Can't swim with head up. How to learn to swim? Different styles of swimming

Learning to swim without the use of assistive devices for an adult allows strict discipline, the study of basic theory. It is recommended to start independent development of the practical side of swimming only after familiarization with safety precautions and rules of conduct in the pool.

You can learn to swim at any age. The only obstacles for an adult to achieve the desired goal may be prejudices and fears. Getting rid of them allows a clear understanding that swimming in the pool and in the open water brings not only pleasure, but also has a beneficial effect on health.

Swimming lessons on a regular basis contribute to:

development of the respiratory system;
training of the heart and blood vessels;
stimulation of metabolic processes;
strengthening the muscles, immunity and nervous system.

You should start learning to swim in a shallow pool or open water. The legs should feel solid support, the head and shoulders should be above the water. Feeling completely safe and gaining confidence allows the presence of a person who knows how to swim well.

An alternative may be classes with a qualified trainer. Attendance at special classes is not prerequisite You can learn the basics of swimming on your own.

How to breathe correctly?

The most important and difficult moment in learning to swim. Without proper breathing, it is impossible to master swimming crawl, breaststroke and any other style. Learning to breathe correctly is essential from the very beginning. A deep breath through the mouth is done above the surface of the water, and exhalation - in the water.

The air taken in by the lungs allows a person to stay in the desired position. The deeper the breath, the better the floating water holds. No need to try to gain full lungs of air. This will lead to a feeling of discomfort, will become an obstacle to free movement in the water.

Breathing exercise

To put correct breathing, you need to practice. Being aground, it is necessary full chest inhale air without exhaling, completely immerse yourself in water and fully exhale through your mouth. The exercise is repeated in several approaches. The main thing is not to take breaks between them. Professional swimmers train in a similar way, but the technique is perfect for beginners too.

Breathing while swimming

You need to inhale air through your mouth. The position of the body when moving in the water should remain unchanged, it is only necessary to turn the head. Breathing through your nose is not safe. Drops of water, getting into the nasopharynx, cause discomfort and can provoke an attack of suffocation. Breathing is coordinated by the movement of arms and legs, which are determined by the style of swimming.

Swimming techniques

An invariable part of the learning process is the knowledge of the basic styles of swimming, of which there are four:

Breaststroke

It consists in synchronous movements of the limbs parallel to the water.

Crawl on the chest

The style involves making synchronized strokes first with one and then with the other half of the body.

Crawl on the back

The technique is similar to an inverted crawl on the chest.

Butterfly

The most difficult swimming technique. It is not recommended to learn it on your own. Those wishing to swim in the butterfly style should comprehend the technique under strict guidance professional trainer or a mentor.

How to stay on the water?

To learn how to swim properly in any of the styles, you first need to learn how to stay on the water. The "asterisk" exercise allows you to do this.

It is carried out in the following order:

More air is taken into the lungs;

Immersion

The face is lowered into the water, and the limbs are moved apart so that the body forms a kind of “star”;

Holding

Stay in the same position for as long as possible. Being in the water, you can not exhale. Otherwise, the dive will start immediately.

« Star"- an exercise to overcome fear of water. It allows you to learn how to properly float on the surface of the water with the help of air taken into your lungs, without resorting to making movements with your legs and arms. A person who has successfully mastered the “asterisk” can safely proceed to the technical development of movements.

How to move your arms and legs correctly?

Full swimming is impossible without working out the movements of the arms and legs. Hands in water move reflexively. Much harder to master the moves lower limbs. Without the help of the legs, it will not be possible to keep the body on the water and develop speed. The main thing, starting to hone the movement of the legs, remember that the socks should always be extended.

Learning to swim crawl, the movement of the legs is biting and fast. The more intense the blows, the greater the speed develops. Breaststroke requires a different movement technique, reminiscent of the movement of a frog in water. It is easier to learn how to move your legs, mastering the breaststroke, holding your hands either on the side of the pool, or using a special board that supports the swimmer on the water.

How to learn to swim crawl and breaststroke?

