General tips: Breathing

Hello guys, and welcome back to my swimming blog. Before we start going into all the content of what this post is containing, I need to give you guys a small introduction about this swimming post. Remember when I said back then (actually, “back then” was basically just a day ago, but OK, we'll just call it “back then” anyways)? You know, when I said that we've already gone through all the swimming styles? Freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, all DONE. Every single possible (actually, in this bit I may be a bit exaggerating, because I didn't actually discuss about EVERY SINGLE detail about tips for swimming the following styles, but you get the idea) detail, component to improve, it's all done.

“So what now?” I asked myself. “I can't let my swimming blog turn into an editor-less blog. I've got to come up with something else... But what should it be?” (remember, I only had a day (actually, less) to decide what I was going to do for my blog) I wondered. But hold on... If I've already done everything about tips about the main strokes, why don't I start way back in the beginning (yes, I KNOW it sounds a bit idiotic to start back at square one, but what else will you have done with such short time to think of the next topic for your blog? And if you DID come up with something, remember that I was desperate to come up with an idea, no matter how bad it was)?

So basically from this post on, I'm just going to use these posts of late for the more “general” tips to improve your swimming skills, regardless of the style or such that you're currently swimming at the time. So these are tips that can apply to ALL styles, so feel free to add them to your everyday (come to think of it, not everyday; more like every occasion you swim. Yeah, that's the right word). So anyways, let's just get straight down to business.

As usual, you'll find the video here, feel free to use it in combination with the post, if you don't watch it you'll have difficulty understanding the post, blah blah blah, OK, you know what? Let's just skip that stuff, you already know how it goes (at least, for those of you readers out there who consistently read my posts. If you do, you already know how it goes because I say it every single time I'm about to get to the “video” part), so let's just cut that and get straight to it!

As you may have seen in the video (for those of you who... Never mind, I promised to skip that part, that's old), one of the problems with swimming is that often, you don't get enough air from your breathing periods. Here's how it usually applies to every style:

• Freestyle: The breathing pattern of the typical guy is usually 2 hand strikes (let's just call that “H” for short), 1 breath (call that “B”). The recommended breathing pattern is 3H-1B or even better, 5H-1B (the truth can sometimes be painful).
• Breaststroke: The typical breathing pattern is 2F (for feet)-1HB (Hands and Breath). The advisable pattern is actually 1F-1HB.
• Backstroke: Honestly no breathing rhythm here, since you spend the entire backstroke with your head on the water's surface.
• Butterfly: Normally the breathing is 1F-1HB. The proper method is 2F-1HB.

That should be all for today. Hope this post helped in improving your swimming skills. Until next time then guys. See ya!

Freestyle reflection

Hello people, and welcome back to my blog about swimming. In this post we are going to be discussing about all the stuff we've learned over the past few (some other freestyle posts not exactly “past few”, since a few of the posts about freestyle were just posted way back a few weeks ago before I remembered that I forgot to do the rest of the freestyle posts), it really just serves as a “reflection”, since there is nothing else left to discuss about freestyle, except to look back at the things we've talked about, and how you guys can use these skills in swimming freestyle. So without further ado, let's just get straight to it!

Since this is pretty much just a reflection about all the things we've learned about freestyle this week (come to think of it, there were actually some posts about the freestyle that were posted way back a few weeks ago, but those count as well), I'm very and truly sorry to say this, but (takes in deep breath, exhales) unfortunately for you (the reader, and possibly me), I'm not going to supply you with a video for you to use in combination with today's post. Now don't go raging at me, because I have my own reasons for not providing you with a video for today's post.

The reason I didn't put a video link in this post (and as I have said, I truly apologize for that, I'm not trying to do this on purpose (OK, I AM doing this on purpose, but for a good reason, that's what I'm trying to say. I'm not trying to get you guys flying off the handle for not posting a video link on this post, that's what I meant), I have my own reasons to do this) was mainly because after all I've taught you in this “week's” worth of posts about freestyle and the tons of videos to help support the advice I've given to you, this is a reflection and honestly, it'd be a bit crazy if I went and put a link for a video that showed you guys a brief overview of the freestyle. No. I've already done that; that's old.

I also couldn't post multiple video links about the stuff we've learned in the freestyle (that basically means I'm going to have to paste EVERY SINGLE video in different links, and as you know, that's a bit “unprofessional” and not my style). So briefly in conclusion, I'm very sorry for not posting a video link for you to watch alongside the post, because that would be insensible and unnecessary (for those of you who don't watch my videos, take this lightly/don't accept it as an offense at all because you've never watched any of my videos anyway). So anyway, let's get straight down to it!

First, we had a brief “interlude” of what the freestyle was like. We also learned some basic movements to execute the freestyle and a few tips to help you swim freestyle faster. Then we learned about the breathing technique for the freestyle; how high you should tilt your head after completing a hand strike, and the recommended amount of hand strikes you should do before you take a breath. Then we learned about the right and monotonous methods to execute the freestyle hand and leg movement. Then for the “finale” (if that's the right word), we learned about the general tips in order to maximize the speed of your freestyle swimming speed.

Well ladies and gentlemen, that wraps up everything that we've learned this week (or at least, everything we've learned this week and the weeks before when I did the long-lost posts about freestyle), I hope that it was somehow useful to you. Pray for me to come up with more ideas on tips for swimming, because right now I've got to admit, I'm stuck. So anyway, see you until the next post! Bye!

