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
The basic act of swimming is really down to your hands and feet. Forget about what you “think” you look like or anything else. Your hands are big paddles to push the water under your body . Pulling the water from way above your head all the way past your feet as smoothly as possible. Not fast. Smooth. The longer / straighter your arms stay the more water you move and the better you slip across the water. Your feet really aren’t important. Just as long as you keep your legs straight just like you are when standing. You will learn to kick later. You are not really kicking like a fight. You are just moving your legs like walking. Now think of a bicycle.when you stop moving it’s really hard to stay up but the faster you go you just stay up without even trying. Same same.
The floating. Floating is nothing but confidence. Pure confidence. just hold your breath an know that you can not sink with all that air you are just as safe as being on earth. You are safe.stay calm. Dream a little. Floating is harder than swimming.
I’m really really proud of you and so excited for your first day. You’re going to do great!
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!
OP 90% of swimming is just not being scared. You will float naturally and with a full breath you will find it hard to not float. People drown because they panic and put themselves in a position where they will be more likely to sink somewhat (straight up and hands up) and then exhale in fear (which then makes it way easier to sink).
Just try and relax and don’t be afraid of what’s just basically a giant bath and you’ll be fine.
Swim teacher here.
We are *specifically trained* to deal with all sorts of cases and ability levels, and we all understand that swimming for the first time can be very intimidating – after all, we were once beginner swimmers too!
At the very beginning, they won’t just throw you in the deep end – both metaphorically and literally. They’ll focus on first getting you in the water and moving around (not swimming, just moving), and putting your face under water and blowing bubbles, and basic skills such as getting up from laying down in the water (you’d be surprised how many people – adults included! – can’t do this).
As for how you actually move, think of your body as a board with four paddles attached, two on either end. You’re working to learn to move those paddles in a way that propels you through the water and such that you can stay afloat.
The only thing thing we do should be leaving the fear of water especially about underwater depth.
If you just hold your breath enough you can do wonder.
It’s a lot easier than people think.
You should be able to stay afloat in calm water, just by allowing your body to relax and let it come up in the water.
Nobody taught me how to swim. The rule at the local pool was, that if you wanted to get into the deep end, you had to swim the length of the short and long end.
I failed twice, then on the third try I got it.
There are several ways to swim.
The two I use both involve kicking your feet, but it’s not kicking perse, it’s more like moving your feet forwards and back to allow your body to move in the water.
Then your hands assist.
Freestyle is.. picture a windmill. Now your hands and arms are windmills. Each time an arm comes down, your hand scoops down water and makes you move forward.
I don’t know what this one is called, sorry.
When I dive underwater, your feet can still help you move, but windmilling arms won’t get you anywhere.
Underwater I put my hands together as if praying. Close to my body and push out, when my hands get as far as they can, I separate both of them and spread my arms out so they go directly to both sides of my body. Then you bring them back in to ‘pray’ again. This will allow you to move.
Basically you’re moving water, to move yourself.
Again, nobody taught me.
OP, imagine you have “floaties” on. Floaties are there to help prevent you from drowning because they’re filled with air, if those floaties get pushed underwater, they’ll immediately float right back to the surface because of all the air inside of them.
Now imagine you’re in the pool without floaties, but now instead, you just take in a REALLY deep breath to fill up your lungs. Just like with floaties, youll float to the surface because that air is now inside of your lungs, filled up like a balloon. Your legs might droop down, but your chest and head will stay above water if you lay on your back.
As for moving through water, imagine a bird flying through the air. In order for them to stay in the sky, they need to flap their wings. When birds flap their wings, they are pushing their wings down against air in order to propel themselves upward.
Now imagine that youre the bird, except you’re in water instead of the sky. In order to push yourself forward, you need to lay on your back or stomach, then use your hands and feet as “wings” to push yourself forward by kicking your feet and scooping your hands. Alternatively, if you want to tread water, you’ll instead keep your body vertical and use your hands and feet to propel yourself upwards.
As someone who learned how to swim proficiently as an adult, good for you OP for wanting to learn. I truly believe that everyone should learn how to swim. These are one of the basic skills that everyone should learn, you never know when you’ll be in open water and need this skill.
Better not to think about the mechanics/physics now. First step is becoming buoyant, which starts with relaxing. That’s unnatural for any new swimmer, especially an adult, so take it slowly and cede yourself to the instructor who’s seen a lot of different learning styles.
It’s like asking about the mechanics/physics of balance. Your instinct might be to panic. The goal is to get into Zen mode, which is a build up.
Slow & steady wins the swimming race. Getting comfortable enough in the water to relax comes first, then buoyancy, then propelling, then breathing. Incremental steps.
Step 1: Conscious Incompetence. You know you don’t have a clue.
Step 2: Conscious Competence. You start to know for short durations, but you need to think about it first.
Step 3: Unconscious Competence. You do it without thinking. Buoyancy and movement becomes natural to you. Now, you build on your stamina and learn different strokes – some of which are built for speed but require more energy, and others in which breathing is easier, require less energy, but you don’t go as fast.
Step 4: Unconscious Incompetence. The most dangerous step. It’s become so natural to you, you overrate your abilities and get sloppy or reckless. I live at the Jersey Shore. This step is the reason why even the best lifeguards do daily training.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. No short cuts. You don’t need to be a prodigy.
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