The easiest to learn for a beginner swimmer is the crawl. It is not very difficult to master this technique. They lay down on the water with their faces, begin to sort out alternately with their legs, lowering and raising them. At the same time they wave their hands. First, one of the hands is brought forward, lowered into the water, and the palm folded in the bucket is stroked towards the thigh. Perform the same movement with the other hand.

Swimming crawl, the air is taken into the lungs for every second stroke. To take a breath, the head is first taken out of the water and then turned towards the moving arm. Take in air with your lungs as much as possible. It is impossible to swim for a long time without a sufficient level of oxygen.

Breaststroke is a little more difficult than crawl, but you can master it quickly enough. The main thing to consider is that the movements when swimming with a breaststroke should be synchronous and similar to those made by a swimming frog. It is more difficult to learn how to swim with a butterfly. It is recommended to master this technique with experienced coach. The specialist will demonstrate the movements by his own example and check the correctness of their implementation.

Sports swimming requires special training. TO professional career it is almost impossible to prepare an adult swimmer. Appropriate trainings and loadings have to begin since the childhood.

Swimming in the pool

Swimming in the pool is good not only for health, but also for the figure. Regular classes considered effective way release of energy from fat accumulations. It is not only the amount of time spent in the pool that matters, but also the effectiveness.

In order for training to be as effective and safe as possible, you must follow a few simple recommendations:

Exercising on an empty stomach;

Water pressure on the abdominal cavity during swimming is high. If the stomach is full, it is fraught with problems with digestion. There should be 2.5 hours before training, and after training - an hour later.

Train between 16.00 and 19.00;

In the morning, the body is not yet ready for heavy loads, and in the evening, on the contrary, it needs a good rest. If you do it in the mornings or evenings, the training will be less effective than the training done during the day.

You need to visit the pool at least three times a week;

Regular classes are the key to stable results. Constant training accustoms the body to loads, the muscles quickly remember the acquired skills in swimming.

put on rubber cap, remove jewelry;

Prolonged exposure to water on the roots negatively affects the condition of the hair, and jewelry can be lost.

Take a warm shower or warm up;

Warmed and prepared muscles allow you to make your workout more effective.

Wear rubber slates.

Walking barefoot on wet tiles can cause injury.

The health benefits of swimming are invaluable. The immune system of people who regularly visit the pool is strengthened. They are much less likely to suffer from heart disease, colds and other ailments, are not subject to depression, always arrive in an excellent mood, do not suffer from obesity, have good muscles and a proportionately developed body.

Courtesy of Gary Hall St., 10-time world record holder, 3-time Olympic champion, standard-bearer Olympic Games in the US in 1976 and co-founder of The Race Club.

Translator Svetlana Leshchenko

When swimming in freestyle, the positions of minimum frontal resistance need not be related to the positions of maximum propulsion.

Head position is only part of this conflict. When the head is in line with the body and the spine is well extended, the water offers minimal frontal resistance. However, to maximize the power of the underwater phase of the pull-up, the lower back should be slightly arched, resulting in a lift of the head.

Given some of our freestyle movements, such as the underwater part of the pull-up, we are forced to choose between more power and position for less drag, and often find a compromise between the two. But this is not the case with head position.

Due to the exponential relationship between frontal drag and speed, the most important time to get the minimum drag coefficient is when our body is moving the fastest in the cycle. This happens exactly when one hand starts entering the water. It is at this point that it is very important that the head is down.
When the hand enters the water, when we lower our head down, two useful events occur. First, the bow shock wave passes over the top of our head, along by and large, immersing the head for a moment completely under water. Under water, the resistance is less than on the surface. Secondly, our body straightens more, creating better shape to move forward quickly.

Elite crawlers such as Michael Phelps, Sun Yang and Katie Ledecky, with their head down properly, after inhalation create a palpable momentum in speed, accompanied by with a strong blow feet moving forward. This is easier to do with a lower stroke rate in a freestyle or hybrid freestyle than with a higher stroke rate in a freestyle from the shoulder. However, it works with any freestyle technique.

