

Just wondering if you guys know any websites that have tutorial/guides for beginners to swimming. There's only 1 instructor and there are quite a few of us so she can only do so much. I'll read up on some proper techniques and give it a try in the pools next week (1 day/week class)

Thanks.

For other beginners, here's 1 website I found so far

http://idid.essortment.com/swimmingbeginne_rlqe.htm

[jm20]

Get semi-private or private lessons, the ratio of students to instructors is much fewer. Personally I stopped when I reached life saving 3 under the old system.

[winner2000]

Don't forget these!









Just kidding...have fun!

[UrbanPoet]

ask farooq

[hyperion]

ask farooq

If he asked farooq, farooq would just make a post in Off Topic asking the same question only try to make it sound like something else.

Anyways, if you have problems with water going up your nose, you have to create a pressure in your nose, almost like you're about to exhale, that way it won't happen.

Breathing out you do as your head is coming up to the side or up (depends which style you are swimming), through your nose. When your face is out of the water, take a deep breath through your mouth and then stick your head back in.

[UrbanPoet]

my swimmign technique is that i just breath in and out with my mouth only... not totally efficientm but im not pro swimmer. I only swim when im @ ppool/vacation.

[gr8dlr]

Very Good website I found - they have videos for you to see

http://www.goswim.tv/

Click Drill of the week on the left side....then all the videos.

[DaVibe]

I like this thread ... I hate swimming.

[Irb]

One thing that all non-swimmers need to keep in mind.

The human body naturally floats. If you're ever stuck in the water and feel like you're going to drown just relax. Lie on your back and just try to remain calm. You're not going to drown.

[canabiz]

I don't know if it is a mental or physical thing but I can't swim! I had a bad experience when I was 10 years old, my sister was teaching me how to swim and she let go of her hand, I don't know intentionally or unintentionally, I was under the water (beach) for a good 10 seconds and it felt like eternity, needless to say, i got salt water through my nose, my mouth and in my ears.

My sister pulled me up after and since that day, I haven't really attempted to go back to learn swimming until now. I took an Adult 101 course at a local community centre 6 months ago, as per the original post of this thread, and had some progress (i.e. I could put my head under the water for about 10 seconds) and I was able to float with my face down and *attempted* to swim. I recently signed up for another Adult 101 course and tonight I couldn't do even a simple back-float, let alone something more complex.

I am always uptight, my legs are stiff, i couldn't really relax, my legs need to touch the floor of the pool so that I would feel *OK* or safe. Any advice folks ? The instructor was helping me out the best that he could and i was using the *noodle* so that helped a bit but I guess ultimately it will be up to me to relax and just let it be.

It's just frustrating man, it's not like i would be a surfer dude or beach bum or anything but I would like to go swimming once in a while for some good exercise.

Cheers!

[Madchester]

Unless you are over 25-ish percent body fat, you're not going to naturally float without re-positioning some parts of your body.

I'd suggest learning to breathing/exhaling in and out of water properly, before you learn all your strokes. Unless you want to be doing heads-up strokes all the time, lol.

When I was first learning to swim, I remember backcrawl being the easiest to learn, since it's more natural to be lying on your back than your front in the water. I had a lot of problems with breaststroke. I didn't get the timing of my arms and the whip kick right until I did Grey level a second time. When I did it right, it was kinda like the moment you learn to ride a bike...

On a more serious note... you should be accompanied by a friend when you swim, especially if you're a novice. One of my uncles decided to swim alone in a public pool back in the 70s. When the swim was over, everyone climbed out of the pool, and the lifeguards found him at the bottom of the pool. To this day, no one in the family really knows how he drowned... or why he even went swimming on his own that day.

[Shaner]

Grab a flotation device that you can hang onto with your hands.
Use it to keep yourself afloat and kick your feet at a medium pace to move yourself around the pool. Do not thrash your legs in the water, a medium pace is more than sufficient. That's all there is to swimming. The only difference is you won't have the flotation device, you'll need to move your arms in the water to keep afloat.

the problem most beginners have is they thrash in the water and that's not going to keep you afloat. Believe it or not, in regards to swimming (with the exception of pro swimmers), faster is not better. When kicking your feet, you don't want them moving 100 miles per hour.

[Madchester]

Grab a flotation device that you can hang onto with your hands.
Use it to keep yourself afloat and kick your feet at a medium pace to move yourself around the pool. Do not thrash your legs in the water, a medium pace is more than sufficient. That's all there is to swimming. The only difference is you won't have the flotation device, you'll need to move your arms in the water to keep afloat.

That's how the Red Cross teaches frontcrawl.

1) Kicking with a PFD/flutterboard
2) Same as above, but with breathing/exhaling to the side
3) Same as 2, but now with alternating arms holding onto the flutterboard, while doing each stroke.
4) Doing 3 without the flutterboard