How to swim faster in freestyle

Hello everybody, and welcome back to my swimming blog. As most of you may know (the readers of this blog, that is), This week I'm STILL doing posts about the freestyle, despite the need of these posts about freestyle being posted on my blog a few weeks ago already. For those of you who don't read my blog, I'll just tell you that the reason I'm doing these posts about freestyle right now is because there wasn't any other convenient time to do it other than right now, since there are no other swimming styles to be discussed about and there are still some “loose ends” to tie up.

Now, where were we after that post about the freestyle? Let me see... (leg movement, hand movement, ah yes, here it is...) Oh yeah, the ultimate freestyle post; how to compile all these techniques we've learned about freestyle (including the ones I managed to do a few weeks ago before I somehow forgot to do the freestyle posts. Remember that time? By the way, this question is for the people who actually read my posts. For those of you who don't/don't always read my posts, well, all I can say is this; it was a long story) into this one, final post about using all these techniques (in fact, those posts were all to prepare you for this final topic: to swim faster using all the techniques you've learned in this style) to maximize your skills in swimming freestyle.

As usual, although I'm quite professional in the business of the freestyle (not to brag, of course), I will, however, require the aid of (drum-roll, please!) a video! And an impressive video at that, too (although, I have to admit, it's not very “official” (you know, professional-looking), but for damn sure it's bound to spark more interest in you more than the other videos I've posted... Hopefully). Other than containing some interesting video transitions, titles and the like (as plain as they are), they're still bound to at least interest you more than those other videos in my other posts. Anyway, here's the link.

Readers, I'm not forcing you to watch the video (not like I usually do by patronizing you guys in my other posts about swimming), all I'm saying is that it'll be great if you do. Although not the most “professional-looking” videos in the business, I guess my enlightenment in swimming faster in the style will (probably) help assist your (probably) confused mind. If you don't watch the video, however, well, I guess you'll be heeding my advice, which is more trustful now that it's assisted with the video. So anyway, enough chitchat, let's get straight to it!

As you may have seen in the video (for those of you who've watched it, that is), in order to REALLY maximize your swimming speed, you need to maximize the following components (I said “following components” because these are the components of the freestyle that matter the most if you're trying to maximize your swimming speed in the freestyle): Your balance, body position and rotation, the pull of your hands and the strike of your hands. Perfect all this and you should have no problem maximizing your freestyle swimming speed.

Well guys, that should be it. Sorry for the small advice, but honestly that's the whole point of the video (and honestly, I'm suddenly reconsidering to change the “usefulness rating” of that video I showed you guys in the link). By next time, I'll (probably) think of something else about swimming. So until then, I'll be seeing ya!

Freestyle leg movement

Hey guys, and welcome back to my swimming blog. As most of you (at least the people who read my posts about swimming, that is) may have known, due to a chain reaction of mistakes- Okay, you know what? I'll just tell you the whole story so you know what went wrong and how. So here's the story behind this repetition of posts about the same style...

So basically, I forgot to complete my posts about freestyle, which led me to make posts about breaststroke, butterfly and backstroke with no idea that I ever forgot one of updating my posts about most important styles in the art of swimming: the freestyle. So by the end of the week (of making posts about freestyle, that is), I only managed to complete (wait, hold on, let me check... One, two, yep. Only two posts, as it turns out) two posts out of the six posts about swimming freestyle I was supposed to do.

I do NOT remember the cause of my missing out on those posts, and it doesn't look like I'm going to remember why anytime soon. Maybe because I forgot to do them? Maybe because I thought that I was doing some other style? I don't know why, but one thing's for sure: I'm going to let by-gones be by gone by finishing up something I was supposed to finish up weeks ago. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason behind the creation of this post. So anyway, enough missing out; let's just get this topic over with.

Maybe I should have told you this long ago, back at the the beginning of my VERY FIRST post about swimming freestyle. Maybe I should have told you that I'm kind of what you'd call a “semi-pro” at the freestyle, having been taught this style for so long (the reason I said “semi-pro” and not “pro” or “master” is because although I've been taught the freestyle for years (almost a decade now), there was still some pretty laughable flaws that I need to fix up), so I guess you guys could trust me on the tips I give during the duration of this post.

But nevertheless, being the “semi-pro” I am at swimming (and not the “master”), I WILL require the assistance of a video to help support my tips about the freestyle hand movement. So here's the link to the video. This particular video is pretty “official” (as I like to call it), and you will want to use it in combination with the post. If you DON'T watch the video, however (whether you don't want to/can't because of any technical difficulties/whatever), I guess the information you'll be relying on is from my years of swimming and tips from my trainer. So without further ado, let's get straight to it!

As you may have seen in the video (if you watched it, that is), while swimming freestyle, the leg movement is often underestimated. Mostly it's the hands that do (almost) all the work, while the legs do some extra propulsion for the body, albeit little amounts of propulsion. The truth is, the legs can actually be “upgraded” to give you much better propulsion (this way your feet actually matters more than it originally was, being almost useless for helping your freestyle-swimming body through the water). Most successful athletes out there make use of their legs to become such great swimmers we know today; Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, these are just one of the many athletes who make use of their legs when swimming. That's what makes them so good.

That should be it for today's post, hope it was useful. Maybe this tip will (probably) give you some advice on how to use your legs to the best extent. But for now, that should be all, thanks for reading and see you by the next post (probably)! Goodbye!

Freestyle hand movement

Hey people, and welcome back to my swimming blog. As most of you may know (those of you who consistently read my blog, that is), another week, another different swimming style. Now let me do a small “checklist” to see what styles we've done/not yet done so far. OK... (Breaststroke? Check. Butterfly? Check. Backstroke? Check. Freestyle? Che- wait a minute, I just remembered something...) Hold on guys, I just remembered something critical about the consistency of my swimming blog so far.