When the palm is underwater about one foot (31 cm) in front of the shoulder and begins the advancing phase of the pull (when the arm begins to move back), the body must slightly change its shape in order to increase power. No one can maximize the strength of a pull-up movement underwater without arching the lower back, which also results in a slight head lift and is similar to a pull-up on a bar.

If it were possible to see the spinal movement of an elite freestyler as he advanced in the pool, you would see a shift from a relatively straight spine to a spine slightly arched at the bottom with each stroke over and over again. This movement allows the swimmer to take advantage of both a power-giving position and a position of minimal frontal drag.

Indeed, the question is this: if swimming with a lowered head promotes rapid progress in the water, why then does everyone swim with a raised head? The answer is simple - protection while swimming.

On a crowded track during training or during a frantic race at the start of a triathlon, swimmers are cautious and look ahead in the hope of avoiding an unnecessary collision. In a crowded pool, be first on the lane or swim behind with a 10 second delay, stay on the right side and pray, but keep your head under the water. When you are competing and you have a personal lane or when you have established your position in open water, there is no excuse for you. Keep your head down as your palm enters the water and enjoy the momentum.

Watch the video on the position of the head in the crawl:

Forever yours afloat,
Gary Hall Sr.

Everyone can learn to swim, but the older you get, the more difficult this process becomes. It is easier for a child to stay on the water, as he does not experience fear. An adult has to psychologically tune in and clearly go to the goal. As in any business, the basics are important in swimming - this will help you learn all the important aspects. For training, a shallow pond or pool is suitable. The main thing is that you can freely reach the bottom with your feet.

Stages of learning

Breath. The key to success as a swimmer is proper breathing. You need to inhale and exhale through your mouth. The deeper the breath, the better the body floats on the water. But filling the lungs with air to the limit is not worth it. This will create discomfort and interfere with swimming. For beginner swimmers good exercise, which is called "Bulbashki": get aground, take a deep breath, then dive headlong into the water and exhale all the air. Repeat the action for two minutes without interruption, fully concentrating on breathing;
Learning to float. For those who want to quickly learn how to swim, the Asterisk exercise is suitable. It is necessary to inhale as much air as possible, lower your face into the water and, forming the shape of an asterisk, spread your arms and legs. The main task is to stay on the surface of the water as long as possible. No need to raise your head above the water, because the pelvis and legs will immediately begin to sink under the water. This exercise not only trains the lungs, but helps to cope with fear. Performing it, a person understands that the body can stay on the water even in calm state. Full lungs replace the rescue pillow;
Learn to work with your feet. Proper footwork helps to increase swimming speed by 30%. Basic rules: toes should be kept stretched out, like a ballerina, and the blows should be biting. The more correct and faster the legs work, the faster the speed when swimming. To train your legs, you need to lean on the side of the pool or pier and learn to make quick biting movements. Many pools issue special boards for this purpose.

Swimming rules
There are several rules that beginner swimmers should know:

The stroke is the basic movement in any swimming style. When making a stroke, make sure that the arm is bent at the elbow by 90 degrees, at the shoulder - by 45. The fingers should be kept squeezed together and constantly control this moment.
A carry is a movement that swimmers make above the water when they bring their arm forward after a stroke in preparation for the next stroke. The execution technique is similar to rowing. It must be remembered that when one hand makes a stroke, the other carries out.
Breathing while swimming - it is believed that you need to inhale during the stroke, turning your head towards the hand that performs the carry. Beginners are advised to keep their heads above the water all the time until self-confidence appears.

Mastering a simple swimming style
by the most simple style Doggystyle swimming is considered. Hands are held in front of you in a bent position, the distance between them should not exceed the width of the shoulders. It is necessary, as it were, to rake water under you with your hands. Movements should not be frequent, but calm and rhythmic. Keep your head above water. After you feel confident in your actions, begin to control your breathing.

You need to breathe through your nose to make it easier to keep your head above the water, you can slightly inflate your cheeks. When you find that you're good at doggystyle swimming, try swimming with your chin down a little to take the pressure off your neck. Many manage to master this style in just one day.

