First comment on RU-vid ever. I'm a relatively new triathlete and had sinky legs. 2 hour run, got it. 100m swim...heart rate 180. Fastest 100m was 2:08. Did literally ten minutes of drills from the things in this video; chest up, belly in, fewer kicks timed with the catch and my first 100m after was 1:44. That's 24 seconds in one session. Faster, easier, and HR was at least 30 beats lower. Revelation. THANK YOU!!
Excellent video. Thank you! Learning free style swimming at age 70 has been daunting but I haven't given up. I apply these tips little by little with lots of patience. The breathing was my big challenge and now I finally am feeling more at home in the water. I can swim 14 laps with breaks of back stroke swimming intermittently. I feel like a bird who learned how to fly!
You are an inspiration to all! Keep at it. Having taken up swimming at 40+, I felt I could've done it sooner. But it certainly ain't too late to teach old dogs new tricks, as long as the dog is willing to watch RU-vid videos and practice drills! 😊
try Adam ocean Walker’s video’s...I’m 68/ 10 years swimming, self-taught with real issues from major open-heart surgery (shortness of breath/ no power available) +quietly applied changes to my technique +can go long distance (2km is usual) in a meditative state of mind...love it..total time-out.
This is so awesome and great to hear. I’m 62 and I just started my 4th season of real effort to swim laps freestyle since age 48. Each season was 3-6 months of genuine effort with swim classes , private coaching and practice practice, practice. Ive been a hiker , mountain biker, some cycling and short distance runner (5-10 km) since my early 30’s. Thought I’d try to do a mini triathlon at age 50 and was blown away how hard it was for me to freestyle 😮😒😌 So needless to say , 50 came and went without the accomplishment of reaching any goals of a triathlon. So now I’m 62 and no longer reach for a triathlon but I do want to tackle this beast of a challenge for myself in the water with freestyle. I’ve restarted swimming for the 4th time with genuine effort a month ago and with what I’ve previously learned and what I’ve gained with these amazing RU-vid videos , I am slowly starting to see smidgens of a difference with ease of my technique with strokes , kicks and breath. Right now I can do 25 m and feel I’m gliding smoothly through the water . I can swim under water 12-13 m with one breath. Goal for now - * swim 200 m freestyle without breaks * swim under water 25 m with one breath. Thank you for inspiration and sharing ❤️
Exhaling through my nose has made a big difference! Thanks, I was tired after 15 meters originally. I can now complete the 25 meter length of the pool and I'm not exhausted. Getting easier every time I'm in the pool. Awesome videos, thanks very much! Cheers
I rarely comment on RU-vid videos, but I would like to thank you for your swimming tips. 2 weeks ago, I was struggling to swim more than 50 metres freestyle because I was getting out of breath. Yesterday, I comfortably swam 100m in under 2 minutes. Your technique made a huge difference in how relaxed and enjoyable my stroke has become. Cheers mate.
I learnt freestyle swimming a year and a half ago at the age of 36, it took me about 6 months to get to the point of being able to swim 500m non stop without having to stop in between. I find all these things very useful HOWEVER in my opinion no swimming coach ever adresses the one true thing that's preventing you from being able to swim freestyle: You can't pull yourself through the water enough! I think it's that simple. You don't have the muscles on your shoulders and back to be able to pull yourself enough to be able to create enough speed to be able to float on the surface to be able to move through the water. You can learn how to kick properly, early vertical forearm, breathing, body position etc. but you still won't be able to pull yourself through the water. The only way to do that is by strenghtening your muscles in and out of the water. I think swimming coaches take this as self evident and don't address it. When I discovered the feeling of pulling water heavily with my arms it became clear that I can do no more than about 10 miserable pulls before being fully exhausted. After 1 and a half year of regular swimming the muscles on my arms, shoulders and neck visibly changed (some feel like steel!) and now I can swim freestyle forever even with a poor technique. Your arms, shoulders and upper back should hurt while you're learning how to swim freestyle, otherwise you'll never succeed. There's no easy way of learning this, only if you can endure some pain. For beginners there's no such thing as effortless swimming guys, that part comes after you've gone through the pain. Cheers and love to every swimmer out there!
