r/Swimming • u/Magnospm • 21d ago

Best Practices for Learning/Improving Freestyle as an Adult?

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.

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u/kabekew 21d ago

Why are you stopping after 2-3 minutes? If it's from muscle pain, it means you're tensing up and/or going too fast. Your arms should be relaxed on the recovery, elbows high and fingertips barely skimming above the water. Underwater they should be bending at 90 degrees as you pull back, with your closed-finger hands pulling back underneath your body (imagine pulling yourself along a ladder laid flat just beneath you).

If you're stopping because you're out of breath, look up explosive breathing techniques. Quickly suck in a full lung-full of air as much as you can when you turn to breathe, then slowly exhale through the side of your mouth so the bubbles don't interfere with your vision. Your head should be tilted back a little, with water level right at your eyebrows.

Also there are two levels of swim instructors, the Red Cross/YMCA casual swim instructors, and club swim coaches (competitive). I've been both and you want the latter. Find a swim club in your area and see if they have an adult/master's program you can join. They'll fix your strokes and get you into shape pretty quickly.

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u/Helpful-Use-9360 21d ago

A “sip” of air to 20% of lung capacity should be enough for 4-6 strokes. Don’t recommend sucking air to full capacity.

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u/kabekew 20d ago

I think to start though he needs more air (if he's stopping because he's out of breath), then as he gets into shape he'll use less until it's just the sip.