Difficult strokes
Crawl and backstroke are considered complex styles. Although it is actually much easier to swim on your back in physical plane and this way is usually used to rest between other styles. The main task is to overcome fear. You need to lie on the water with your back, hands slightly thrown away from the body and relax the muscles. To swim in this position, it is enough to make light movements with your legs up and down. It is better to master this style with an assistant.

Crawl is great for moving quickly in the water. To do this, you need to alternately swing your arms over the water, raking it. It turns out that a circular motion is made with each hand, while the body should be turned towards the hand making the swing. At this time, the other shoulder and arm are lowered into the water.

In order to quickly learn how to swim, you need to train every day for at least an hour. And in less than a month you will become a confident, agile and fast swimmer.

In this article, we will take a closer look at the breaststroke technique - what it looks like, how the stroke is done, how the legs move, and how breathing is done.

Also consider the most common errors.

How to swim correctly?

This style is one of the most difficult in terms of technique. Therefore, before reading the text description, see how it looks from the outside:

As you can see the following movements are performed:

hands make a stroke and are thrown back forward;
during the stroke, the head rises above the water and inhales, then lowers and exhales;
at the moment of ejection of the arms, the legs make a push similar to the movements of a frog, due to which the body receives additional acceleration and slides to the next stroke.

Now consider the technique step by step and in detail.

Hand movements step by step

Initial position:

hands, like the whole body, completely stretched and straightened as shown in the illustration above;
palms are located next to each other, are almost at the surface of the water;
head is in the water.

In the pool, you can push off the side with your feet and slide forward on your chest in this position.

From the starting position, a cycle of hand movements is made, which can be divided into three phases.

At the same time, one action goes into another all the time, there are no pauses - therefore, the following instruction with division into phases is very conditional - such a division is made only to make it easier to describe and understand the technique.

1. Breeding to the sides

Hands palms out parted to the side about a little wider than shoulder width.

At this stage, the arms sink a little and bend a little - in general, still remaining straight. The movement is done with the palms perpendicular to the bottom and turned outward- imagine that we push the water apart with them.

The movement itself is fast - it's just a dilution of the brushes for the subsequent stroke.

In the illustration, this stage goes to the first red arrows:

2. Stroke

The main part of the stroke:
The brushes are rotated so that palms looked down again. The arms bend at the elbows and strong rowing motion towards oneself- to drag the body forward and upward.

During this step, the elbows gradually rise up and out to the sides.

The rowing movement goes on approximately until the moment when the palms are on the shoulder line.

In the course of our effort, the head and shoulder girdle go above the water - read about it below.
Completion of the stroke:
At the end of the stroke brushes close at the chest:
- elbows approach the body in the area of \u200b\u200bthe ribs,
- both hands are located next to each other so that the palms are facing the body (in the chin area).

3. Throw forward

Ejection moment

Brushes (previously brought together in the chest area) thrust forward sharply to return to the starting position - be extended in front of you.
At the very end of the ejection, the brushes unfold. That is, initially they go palms up (palms facing the chin), at the end of the palm turn to the bottom- towards the bottom.

Hand release options

The task of this stage- not only return to the starting position, but also do it with minimal water resistance give your body the impulse to move forward, start sliding on water.

Because this action has two options:

Return over water- this technique is considered the most effective and is used by many professionals at sprint distances.
The point is that we throw our hands back not under water, but above its surface and thus do not slow down against the water. However, such a movement requires much more effort if you are swimming on long distance or are not physically prepared for such a technique, then the second option should be used.

Return underwater– here they return underwater / on the surface line. As it was indicated, in this variant we somewhat slow down our progress, but physically it is easier to act this way.

After the return of the hands, there is a sliding stage, which we will talk about later.

Correct and incorrect options

The wrong (but common) and right strokes are perfectly shown in this short video:

Alternative way

See how the swimmer swims in this video:

during the return, the hands do not turn palms to the chest;
the swimmer throws them underwater.

We will not undertake to assert how optimal this technique is, but it is precisely this technique that the professionals demonstrate in this video.