My triathlon coach cannot emphasize enough the strength training sessions. Twice a week we have an hour of strength training with focus on exercises that build the muscles needed for swimming, running and cycling. So, the aim is not to gain a lot of muscle, which would have quite the opposite result. Also for triathlon you need A LOT of open water swimming, as swimming in a pool is one thing, swimming in open water is a different beast. I know, I had plenty of panic attacks and still can get over it all the time. :)
Not sure about this. I know someone who is not super athletic. She has good cardio but her upper body is not strong at all. Yet, she is able to swimming non-stop for 30 minutes like it's a stroll in a park.
Eh. I don’t know about that. I’ve seen plenty of lesser muscled folk move through the water continuously and almost effortlessly for 500, 1000, even 1500 meters. The frail elderly as well. Lung capacity, aerobic capacity, and being a comfortable swimmer matter most. And of course, having decent technique. Though from what I’ve seen, there’s a lot you can get away with form wise, assuming it’s freestyle. Glad you found swimming and enjoy your next workout!
Your suggestions help me a ton!!! Before I can only swim 25m, at the end of it, my heart was racing and my body was working hard to get air. Your video makes me realize that I have been kicking too hard. The moment I slow down in my kicking, I can swim further as I'm able to keep my heart rate low. I also constantly tell myself to relax. Today, I was able to swim 100m for the first time! That's a huge improvement in just one week!!! Thank you so much!
That is so nice to hear! I am a new swimmer myself and I do struggle. The max I can do is 2 laps of 25 then I got to stop. I see your comment was about 1 year ago. I am curious to learn about your progress if you don't mind. Cheers
@@nathaliamedina5470 I switched over to use breast stroke instead of freestyle. Then, I can swim forever. It's a slower stroke, but that's okay with me. Good job in learning such an important life skill! Keep up the god work!
It's important to remember: Your legs take up the most oxygen in swim by a significant amount. Kick will only provide around 10% of your speed. If you're getting tired at 50 or even 25, don't even worry about kicks. If you really need to work on kicks, just do it with a kickboard. It'll make your practice much more efficient. As you get better, then work on kicks.
I just started freestyle .. it’s is a progression for me.. After learning how to properly breathe with my fins on, then w/o my fins learning how to keep my legs from dropping, then 15 meters, now at 25 meters..focusing many aspects of the high elbow stroke( my head, fingers first, the catch and pull) . So I’m sticking with it and am always excited I’ve gotten as far as I have. Yes, at first I was exhausted after the first weeks of finishing a 25 meter lap, but each day I’m less tired… more energized because of it being easier….I’m recently retired, 69 years old, and would love to show my 3 grandchildren not to fear the pool . Hang in there.. enjoy your progress!😉
I’m also exhausted after 25 meters BUT I’ve only had 2 lessons and I’m working on remembering technique , breathing etc, etc , determined to put it all together in time.
I started triathlon 5months ago I have no coach but I always listen to this and Im improving 🤙🏼 first tri I joined swim was 32mins and then next was 30 and then 29 and my last was 27mins I manage to join 4 triathlon. Thanks to you 🤙🏼
to sum up: 1. kick small, pause is ok 2. tighten core and butt, hand in the water (shoulder level) 3. wide shoulder catch 4. chest in the water 5. look straight to the side, head aligned with spine
This is so useful. I am a runner who wants to add a day of swimming to my training for cross training. I have never really done swimming for exercise so my technique is very inefficient. I can’t wait to try these tips.
Glad I found this video since I was always wondering why I get tired after two lanes so quickly. I was exhaling from the mouth. Thanks a lot for the tips, I can't wait to try.
Your videos prepared me to IronMan :) 2 months of practice with your tips and from being tired after 1 pool I was able to finish 3.8km in 1h 21mins. Awesome content of yours, thanks :)
@@SugarLandFishingBros Everyday for 1 month (that was my worst discipline so I focused on that) and after that ~3times a week mixed with bike. Last month of prep included ~2hrs of training a day, 6 days a week. And before IronMan 1.5 week of rest
@@pawetarsaa9904 hey pawel, great insight. I am training for an Ironman in October and can currently only swim 120 meters or so without being completely gassed. Luckily I can comfortably bike for 2-3 hours and run 10-13 miles. I am mostly worried about the swim. Do you think I can scale up all the way to 2.4 miles in a little less than 4 months or so?