But before I go misleading you into all that “new swimming style” stuff, unfortunately I need to breakI know that you guys are (probably) already excited to discover what other newfangled swimming style I'm going to teach you guys about, but I've got some bad news to you guys (how bad the news is, that's up to you how bad you want to accept it as). Brace yourselves my dear readers...

Remember that time back when I used to create posts about freestyle? Remember when there were only a few posts about freestyle? You know, how to swim faster in freestyle, what I know so far about it, that stuff, you know? Turns out it wasn't complete (obviously), and it was missing a ton of important posts. Hand movement, “reflection” and other posts.

So in this post, we're going to discuss about the freestyle hand movement. We probably should have just discussed this sooner, but I guess we've got no more opportunities to do this yet. As usual, I cannot call this a swimming post without any proof that my theories are true, can I? You can find the video here. You might want to consider watching the video, as it is an official one that you can count on as your ultimate guide to learning about the freestyle hand movement, so I highly recommend you guys to watch it in combination with the video for maximum effectiveness.

If you cannot/don't want to watch the video, however, well, all I can say is, good luck actually making any sense from the post, as it's supposed to be used along with the video. You're free to read the post alone, of course, but you won't understand it for the most part (note: I said for the MOST part. Fortunately for you non-video watchers out there (if that's the right word), the blog also consists of some theories that I stated myself). That's all I'm saying. So without further ado, why don't we just get straight to it?

As you may have seen in the video (for those of you who have actually watched the video, that is), the freestyle hand movement is one continuous movement throughout your entire period of time swimming freestyle; it's the same movement throughout the entire period of time swimming freestyle. No changes, no change, it's just this order of monotonous arm movement; back and forth, back and forth, back and forth until the end of time (just kidding, only until the period of your freestyle swimming is over) One mistake, and the whole cycle is broken, so be sure to keep a steady pace throughout the entire period of time swimming freestyle.

Honestly, I think that should be it for the freestyle hand movement. Maybe it's not much, but it should be the one basic tip that I should put in if I wanted to tell you the ultimate trick to swimming the freestyle (or at least executing its hand movement). So I'll be back with more freestyle soon. But for now, goodbye and see you until then!

Backstroke swim faster

Hey people, and welcome back to my swimming blog! As most of you (at least those of you who have constantly read my blogs about swimming) may have known, this week we're still focusing on the backstroke and tips on how to maximize your skills in it.-In this post, we are going to learn about something all the skills we have learned will apply to. All the things we have learned will help us in today's topic. The topic for today is how to maximize your swimming speed when you're in a race or a competition or whatever. It's going to require all the skills we have learned over the week, since all of those skills we have learned were mainly to maximize your speed in backstroke and the energy efficiency of swimming this way. So without further ado, let's just get straight into it!

As usual, I WILL still require a video to help support my “theories” about how to swim faster in backstroke (remember, as most of you may have seen in my previous posts, being the idiot no-brainer swimmer about swimming theories does not exactly arise a feeling of confidence that you could trust me that much with a swimming style I don't know). I suppose this video should be “official” enough to become safe proof on how to swim backstroke as fast as possible, so I highly advise you to watch it.

If you don't however (whether due to an error in your computer/Internet connection whatsoever or if you just don't want to watch it), don't blame me if you get any difficulties whatsoever trying to understand the rest of this post starting from the next paragraph (like I always say). For those of you who want to/are able to watch the video, good for you. You'll understand the rest of this post as easy as one, two, three. So enough chit-chat, let's just get straight into it (And by the way, here's the link to the video)

As you may have seen in the video (for those of you who've watched it, that is), the first tip to swim faster in backstroke is to keep your belly button underwater (not TOO deep, that will affect some aerodynamics in your body's glide through the water. Just a few centimeters below the water's surface should suffice). In addition, your hips should also be a few centimeters below the water's surface, just like your belly button.

Keeping your body like this will create a body position that resembles a straight body floating on the water, and that is the best position when swimming through the water in backstroke; high up the water enough for your hand strikes to be easily executed and also for your leg strikes to be much more effective than if it is submerged, unable to kick the water powerful enough. Most swimmers who spend their period swimming backstroke mostly let their hips sink down into the water, creating a “bowl” that gathers water and increases drag, making the swimmer go slower and require more energy to advance.

Well, that should be it for today. Hopefully this post has proven helpful to you, despite the (at least according to me) small amount of advice given to you. Nevertheless, by the next post we will be doing the final post about the backstroke, which is basically a “reflection” about the things we've learned so far about this style. Until the next post then, guys. See you until then!

Backstroke leg technique

Hey guys, and welcome back to more of my posts about swimming. As you know, this week we're focusing on the backstroke, which used to be one of my most hated styles (it just got “promoted” from “one of my most hated styles” to “not-very-hard-to-do-style-but-still-a-bit-difficult-to-do”, as you may have discovered in my recent posts about backstroke). In this post, we're going to learn about the leg movement and how to maximize your leg speed while doing so. So without any further ado, let's just get straight into it!

As usual, you'll find the link of the tutorial video for the leg movement here. Although much shorter than my other tutorial videos in my other posts, Hopefully you'll find the whole video useful paired alongside the “narration” of this post. Of course, you're free not to watch the video, and honestly, that's not too bad since it's only a 38-second video and doesn't show you much anyway (the cream of the crop is in this post). But if you watch it, it will give you (albeit only a little) enlightenment about the art of the backstroke kicking technique. OK, enough chit-chat, let's just get straight down to it!

