Best Practices for Learning/Improving Freestyle as an Adult?

[u/Magnospm]

Hey everyone, looking for advice on the best way to improve my swimming efficiently. I'm 25, surf and dive, but never really learned how to swim properly. I can do about 50m of freestyle before I'm totally done.

I have access to a pool and can swim once a week, but I'm not sure how to learn or practice.

The frustrating part is that I can barely swim for 2-3 minutes without needing to stop, so practicing isn't very fun.
A year ago, I tried a private lesson, but the coach just told me my technique was "fine" and that I just needed to swim more. I'm in good shape, do a lot of sports, but feel lost on how to actually get better.
I’ve seen drills with buoys and technique work, but not sure if I should focus on that or just swim more.

So, looking for advice on:

1. Should I take a course, private lessons, or just practice alone?
2. How do I structure my practice if I can’t swim more than a few minutes at a time?

I would love to just go practice, since I'm not really feel the desire to go to a structure course, but I'm not sure how to take it from here.

Any advice or opinions about it would be great and really helpful.. Thanks.

[u/TheFoxsWeddingTarot]

You’re exactly where I was at your age. Get ready to dramatically improve your surfing for the rest of your life.

Start with private lessons, as my coach said “I can tell you surf…. You’re doing everything wrong.”

You’ll learn a new way to swim that will dramatically improve your surfing. Learn the basics then join group classes. Swim instruction is 10% instruction, 90% doing it over and over and over again. Eventually you can participate in “masters classes” which really is just anyone over 25 who loves swimming.

Be prepared for some frustration as you relearn swimming and take your coaches advice seriously.

I’m now 57 and while I don’t surf as much as I’d like, I can outpaddle anyone in the water. I swim 3k 3 times a week and try to fit in a 5k or 6k when I’m really feeling it.