@@SugarLandFishingBros It's definitely possible. Watch videos, see your mistakes, apply corrections. I had the feeling that I need to build proper muscles endurance, so I have noticed all my initial mistakes (like very bad breathing, not being aligned with the water, using legs too much) and after that, I started swimming for muscles growth. One of the most important things for me was that I always had some kind of goal when entering the pool. Sometimes 80x25 overall, sometimes 60x25 in 1 hour and at the beginning 40x25 overall. I have never left the pool without achieving it. Sometimes I felt like shit after the training but it was worth it
Incredibly helpful! Went from 150m max without stopping after a few weeks of training before this video. First training session after watching I was able to increase to 300m. Rested over the weekend and was able to follow it up with 1000m no stopping max!(probably could have even done a few more). Once I started to relax in the water and just focus on the techniques you shared, I got a rhythm with my stroke and breathing it became effortless!
Dude. What a find. You explain things in a way i have not heard. I've only been swimming since September 2021 and have really been struggling. A lot of what you said adds up. Going to try and implement some of these... if i can remember them all while in the water.
This was so well put together. I am a runner trying to get over an injury so have decided to take up swimming in the view of possibly doing a triathlon. I can swim but have never learnt any technique whatsoever. When I freestyle in the pool I get overtaken by 80-year-old women doing breaststroke! The positive side is I burn a lot of calories and gain fitness! Thank you very much I'm going to subscribe to your channel.
Hi I can only keep one instruction in my head at a time so I am working through these slowly but the first tip has already made an enormous difference thank you.
At 71, I too struggle to retain all the information presented in these videos. Perhaps someone might consider a series of shorter, “potted”, videos for veteran swimmers. Please don’t run away with the idea that we are novices, merely experienced swimmers looking to improve what we have lost over the years!
we are on our day two of swimming lesson with my daughter...she will be competing a triathlon this summer...i downloaded your videos and hopefully it can help us...thanks a lot
@@StrikerFin you are right...it will really improve once you do it multiple times..right now, she has difficulty in breathing that is why she is exhausted after
former swimmer here. I used to be in varsity, but we weren't taught these cutting edge techniques. So all my movements are power-based old school technique. I have so many questions: 1. [Overkicking] What's two beat? 2. [Balance] How do I know when my hip is dropping?
Brilliant presentation......even the accompanying ads are health related and excellent products...I tip my hat to you and will incorporate these lessons
started with 0 expectations more like "oh i'll probably hear the classic, you dont exhale right, you keep your head outside the water etc." and it was really useful. Can't wait to practice these. Subscribed!
I struggle with the turn of the head in the water/air intake because a mouthful of water does have you coughing a lot. Think i have a reasonable streamline/posture in the water. 3'00"/100m roughly 1700+ meters 3 times a week. getting very close to continuously swimming for 50 minutes. The more tips we all watch/learn the better we all will become.
Super helpful video, this is what I've been looking for. A lot of the "swim freestyle perfectly" videos out there are essentially "how to swim", not specific tips to improve if you know the basics already. Thank you so much!
notes for myself (Ignore): Don't overkick Good posture, tall proud posture, chest out, belly in, activated glutes, Lean on your chest, press into the water, only crown of head above the water
This video helped me do my first 500m breast stroke non stop. before I saw this I was only able to go 50-100m before needing a rest. thanks for the help!
Thanks for letting me know that I was doing everything wrong.. right from exhaling through mouth to lifting my head to breathe in.. hope I make these improvements now..
Thank you for this video! I’m still new to swimming and I struggle quite a bit with sinking legs. I will take all of your advices with me the next time I hit the pool 🏊♂️
Just started back with swimming about 2 months ago at age 67. Learned to swim freestyle at age 11 but was never a serious swimmer. But i always imagined in my head that my legs and feet were close to the surface and I was more or less horizontal in the water. Was shocked as to how much my legs sink in the water after taking my 1st underwater video 2 months ago. Been changing almost every aspect of my stroke, kick etc with all the very helpful tips on this channel. But progress has been very slow and seems nearly impossible to move through the water horizontally with video evidence while my brain is telling me i’m horizontal. I think that’s where the reasoning comes from that you need to feel like you are swimming downhill in order to defeat your brain tricking you into thinking you are horizontal.
Very knowledgable coach, explains what to do and details why you do it, this guy really knows his stuff and explains it very well, a professional at work.