As you may have seen in the video (for those of you who have actually watched the video, that is), when executing the backstroke leg movement, it's just going to be a constant movement of the feet (and NO, this does not mean that it is like in every style, where the leg movement is constantly the same. “Constant movement of the feet” basically means unlike other styles (which require proper timing to move the leg, such as after the hand strike), the legs keep moving throughout the entire duration of the backstroke, ignoring the hand movement and such. I suppose you get this, right?). Your feet just keeps moving. Nonstop. During the entire duration of the event. No matter what. I suppose you get what I mean, right? Right?

Okay, sorry for the potential incomprehensibility in the previous paragraph, let's move on to the other components of the backstroke leg movement. For the power of your legs as you do the backstroke though (as stated in the video), is that (despite being the equivalent of the freestyle leg kick turned 180 degrees upside down) unlike the freestyle leg kick, while swimming backstroke each of your leg strikes should be powerful, although this will result in less leg strikes being executed per second.

The reason for prioritizing power over speed over the leg strikes while swimming backstroke is because remember, you're doing the backstroke with your body turned 180 DEGREES UPSIDE DOWN. And when you're swimming upside down, you want to keep your body on the SURFACE of the water, where there is plenty of oxygen to breathe, guaranteeing you a smooth swim without any choking/suffocating until you reach the finish line/wherever you go when you're done with the swimming. Believe me (I've been in this situation may times before), you do not want to spend the entire period of the backstroke underwater, gasping for air and trying to stay alive. And that, my dear readers, is why in backstroke, you should have powerful leg strikes instead of fast ones.

Well, that was one long post. I do hope it was useful for you, and I hope you get what you need from it. Next time, I will still be doing posts on the backstroke and tips on how to be better in it. Until the next post then, See you!

Backstroke hand movement

Hey guys, and welcome back to my swimming blog. As most of you may know (especially the people who have been consistently reading my posts), this week we're discussing about the backstroke. Last week I made a post about my history with the backstroke (which was not a very good one, I can tell you that). Now today, we're going to discuss about the correct hand movement in the backstroke. I'm pretty skilled in this backstroke business now that I've already mastered it(like I said a few posts ago for those of you who read them), so I'm pretty confident that you guys can trust me on this.

However, how can I guarantee you guys a (almost) foolproof guide to execute the backstroke hand movement without a good video to help support these facts? As usual, you can find the link of the video used for this post here. This video will prove quite useful for the post, and most of this post's information will rely on it, so you may want to watch it. If you don't, well, heed my infamous saying: “good luck on making sense of the rest of this post starting from the next paragraph”. So anyway, enough talk, let's just get straight into it!

Before we start, let me give you a very important tip about the backstroke that will help you immensely; the backstroke (especially the hand movement) is pretty much just the freestyle executed backwards. In other words, pretty much the whole meaning of backstroke is to just turn your body 180 degrees from your original position when you're swimming freestyle. That means the hand movement is reversed; instead of lifting your hands from the water starting from your hip and back into the water with your hands near your head (like you'd do in freestyle), you would instead do the same thing, but upside down (I know it doesn't sound that different, but believe me, it really is) along with a few modifications (as you're about to see in the next paragraph).

Anyway, here's how the video explains it; when lifting your hands out of the water in backstroke, lift your hands up to the surface, with your thumb being the first to be lifted up from the surface of the water. In midair, spin your hand (that's right, only one hand at a time while swimming backstroke, for those of you who didn't know) 180 degrees from its original position in the air, resulting in your pinkie being the first to enter the water as your hand falls back down into the water. After doing this, simply push your arm back into its original position way before you lifted your hands in the air and repeat the procedure again over and over until you reach the end of the pool/ until your coach/trainer tells you to stop.

So that's the basic method for executing the backstroke hand movement. I hope that I had made a significant improvement over my recent posts a few days back, where I either didn't relate the video with the post at all/related the post with the video, but only a fraction of it. When I return, I will be back with some more tips about how to maximize your backstroke skills. But for now, it's time to say farewell. Goodbye people, and see you until the next post!

The Backstroke

Hey guys, and welcome back to my blog. Today we're no longer discussing about the butterfly style, that week is over. With every new week comes a new style, and this week, it's the backstroke. I know that your first impression about this style is, “Jason, what the #^&% is the backstroke? Is it a style that we have to swim backwards instead of forwards or something?” I know that you guys (or at least most of you) have some strange ideas about how the style goes. So, in this post, I'm going to brief you on some stuff about this style. So without further ado, let's get straight to it!

First of all, let me give you a little background about my history with backstroke. One thing I've learned about the backstroke is that it is one of the styles I've grown up despising (although, fortunately, not as much as the butterfly style). Why? Well, the backstroke is no longer the pain in the @$$ it used to be, but when I hadn't mastered it yet, it sure as hell was. In the backstroke, you have to face backward while swimming. May times I found myself smashing my head on the wall of the end of the pool, because like every normal human being, I don't have eyes at the back of my head.

Next was the fact that your head had to stay on the surface of the water swimming backstroke (and this is not just because it's a basic rule while swimming backstroke, but also crucial for you to apply this to yourself if you're going to survive swimming the backstroke. If you swim backstroke with your head submerged underwater, other than going slower than if your head is on the surface, you'll also be gasping for air as the water comes streaming down your nose (come to think of it, this also happens if you keep your head at the surface. It must be because your breathing is unsteady, causing the water around you to fly into your nose and choke you. I don't know, I've never been the backstroke expert).