Footwork

Legs pull up first, then do push as shown in this illustration:

In addition to the illustration, the correct footwork can also be seen in this video tutorial:

Footwork synchronized with hand movements(this is the main difficulty of the breaststroke technique - to make movements synchronously and in a timely manner).

It can be conditionally divided into two stages, although it is important to note here that there is no pause or hitch between them: as in the case of hands, this is a single action.

1. Pulling up the legs

Produced towards the end of the stroke- you need to tighten your legs for the next push, while:

knees must still remain closed- stay close to each other
spread the shins to the sides, turn the feet outward and pull them over to push them away from the water. Ultimately, the feet should be wider apart than the knees.

The coordination of pull-ups with the arms is as follows:

during the stroke itself, a smooth pulling up of the legs begins,
when the arms are brought forward (close at the chest) - the legs are pulled up and spread apart for the next push.

2. Push

Produced at the moment of ejection of the hand forward- a sharp shock movement is made with the legs.

The meaning of the technique is that we throw out our arms and legs at the same time - so that the body quickly and completely straightens and due to the shock movement slid forward.

For a push legs kick to the side(in the direction where the feet looked after we pulled them up). The blow is made by straightening the leg.

Immediately after the end of the shock movement, the legs, being straightened, relax and close together, the feet are extended. The whole body from hands to feet is extended in one line and glides.

The hand-foot synchronization is clearly visible in this slow-motion video demonstrating the technique of world champion Brenton Rickard:

Breathing and body movements

inhale

At the time of the stroke top part our body (shoulder girdle) rises above the water, including the head.

When the head appears above the surface of the water - taking a sharp breath through the mouth.

Exhalation

At the moment of throwing out the arms and pushing with the legs, the body and after it the head are stretched, occupy horizontal position. The face, accordingly, again falls into the water.

The exhalation goes on without delay throughout the entire movement and ends by the time you need to inhale again.

Breathing in breaststroke

Slip

Breaststroke, like other styles of swimming, is primarily characterized by the fact that its main sliding on water.

Therefore, after the ejection of the arms with a kick, the sliding phase begins - a fully extended body must slide through the water, while:

the faster you swim, the less this phase will be (but it will still be present);
if you are swimming in the power saving mode, then the sliding, on the contrary, will be long.

Regardless of the speed and goals of swimming, be sure to find and feel this sensation as your body slides during your swim.

Bugs in the pool

Useful videos for beginners

In order to better understand the nuances of this style, we also recommend watching these videos:

Detailed analysis from Danil Antonenkov

Olympic champion style

Technique slowly shown here Olympic champion Jessica Hardy:

Additional nuances

If you swim under the water, then you can do strokes as in breaststroke, only do not stop your hands on the shoulder line, but bring to the hips- so the stroke will be stronger. In “classic” swimming in competitions, such a movement is allowed to be done once per pool - respectively, after the start or turn.
If you are competing in speed, it is not necessary to take a breath every time, however, according to the rules, during each cycle, the head must still cross the surface of the water.
At the beginning you can work out on dry land on a bench to understand the coordination and synchronism of movements.
Breaststroke is inferior in speed to crawl, and at short distances is generally inferior to all other styles of swimming.
At the same time, the breaststroke requires less energy than the crawl, and especially the butterfly.
A non-obvious feature: if your task is to swim as quietly as possible (in terms of loud sounds), then breaststroke is better suited for these purposes.

child learning to swim

To be able to swim today is not only the prerogative of people who are professionally involved in sports. Not only does swimming help train those types of muscles that simply cannot be trained by any other training, but it can also help us more than once in life. Therefore, if you do not know how to swim, then it is never too early and never too late to learn this, whether you are at least 10, at least 60 years old. In addition, in terms of its beneficial effect on the entire body, swimming can be compared with physical therapy. There is not only a strengthening of all the muscles of the body, but also the heart muscle is trained, good breath. Not without reason, of all athletes, it is swimmers who live the longest.

