Tips for beginners of all ages (kids, adults) - part 2

Not Only For Beginners
Now that you had some time to practice getting used to the water, doing bops, blowing bubbles, putting your face in the water, holding breath and relaxing, it is time we start focusing on floating. However, don't neglect the other drills if you still have some troubles. Be patient and the success will come.


Think of your body as a vessel where your core goes from head to hips. When floating or swimming the head should be in a neutral position. By neutral, I mean ears just below the surface of the water and your eyes are facing the bottom of the pool. The back of your head is dry and your suit is no more than 1.5 inches under the surface. If your head is in negative position, your chin is tucked on your chest and all the water is flowing over your head (NOT GOOD). If in positive position the water is hitting you on your hairline and your legs are sinking(NOT CORRECT EITHER).

You can practice getting into the neutral position by performing so called dead man's float. Now, we need to realize that not everyone will float (for example: women float better than men). So if you are not the lucky floater, you will just have to compensate for your none floating in other way (more later). Let's get to the excercise:


- Take a deep breath, put your head in a negative position (chin on chest), be vertical, let your arms down toward hips - you can imagine they are in the pockets (you will have your feet dangling almost straight to the bottom

- VERY SLOWLY start raising your head into the neutral position, with the back of the head right above the surface, ears under the surface and eyes facing the bottom of the pool. Allow for the hips and legs to ease themselves towards the surface. Do not have any movement in feet or legs (if done correctly, your hips/legs should rise a little)

- Now, slowly ease shoulders, arms, and hands into the streamline position (position where your arms are above your head - like you are trying reach with both hands for an apple on a tree). Make sure you do not raise your arms out of the water, they should rest right at the surface. (if done correctly, your hips/legs should rise even higher to the surface - see the image below)



Some of you will find yourselves laying on the surface of the water. This is brilliant, well done. Some of you will have your feet still dangling down, however, they should be higher than they were originally. Well done as well. It is not a problem that your feet are not all the way at the surface, you will just have to kick more when swimming. Don't worry though, if your feet are not right at the surface, this could be changed by practicing more and more and learning to relax more and more.

You probably ask yourselves. Wow, why is it that my feet are rising. Well, it is simple. Your body acts like a teeter totter with your hips being the axis. Once you get the head in neutral position then stretch the shoulders, arms, and hands in the streamlined position right at the surface, you are adding more weight on one side of the teeter totter, so your legs will automatically rise up. I have included a picture of teeter totter below if you don't remember from your younger days :).

Tips for beginners of all ages (kids, adults) - part 1

I have finally found some time to add another post, so here it is.

Swimming is a sport that is not natural to everyone. Walking, running, biking, all of these are quite easy to master, however, it takes some coordination and stamina to learn how to swim. Here are a few tips that will help you to conquer the world of water.

Before getting in the water, let's think about a few things. First, swimming is done in a horizontal position which is not natural for many people. Most beginner swimmers feel disoriented when laying on the water, they sometimes feel like they are falling down. However, it is not the case. Try to think of it more as laying down into a nice and soft bed. Second, let's stay with the bed analogy. When you lay down to sleep, your body is relaxed, all muscles are loosend up. This is very similar how you should feel when floating on the water. Believe it or not, but the relaxed you are the easier is to stay afloat. So listen to Frankie and RELAX. Third, do not use any equipment. True, it is easier to kick with a kickboard, however, most folks start getting dependent on the floating equipment and then it is hard to learn to swim the right way. Fourth, don't be afraid, water is your friend. Many have mastered swimming before you. :)...


Now let's get to the good stuff. You are probably asking, so what do I do in the pool? How do I start? Well, let's see:

1. If you are afraid of the water, you should start by standing up in the shallow end of the pool holding the wall and try to squat, so you get your chin close to the water. Breath easily. Once you are comfortable, try to go deeper under water while holding your breath. Now, don't just go up and down quickly, relax and use nice smooth motion to get up and down. If that is ok, try to stay with your head submerged for longer. If you have your goggles, open your eyes, look around you and explore the beauty of the water.

2. Now that we have mastered this, it is time for bubbles. Squat down holding the wall, so your mouth is submerged and start blowing bubbles through your mouth. You are still nice and relaxed and going up, taking a breath, and down, blowing bubbles for a few seconds. Try to increase the time you are under water blowing bubbles.

3. It is time you learn how to stand back up from horizontal swimming position. You are standing up, your arms are at your side, slowly lay on the water facing down while extending your arms above your head. So you end up laying on the water as a log stretchin your arms as far forward as possible with your palms down. Hold your breath (keep your mouth shut :)) and relax. Your body should be flat, the surface of the water should be hitting you in the middle of your hair on top of your head, so get that chin toward your chest. Whenever you are ready to stand up, palms of your hands are facing the bottom of the pool and start moving them slowly from the front above your head, down toward your hips keeping your arms straight. So, they will make nice half a circle. At the same time, slowly bring your knees to your chest. Basically, you will try to become a ball and use your hands/arms to rotate your head out of the water (backwards) and your feet down toward the bottom. Once in that position, just extand your feet and slowly stand up. Voila!

At this point, you should be fairly comfortable being in the water. If not, keep practicing, until you handle 1,2,3 with ease. Good luck and remember, water is not evil. Don't think too much about it, we all have instincts to survive. :)

Stay tuned for part 2 where I will discuss how to start your first motion in the H20.