So basically (at least for me), backstroke is more like a struggle for survival than a swimming style (at least before I mastered it). At least now I'm more skilled at it, so you can trust me on the teachings that I have just taught you guys (at least more than I did when teaching you about the butterfly style). However, nowadays I am still pretty troubled by how to do the style correctly, because I still haven't mastered it 100% correctly. I still sometimes (accidentally/intentionally) submerge my head underwater either by accident or to see how much longer the finish line is.

Anyway, here's something I probably should have told you long ago. I was just so caught up in my history with the backstroke (that's probably what this post's all about), so here's the link of the “swimming backstroke” video you were probably looking for since the beginning of the post. It doesn't really have much to do with this post, but I hope it might relate.

So that should be all for today. I'll be back with more about backstroke this week. But for now, goodbye and see you until the next post!

Butterfly tips on how to be faster

Hey people, and welcome to the very last post about the butterfly style. This time on the butterfly style, we're going to discuss about how to maximize your swimming speed when in a competition, swimming the butterfly style. This is basically a “reflection” (in a way), as all the techniques we have discussed about butterfly over the past few days will all come in handy in this last post, which is how to use all these techniques we have learned to swim faster in an actual competition.

Once again, this is one part in  butterfly where I have much to improve. All of these techniques that we have learn, all of it, will come in handy for this final post. And to be truthful, the only parts of the butterfly style that I've already mastered are the “glide” (for those of you who have read my previous post, this can also be called “recovery”) and “leg movement” phases. Hand movement? As I've said, I've got no hope for that. So hopefully, my inadequate knowledge of this style will be enough to get you through this post.

Fortunately, other than your reliance on an unreliable source (me), I've also got a trustful source (an official video about swimming tips) with me on this post, like all the others. So you can count on the video (and me) to help explain the tips on how to swim the butterfly stroke faster. For this video, it is highly advisable that you watch it, because me, being the clueless idiot I am at this swimming style, you're going to really need the professional help from the pros. Here's the link. And by the way, if you don't/cannot watch the video, well, all I can say is this; good luck on using this as a reliable post for swimming tips. Anyway, enough talking, let's just get straight to it!

As you have seen in the video (for the people who have watched it, that is), the first tip you might want to apply to maximizing your swimming speed in the butterfly is your “underwater pull” and “recovery” phase of the style. First, let's talk about the underwater pull. In order to reduce the amount of drag you produce, imagine swimming in freestyle, but this time, your hands are pulling with a high elbow. Double that (double the hands, I mean) and you will get the proper hand movement for the butterfly style.

The reason I told you guys to take the hand movement for the freestyle is because when you're swimming freestyle, both your hands exert a powerful force. You see, the freestyle hand movement is more powerful the deeper in you push, and you will want the same for your butterfly hand movement, only with both of your hands this time. Also realize that when swimming butterfly, you shouldn't pull your hands TOO far under your body as you perform a hand strike. This will cause your hands to be much harder to pull out when you're at the phase of making your hands “soar through the air”.

Honestly, that's all the advice I have for you. Forgive me if the tips may be lacking of some vital information, because the video applies to the post mostly for the hand movement, which, in my opinion, is the most important part of swimming the butterfly style at your optimum. Next week, I'll be moving on to backstroke. Once again, I hope that enough help has been given to you in this post, and see you until the next one! Goodbye!

Butterfly gliding technique

Hey people, and welcome back to my swimming blog. As most of you may know, we're still discussing about the butterfly style. This time in studying the butterfly style, we're going to study the gliding technique. This is probably the simplest (if that's the right word) component of the butterfly style, since it needs pretty much zero effort. And once again, this is actually a component in the butterfly style I've actually mastered, being so simple to perform, so I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to fill you guys in with the details about the butterfly glide. Anyway, enough chitchat, let's just get straight to it then!

However, as usual, I cannot possibly make this post trustworthy of a post that provides swimming tips unless accompanied by a video to help assist you on how to swim. Official or otherwise, at least there's a video. Anyway, feel free to check out the video if you desire. This time, however, my “infamous policy” about the videos (you know, “if you don't watch this video you're going to not understand the rest of this blog, if you watch it then you'll understand, blah blah blah”) has changed. This time, since the video is not going to be very helpful for you guys, there's going to be a few new rules...

As usual, you might want to watch the video (especially the part about the gliding) to help understand the blog, but it isn't filled with the helpful tips you'd usually find in my videos in my other swimming posts. This one's just pure swimming, with very little advice given to the watcher. So watching it won't make much difference, feel free to just read the post, the video's not really important to watch. If you want to watch it, well, good for you. Not saying that it'd really help with understanding the post. Oh yeah, and by the way, here's the link for the video...

Anyway, back to the main topic; the “gliding” phase of the butterfly style. After you move your hands and feet in butterfly, you only have a few milliseconds worth of gliding before you unleash the power of your feet and hands again. However (at least as far as I know judging from search results from the Internet), swimmers (or at least me) don't usually call the brief milliseconds' worth of cool-down from the hand and leg strike a “glide”. We usually call this the “recovery phase”.

In the recovery phase of the butterfly, it is merely just a period of time when in that precious milliseconds worth of cool-down I told you about, you take a few short moments to relax your feet and hands before starting them up again. And that's pretty much it, really; just a cool-down period for your body so it can be ready for the next hand and leg strike.

Anyway, that should be all for today's post. Forgive me for the inadequacy of content in the post, it was just so hard to find videos and tips on the “glide” phase of the butterfly style. However, I do hope that it will be of some use for you guys. I'll (probably) be back with the final post on the butterfly by tomorrow, but until then, goodbye and see you until the next post!

