Hi guys I never learned to swim as a child, and I’ve signed up for adult swim lessons soon. Something I think will help me prepare for the lessons is I don’t know the mechanics/physics behind the motion. So I’m asking
1.) how do people float in water and why is it crucial to swimming?
2.) how do people actually move from point a to b in water while swimming?
EDIT: thanks so much to all who have responded with answers, tips, advice, and encouragement! Trying to read through all your helpful answers ☺️
In: 715
Hi OP,
Just to preface, I am a certified Water Safety Instructor, and have lifeguarded and taught swim lessons for the past 7 years. In regards to your first question, floating is actually very simple. What you need to do is take a big breath, lie flat on your back, and pretend that you are laying spread eagle in bed. The things that I want you to focus on for your first attempts are keeping your chin up and attempting to “push” your belly button up to the sky or ceiling in an indoor pool. Your back will arch a good bit. If you notice that your feet just keep sinking and you can’t get your body to balance, put your arms above your head like you’re doing the “Y” from the YMCA song. This will balance your bodyweight better and allow you to float.
For actually swimming from point A to point B there are a few important things to remember. The first is that the more you relax the easier swimming will be. The easiest strokes to learn are freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke, although in no particular order. Backstroke is great because you will always have your head above water and can always breathe however some people struggle on their backs. In order to actually get from place to place you want to focus on pulling and pushing water. Keep your fingers tight together, almost as though they were taped together, and focus on pulling water and “throwing” it towards your hips. So reach on front of you, grab a “handful” of water and “throw” it towards your hips. I explain this to kids as though they are using their hands as an ice cream scoop and scooping the water(ice cream) into a bowl that sits on their tummy.
I hope this helps and I do this for a living so feel free to reach out by DM if you have more questions or just want more advice. Best of luck in your future swimming endeavors!
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