Excellent video, I changed my movements, I used to swim 400yards in 10 minutes and 50sec, right after I changed my movements I made it to 9mins and 40sec
Use flippers and vertical snorkel to analyse where you can improve your freestyle. They help isolate your arms and breathing so you can fully concentrate on arm and upper body strengthening, stroke technique and breathing flow, technique and timing.
Well I watched the video and went out to swim a bit :) 800 meters in the sea, and never hit the third cardio zone, and still got tired. Seems I need to do it more. Amyway, thanks for the inspiration :)
I get tired after 15-20m. If you think that's bad I struggled after 5 metres initially..I'm slowly making progress. I know one day my swimming should not be that much more difficult than a casual walk.
You’re kicking too hard, and your brain has launched into survival mode instead of swim mode. Slow down, swimming should be easy. You’ll never sink and drown. Humans float. Experiment with your buoyancy until you understand this fact. You have to be a good swimmer to get underwater and stay there. Once you know that the water will hold you, start moving and take it easy. Roll to air and figure how to time your breathing to your stroke. Use a 2 beat kick so you don’t get tired. If anything I’m saying isn’t understood find a video that explains it. Total Immersion is probably the best of the best. Terry Laughlin is a swim God.
@@majormchendersson5274 what about relaxing the upper limbs (arms).....I tried something today where I completely relaxed up arms in the reach, catch, pull --- and it seemed to be less tired/anxious after the usual 25-50 m swim. It'll try again tomorrow to see if this is something (being too tense).
@@RickMartinRU-vid yes definitely. The more you relax the better.. Arm should fall into the water then fully stretch and pull.. Breathing real relaxed also
Thanks for the video, it really helped me! For future videos, I would like to see more of someone swimming with you speaking over the footage as I feel like that would help much more to understand the movements.
Seriously good video, I'll give it a try asap, not expecting miracles but hopefully little things will make enough of a difference to a leg sinker. Thanks mate.
Also must learn to relax the head and find a nice engagement in the neck so the body/torso and head are connected, which allows you to float and not feel like you are sinking. Move the head as little as possible to keep your spinal integrity.
WOW!! Thanks, for making these very helpful tutorial videos!! I'd like to see some "slow motion analysis of the timing of all of the coordinated movements, between the arm strokes, and the kicks, to get their "relative timing" correct, and to make everything more efficient, and effortless! Perhaps demonstrate some "drills" to help us learn the more complex skills?!...
Hi there. 1st thing:Thank you for posting these videos for free. Much appreciated. 2nd: am still trying to not be tired after 50 or 100m. I use a 2 beat kick, breath bilaterally every 3 strokes, and avg 200 or 215 per 100. 1 spend 3 to 4 hrs a week on swimming since december. But my technique seems to break down when I try more than 100m non-stop. Or if I try to go faster. I am hoping that some of your tips will help. I love the section of this vid with the chap with that 2 beat kick. What I aspire to. :)
It's mostly about keeping streamlined and less panic. Just relax and breathe!! I learned to swim at 30. Now at 37 I swim good. Make use of salt water rockpools if there are any. Saltwater pool much easier to float and less effort so you can focus on your breathing, stroke,etc. Swimming pool water feels much heavier as a learner!
I started swimming again after about 20 years. I am 66 and in decent shape. I am using swimming to improve my golf game. I never knew hips played an important role(no pun intended) in swimming until catching your videos. It is amazing how much you use you entire body which to the none swimmer is somewhat counter-intuitive. However, I am really focused on my heart rate. I am not exhausted after 25 or 50 meters but I stop to check my heart rate and it is between 110-130. I am trying to get my heart rate down to 100-110. I am in America but like the way you explain the technique. I want to keep my HR in the ZONE for 65% of my swim. I have only been back for 2 weeks. How many folks my age do you work with? Who am I going to get to video tape me?
Really helpful information. I can’t swim breast stroke anymore due to arthritis and never understood how to swim freestyle before despite taking my kids to the swimming club for years.
My main problem is on breathing. I have got a video on breathing from this channel which shows 3 stages of breathing process : 1. Inhale 2. Slow release 3. Fast release I will learn how to do stage 2 and 3.
Super-helpful video. Thanks a lot, especially about getting your lead hand in the water instead of slow motion, hovering-style stroke. Buddy at 7:55 is swimming very low in the water.
Too much exhaling through mouth; no overkicking; poor balance (posture); assertive approach to starting catch position; catch mechanics; keeping body and head low. Thanks for input.