To learn to swim, no matter how silly it sounds, you have to start on land. Because the first thing to do before entering the water is to warm up so that later there will be no cramps (and this happens quite often among beginner swimmers). Do a few squats, bend over. Pay especially much attention to the legs, because if at least one of them gets a cramp at a depth, then it will be very difficult to get out without outside help.

Swimming lessons

After that, you can go into the water and start doing a few general exercises.

For a few minutes, just walk around in the water so that it reaches chest level. You can jump. When moving, help yourself with your hands. Make the same movements with them as if you are swimming.
After that, completely immerse yourself in the water with your head. Practice holding your breath for at least 30 seconds. Repeat this exercise 3-4 times with breaks per minute.
Now repeat the same exercise with the difference that you do not hold the air in yourself, but immediately exhale into the water and immediately rise out of the water. This exercise should be repeated 5-6 times.
Now hold your breath and try to crouch underwater. You will float up. You can try straightening up. This exercise helps build self-confidence because the water will keep you going. After that, exhale the air and stand on your feet.

Now for open eyes. Many people say that at first it is best not to try to open your eyes underwater - this will create additional difficulties in learning. But most fundamentally disagree with this. The sooner you learn to open your eyes underwater, the less problems there will be later. You can wear special glasses to start with (if you are learning to swim in a river), but it is best to train your eyes initially.

Now let's talk about exercises that will help you lie on the water.

To start, run along the bottom again, performing rowing movements with your hands. Do this for about a minute.
Sit down again, and when you float up, straighten up, start moving your legs up and down and circular motions hands
Now try to slide on the water. Stand facing the shore (or the side if you are exercising in the pool). Stretch straight arms up so that one palm overlaps the other, hold your breath. And then sharply push off from the bottom, and, keeping a straight body position, slide to the shore. In this case, you do not need to move your arms and legs. Repeat the exercise several times.
The same exercise, but this time do not hold your breath, but exhale into the water.
Now let's do the "asterisk" exercise. Turn your back to the shore (side), hold your breath, spread your arms to the sides and just gently lie down on the water. The most important thing here is to maintain an even position of the body.
Similar exercise. Only this time, press your hands tightly to the body, push off from the bottom and, after sliding for some distance, begin to work with your feet. Swim for as long as you can.

If you don’t succeed in some exercises even after two or three attempts, repeat until you succeed. Particular attention should be paid to the position of the hands when sliding. For the back - they are tightly pressed to the body. For the stomach - stretched forward.

Now let's learn how to work well with our feet

We do all the same actions as when sliding, but only in this case the legs are not just extended, but move up and down. You will feel like you are floating. Try to swim until your lungs run out of air. In order to master this exercise well, you can first try another version of it. Take the air bag in your hands and pull it forward. At first, try swimming with your head under water, raising your head just to breathe in a new posture of air. Then the task is more difficult. Also stretch your arms forward with a pillow, but now keep your head above your head. Swim until your legs get tired.

Well, the final exercises are already, in fact, a full-fledged swimming.

We push off with our feet from the bottom and work with our feet (up and down) and hands (circular movements). We swim to the shore. The most difficult thing now is not to stop for breath. Many people say that it is the need to breathe that complicates their learning to swim. There are two ways to breathe. The first is that you completely lift your head out of the water, while not stopping the movement of your arms and legs. That is, hold your breath, push off from the bottom when you feel that oxygen is running out, exhale air into the water, raise your head above the water and take a new breath. Usually at this point a person loses the rhythm and begins to sink. Therefore, the second method is much better.

You start the same way - hold your breath, push off the shore, exhale into the water. As you remember, your hands make circular movements. So, when the left hand just plunged into the water, you turn your head (but in no case raise it) and inhale, then turn your head back down. It is very important to clearly maintain a steady rhythm and not stray.

Now a few simple rules that will allow you to learn to swim much faster.

Never eat before diving into the water.
Never climb into the water without first exercising.
If during the exercises you have darkened in the eyes - stop and rest a little. This is a normal reaction of the body under unusual loads.
Always watch your posture. And not only in water. The more straight you keep your back on dry land, the easier it will be to keep your body level in the water.