Butterfly leg movement

Hey people, and welcome back to my swimming blog! As usual, this week we're going to continue with the “butterfly style”. This time in learning about the butterfly style, we are studying the kick components of the style; in other words, how to make your feet go as fast as possible when swimming this style.

As I may have reminded you in my previous posts, I had a REALLY BAD history with the butterfly style, ESPECIALLY the hands. But fortunately, the hands are the main problem when swimming butterfly, and here's some good news about this style at last: You can count on me to fill you in with the details of the leg movement, since I've already got that mastered.

But then again, what's a teacher without his teaching equipment? (or, in simpler language, what's my blog about teaching without any proof that what I teach is true?) As usual, you'll find the link to the video here. Remember, you're free NOT to watch the video, but I'd advise you to watch it if you want to understand the rest of the post starting from the next paragraph more. If you DON'T watch it, however, you'll have a harder time understanding this post. OK, enough talk, let's get straight to it!

As we have seen in the video (for those of you who've watched it, that is), The kick in the butterfly style is also known as the “dolphin kick”. The reason for this is that the kick in the butterfly style is a very powerful one, one that exerts a great deal of momentum, just like a dolphin, which also exerts a powerful “kick” through the water, suggesting the great power of the animal's swimming.

Also note that the kick in the butterfly style has a great influence over your body while swimming butterfly (therefore also affecting your swimming performance or record if you're in a competition). The kick is what will boost your body upward from the water, giving time for you to perform your hand strike in the time window when your body is boosted upward. It also makes up about 45% of your overall speed while swimming butterfly.

When performing the butterfly kick, it is vital to have proper timing between your kicks. The preferred kicking rhythm is two kicks per hand “strike” (that's what a turn of hand movement is called in swimming) as shown in the video. When moving your feet, also remember to make it stay close together, as if they were one. This way, there's more flexibility in the feet (mostly the ankle area). If you kick like this, your feet will create a large amount of force, therefore also generating a large amount of momentum for moving forwards.

Well, sorry guys, but that's about all I've got for leg movement for the butterfly style. Fortunately, we've still got a few more days to discuss about this style and more of its tips and tricks that you can use in order to maximize your skills in butterfly (despite my deep hatred of this style, I'll try my best to help you). So goodbye for now, and see you until the next post guys!

Butterfly hand movement

Hey people, and welcome back to another one of my swimming blogs. As usual, we're going to continue on this week's topic; the butterfly style. But this time, we're going to talk about the hand movement in butterfly. Now even though I personally had a rough history with the butterfly style (as mentioned in my previous post, if you read it), ESPECIALLY with the hands, I'm going to try my best to teach you how to perform the hand movement.

As usual, here's the link for the swimming tutorial video. And, as usual, I suggest you to watch it if you want to make sense of the rest of the blog starting from the next paragraph, but then again, you're also free to just read the post without watching the video beforehand/while reading this post, but you may not understand the post as well as those other people out there who DO watch the video, since the video is to be used in combination with the post. Just saying.

And so, as shown in the video, imagine your body as a boat. Now, imagine your arms as the paddles that row the boat and propel it forward. That's just how important your hands are to the butterfly style. It's your main source of propulsion through the water (of course, there's the feet, but they don't push you forward with as much strength as the hands do).

When swimming butterfly, here's a basic step-by-step guide to moving your hands through the water (note: this is how I TRY to perform the hand movement according to instructions from my trainer, and you know that my skill in butterfly is as skillful as a cat trying to scuba dive. Then again, it's better than nothing, but don't count on it too much)

JASON'S (AS FAR AS HE UNDERSTANDS) BASIC GUIDE TO PERFORMING THE HAND MOVEMENT IN THE BUTTERFLY STYLE

1. “Pull” your hands in such a way that makes a “keyhole” shape (at least that's what the coach told me) into your chest area.
2. Straighten your arms from its bended position on your chest and pull it to the back until it reaches the water's surface.
3. Now, with your arms straightened out and on the surface of the water, make your arms soar through the air back to its original position (AKA the hand position in step 1). Note that this step was the most difficult for me to attempt, and probably will be for you too. Then again, maybe it's just me. Basically, I hope that you didn't have the same hardships as I did while attempting this step.
4. Go back to step 1 and repeat over and over until you are prompted to stop either by the trainer (in swimming practice) or the finish line (in competitions).

And voilà! You now officially know how to perform the hand movement for the butterfly style! I probably should have told you this earlier, but remember when I said that my “guide to performing the butterfly hand movement” wasn't very reliable? You can take the trust in the guide up a notch or two, because it's supported by the video that is about the same topic.

So that's another post about swimming done. Join me next time for more tips on how to swim. But until then, goodbye and see you until the next post!

Butterfly overall summary

Hey people, and welcome back to my blog. As I have said in the previous post, we're going to start with a brand new style of swimming; the “butterfly”. As usual, we're going to talk about breathing techniques, hand and leg movement, etc, etc. But before we plunge into this new style, I'll first give you a bit of background about my history with this style as well as an “interlude” to the style. So without further ado, let's get straight to it!

My history with the butterfly, to be honest, was NOT a good one. In fact, I grew up despising this style the most out of all the four styles in swimming (the other three being freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke). The first reason is because it is the hardest to do (which I will explain to you later in the post). Starting from a few years ago until this day, I've never managed to get the hand movement correct.

The hand movement itself takes so much energy to muster (at least it takes up a lot of energy after you've already done it a few ten times in a row), and get this: You cannot position your arms TOO high, or your head will soar above the water, and this is illegal in practice (I don't know whether it's legal in competitions, but I never cared to pay attention. But in practice, the coach keeps on flying off the handle looking at my chaotic arm movement).

