It sounds like lessons would be a good idea. Practicing improper technique will not translate into good form regardless of how much you do it.

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Don
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quote:<HR>Originally posted by 4boysmom:
Thank you. I was wondering if I was kicking too much. Arms should be doing most of the work, with legs just keeping the body from sinking?
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Oh and in relation to this... your body position is what keeps your legs from sinking. When your head is in too upright of a position, then your legs will sink which slows or stops you in the water. Your spine is like a lever, lift one end what happens to the other?

A good start would be to lean balance drills and use them. This is something that would be covered in a good swim clinic. I think that the 2 most important things with swimming are relaxation and balance. If you can't relax and get into the proper position in the water, you will expend exponential amounts of energy to move through the water and do it at a much slower rate.

Jon

quote:<HR>Originally posted by jwcrew99:

Oh and in relation to this... your body position is what keeps your legs from sinking. When your head is in too upright of a position, then your legs will sink which slows or stops you in the water. Your spine is like a lever, lift one end what happens to the other?

A good start would be to lean balance drills and use them. This is something that would be covered in a good swim clinic. I think that the 2 most important things with swimming are relaxation and balance. If you can't relax and get into the proper position in the water, you will expend exponential amounts of energy to move through the water and do it at a much slower rate.

Jon<HR>

I totally agree with this. I keep my legs up with very little to no kick. At most, I'll use a two-beat kick (one kick per one-arm stroke) to help initiate hip/body rotation.

Learn drills, learn proper form. The balance drills are a great place to start. If you can't get lessons or a class, Total Immersion can be a big help. Lots of people here have even checked the book or DVD out of a library, so it can be done cheaply, too.

I never learned proper freestyle as a kid, and, like you, used side-stroke as my main survival and tooling-around stroke. But since I wanted to get into triathlons, I wanted to learn freestyle. I've been working at it for two years. I used Total Immersion, since classes and coaches weren't my personal preference. It's been great for me. It took me a while, to get fairly decent at freestyle, but I also had an injury that set me back several months.

I'm still not speedy in comparison with lots of folks here. But my form is pretty decent. Twice in the last week I've had people tell me that they were watching me swim, thinking that one day, they'd like to swim that smoothly. I find this a complete hoot! And I know that a more accomplished swimmer could find 5 things I could do to improve my technique. Heck, I'm working on improving technique all the time. But still, it's a sure sign you can get there. After I received a couple of these compliments, I found myself thinking that it would mean even more coming from "real swimmers" and I'm a long way from getting those compliments. But then I realized that, in very real way, I've been getting those compliments for a year and a half or so. Every time a really good swimmer asks to split my lane when there are many to choose from, that's a compliment. And every time one spots me coming into the pool area and makes a point to invite me into their lane, that's another. Heck, not long ago, super swimmer lifeguard dude asked to split my lane when there was even a lane empty. He'd missed seeing that, but still. That's a sign of progress. (And no, there's zero chance he had any ulterior motives.) There's a ton more progress to be made, but yeah, at last, I can swim.

I don't write this crow about my progress, but to assure you, that you CAN and WILL do this. Study up, get some instructions, and start doing drills. I'm sure you'll make fast progress. I've seen your dedicated workouts (especially all that biking!). In no time at all, you'll be swimming laps around me. You will Make It Happen!

http://This message has been edited by triandstopme (edited Jun-25-2007).

Take some lessons. The last thing you want to do at the beginning is create bad form/bad habits that you will have to "un-learn". I love swimming and am very relaxed in the water, but just learned on my own as a kid....last summer after spending the last 20 years just cooling off and playing around in the water, I decided to Tri, so signed up for 4 lessons.

Then after the season was over, I started swimming with a masters group and read total immersion. I think all 3 of these things combined are what got me to a big improvement.....now if only I can get over the freaky weeds, snapping turtles, etc in OW, I'll be all set!

I would do some research to find not only a qualified coach but someone who is strong on technique and experienced (I guess through word of mouth) to give you private lessons, it is the best way to learn, to have someone actually go in the water with you and check out your stroke under water. Otherwise you're just reinforcing a bad habit, especially when you are starting.