Now let's talk more about each type of swimming separately.

Also, because of the characteristics of this type of swimming, it is often called a dolphin. It is quite difficult to master and usually at the end of training. This is due to the high energy consumption. The swimmer must be prepared for such loads.

It consists in the fact that you simultaneously push off the water with both hands and, as it were, dive under the water. The legs also move up and down at the same time. It is because of the legs that this style was called "dolphin".

Breathing while swimming with a butterfly is performed in a vertical way. That is, at the moment of lowering the hands under the water, the head rises and a breath is taken. In principle, inhalation is also possible when turning the head to the side, but its implementation is much more complicated.

breaststroke-1

breaststroke-2

A type of swimming in which all movements are carried out under water. Unlike most other types of swimming, movements are made not in a vertical, but in a horizontal plane. Because of their distinctiveness, some have nicknamed this style the frog.

The hardest part of mastering this style of swimming is that the swimmer must make absolutely symmetrical repulsive movements of the arms and legs. Otherwise, the movement slows down sharply.

To start the movement, the hands, almost touching each other with the back of the hand, straighten sharply and the palms are repelled from the water. At the same time, the legs under water bend at the knees and straighten sharply. After the end of the movement, the arms should be pressed to the body and the legs should remain straight.

Freestyle swimming - 1

freestyle swimming - 2

Freestyle swimming - 3

The most popular swimming technique, due to its speed and ease of learning. It is somewhat reminiscent of a butterfly, but less energy-intensive.

When performing this type of swimming, the circular movements of the arms (as well as the legs) are not parallel. That is, when the left hand falls into the water, the right hand rises from it. The same goes for the legs. When one is underwater, the other must be above it. It is due to the fact that at any time there is a repulsion from the water, the maximum speed is achieved.

Breathing is mostly lateral. That is, when the left (or right) hand falls under the water, the head turns in this direction and a breath is taken. Exhalation is carried out already under water.

Usually instructors teach this type of swimming first of all.

Swimming under water

Under water, you can swim either in the already mentioned frog style or in the seal style.

Seal swimming is quite simple and can be learned in no time. Just put your legs together, press your hands tightly to the body, push off from the bottom and that's it. Hand movements do not need to be made - they must be pressed.

Now you must make successive movements of the front and back of the torso. That is, lower your head and legs down, and then raise them. It is difficult to dive in this way, but when you are already under water, it can swim in a straight line.

crawl on back

Proper body position will not only greatly facilitate your learning process, but also help you avoid injury.

All parts of your body - legs, lower back, back, neck and head should be in a horizontal plane. Remember the law of action and reaction. If you lift your head up strongly, your legs will go down. Lift your lower back and your head and legs will drop. Therefore, the first exercise that you need to learn is to simply lie flat on the water.

Another mistake is related to the position of the head during the breath. When turning it sideways, it should not rise up. This is just a turn of the head, and vertically the head must remain calm.

Now as for the question of where he learns to swim better - in the pool or in the river. It is safer in the pool, but in the summer you will still swim in a non-pool with the opportunity to grab onto something.

Most the best option- the first 5-6 lessons must be carried out in the pool. And only then, when you learn to more or less stay on the water without additional help, you can start practicing in ordinary river. Another disadvantage of outdoor pools is that the water there is quite dirty, and in some cases it is even dangerous to swim without additional eye protection.

In addition, if you are not yet a very experienced swimmer, make sure that the river is clear, there are no algae anywhere in which you can get your feet tangled. And in general, until you can confidently swim at depth in the pool, do not even think about doing the same in the river.

Another point that a person who is learning to swim needs to remember is that classes cannot be interrupted. That is, if you decide to learn how to swim, then you can’t finish classes until you fully reach the level you were striving for. You should not think that you will give up this activity, and then, resuming it in six months, you will be able to start from the same level. In fact, you have to start all over again. This is the nature of swimming. In fact, even for those who can swim well, it is necessary to practice at least once a month in order to maintain the necessary level of training.