This simple (actually, not that simple when looking from the trainer's perspective) mistake has caused me to be humiliated by some people in the pool. Others can do the butterfly just fine, so it's just ME. And to add insult to injury, I'm the oldest one in my area (my parents, brother and (occasionally) friends never hesitate to remind me about this) that can't do the butterfly correctly. So basically I'm the “black sheep” when it comes to this style, therefore making it an incredible pain in the @$$.

So anyway, here's the link for the video that will really help you with this post. As usual, you're free NOT to watch it, but I highly recommend you to if you want to make some sense of the rest of the post starting from the next paragraph.

As you can see in the video, the man is moving his feet in a way unique from other styles: He's keeping his feet firm and straight and kicking them in and out of the water, up and down. Then the hands; when swimming butterfly, you move your hands in a way that each hand goes to the back (as shown in the video) then flying across the air (OK, that may have been a big exaggerating) back to its original position. Congratulations! You officially now know how to swim butterfly (at least the basic version, before we get into the breathing, hand movement and all that stuff).

I would've loved to tell you guys some more about butterfly, but unfortunately, this is an overall summary, and not much could be put in it about the style itself. However, join me next time on my blog and I'll fill you in on more details about swimming butterfly. But for now, goodbye and see you until the next post!

How to swim faster in breaststroke

Hey people, and welcome back to my swimming blog. Today, we're going to continue with breaststroke. This time, we're going to discuss about how to go faster when swimming breaststroke. I know that we've discussed a bit on the overall swimming technique, but if you really want to maximize your skill in swimming breaststroke, you will need these tips.

As usual, here's the link to the video that you will need to watch in order to use in conjunction with the post and the tips inside it. Of course, you're free to not use it, but you will understand the post a lot more if you watched the video. So without further ado, let's get straight to it!

According to the video, the first mistake most breaststroke swimmers do in competitions is that they think that the leg pattern for the breaststroke is a “squeeze” pattern. By this they mean that the swimmers drops their knees out, then “squeeze” the water behind them as their legs kick. This technique will only make you expend too much energy in both the kicking and pulling actions on their legs. Although they may get longer glide, it's not worth the energy wasted.

The correct way to do this is to bring your legs up gently (at least that's how I think you do it) and when you are about to unleash the kick, do it in such a way that uses the water as a “booster” that you could boost your feet off of to make your feet a) make your body glide a good distance and b) doesn't expend as much energy as the method from the previous paragraph. This way you can be much more efficient with your stamina throughout the entire event, since the energy is divided equally throughout the whole event.

The next thing is the combination of both flexibility and strength. Note that you cannot have one without the other, because for example, if you only have flexibility without strength, you will only be able to perform smooth kicks, but little power. With only strength, you will easily waste your stamina. In conclusion, using only one without the other will result in bad swimming time. In order to achieve maximum kicking power, you need to maximize your ankle flexibility (you'll need a bit of time to practice this before going for top breaststroke swimming time) and your knee flexibility (you'll also need to practice this as well). After mastering these, you will be able to swim with effectiveness and achieve higher records for your breaststroke.

Finally, here's how you boost your speed with your ankles: “Pull” the water in as hard as you can with your ankles back within your feet, creating maximum ankle flexibility. According to the video (don't worry, I also got confused in this part), these will result in a chain reaction of movements that will eventually result in making your heels move, making your feet move faster. Had enough already? OK, we'll stop here. Next I will be moving on to the butterfly style, but that's another day. For now, goodbye and see you until the next post!

Breaststroke: Overall swimming technique

Hey guys, and welcome back to my swimming blog. Today's topic has now changed, and it is no longer freestyle, but breaststroke (do remember, according to the “law” of my blog, the style will change every week). As usual, in these posts about breaststroke we will discuss about breathing techniques, arm movement, leg movement, etc. In this post, we will discuss about the overall discussion about swimming breaststroke (you know, so you get the hang of it before we start “diving” into the more “specific” techniques of breaststroke) before going into all that little movement in breaststroke that will help you in competitions. OK, enough chit-chat, let's get straight to it!

As usual, here's a link to the video that you will want to watch in order to make sense of about 85% of this post. Feel free to read the post without watching it, because all I'm saying is that you might want to watch it in order to use it in combination with this post.

As said in the video, the breaststroke style is made up of two components: the kick (of your feet) and the pull (of your hands). First, let's talk about the kick. Kicking in breaststroke only requires you to bend your knees (this way, part of your feet will be on the surface of the water) and after a few milliseconds (sorry if I may be a bit inaccurate), kick both feet in an arc (basically both legs will bend, making a sort of “circle” shape for a brief second) back to its original position. This will give you a short “glide” through the water.

Here's my advice: Kicking is one component that requires good control: don't kick it too hard, as it will shave off precious milliseconds off of your time and can be tiring (even though it WILL propel you farther with every kick, it's not worth the energy and time). Yet don't kick too fast, since that will ALSO waste your precious energy and not get you very far. Try a “medium” level of kicking. Repeat the breaststroke technique over and over until you reach the finish line (in a race) or when the trainer tells you to stop swimming (practice). Anyway, enough discussion about the feet, let's move on to the hands.

As stated in the video, the hands consist of four phases: The outward sweep, the inward sweep, the recovery, and the “glide”. Here are the instructions on how to do these effectively:
1. First, the outward sweep. Bend your arms 180 degrees from its original straight position.
2. The inward sweep requires you to just “connect” your hands from the “outward sweep” stance onto your chest. This is possibly the shortest stage of the arms.
3. The recovery is basically a short “break” of your hands on your chest. This takes a few miliseconds (yes, I realize that I used that word a lot in this post) at most before you propel your hands back to its original position.
4. The glide? Well, you basically just have to wait for your body to “glide” for a few milliseconds before going back to step 1.
(NOTE: these are all just the BASIC techniques of your hands during breaststroke. I'll fill you in the details about them in later posts)

So that's it for the overall summary of how breaststroke should be swam. I will be back with more insight about how to make your breaststroke faster, more efficient and more effective. But for now, goodbye and see you in the next blog!

Freestyle breathing technique

Hey guys, and I'm back with more of my posts on swimming. I bring (potentially) sad news about the swimming blog. My dad said I should “focus on one style a week”, which basically meant that I'm going to be rambling on and on through the whole week about freestyle techniques (don't worry though, because even if we're only focusing on one style, I'll try to keep the posts as interesting as possible). I'll focus on other styles next week, but for now, it's just plain old freestyle.

On this post, we're going to focus on the freestyle breathing. Understand that, in swimming, one small fault in your style can decrease your time by seconds (and in swimming, every millisecond makes the difference between victory and defeat), and the breathing is one of the factors that counts toward your final result. So without further ado, let's get straight to it!

In this post, as usual, there will be a video to assist you with my tips. Here's the link. You will need to watch this video if you want to make some sense of the rest of this post starting from the next paragraph (of course, feel free to blindly study this post and its tips without the video, but a word of warning: all these tips revolve around what happens in the video, so it's your funeral).

One of the many fatal errors a lot of people do while breathing is “over-rolling”. This is when the swimmer pulls his hands forward in a too-wide arc, making him/her bend his/her body to the side of the turning hand. This will reduce the speed of your hand's acceleration and obviously, make your final results worse than it could actually be.

Additionally, “over-rolling” also tilts the swimmer's whole body to one side. This also gives a disadvantage to your feet. Usually, your feet is steady on the water, providing power by kicking both feet on the water. When your body is tilted to the side, that also means that your feet are also tilting to the side. This will result in one foot being above the water (therefore kicking nothing and wasting energy), leaving only the other foot propelling you through the water.

To counter this, try only turning your HEAD while your hands move forward. This will keep your arms moving forward steadily while keeping your body straight and moving forward at maximum speed. Swimmers also have to consider their head position while breathing. Most of the time, people (including me, who's still having some difficulty adjusting to the breathing sequence) practically throw their heads up to the sky when they take a breath. This is wrong. Here's how to remedy that hard-to-correct mistake:

When breathing, it's best to only tilt your head to the side approximately 90 degrees to the direction of your moving hand. This will make you conserve your energy longer. Finally, make you sure you get enough breath when swimming freestyle. If you hold your breath for too long, you will end up gasping for breath a few seconds later (trust me, I've been there before).

That's all for today. Next time, I will make more posts about freestyle (the topic is indefinite), but that's another day. For now, goodbye and see you until later!

Swimming

Hey guys, and welcome back to my blog. As for those of you who have been a reader of my blogs, you may have known that I have just completed the We Are Anonymous summaries. I was sitting there wondering, “what shall I do next for my blog?”. Then my parents gave me an idea for my next blog: Swimming. Now, you may be thinking, “Jason, why in the name of Dog would you want to write about SWIMMING? You're a blogger, for God's sake. What do you know about swimming?”

Well, let me give you a little background information about myself: I may be a blogger/gaming addict, but I'm also a swimmer (and a reluctant one at that). For years now I have practiced the art of swimming (albeit unwillingly), and I have mastered a fairly good deal of styles in swimming. So yeah, it makes sense if my parents are asking me to share some information about my swimming knowledge. So anyway, enough talking, let's get straight to it!

The first style I want to introduce to you in swimming is freestyle (and NO, “freestyle” is not a swimming style that lets you swim however you want, despite the name). This is the second style I learned as a swimming newbie (the first one being the “breaststroke”) and in my opinion, the second-easiest swimming style to master and do, and probably also one of the most well-known styles. I saw a video on YouTube about swimming freestyle and some tips to master it. Here it is...

As you have seen in the video, one thing you must know about freestyle is that out of the four primary strokes in swimming (freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly and backstroke), freestyle is the fastest. When swimming freestyle, it's essential to keep your body aligned. How? Well, usually when the average Joe swims freestyle, his/her head would face forward so he could see how much farther the finish line was. Well, to anyone who swims freestyle that way, you're doing it wrong. In order to keep yourself aligned while swimming freestyle, make sure your head faces down, focusing at the bottom line of the pool. This will make your body more dynamic when traveling through the water, therefore making your body move smoother and swifter through the water.

You also must time your breathing correctly. The preferred breathing pattern is one breath every three strokes. This way, you will be able to administer enough arm strokes/breath (increasing your speed) without running out of breath (for future arm strokes) quickly. Finally, the kicking technique. For maximum kicking speed, it is best to keep your legs straight (as shown in the video, think of it as an “extended flipper”). This way, you will be able to perform small, fast kicks with your feet, which are faster than those large, wide kicks that most people perform while swimming freestyle. Small and fast kicks can be quickly executed and administer more propulsion than large, wide kicks which, although administers more propulsion per kick, takes a longer time to execute (the kick, that is).

So those are the basic tips for the freestyle stroke. I hope that it will be useful for you to-be swimmers (or want-to-be-better swimmers) out there. Next time, I will show you the basics of the “breaststroke” style, my personal favorite. Until next time! Goodbye for now!