**Freestyle Swim Lesson #6: Timing the Breath**

This swimmer is demonstrating the correct timing of freestyle breathing. Notice the connection between the natural body roll and the breath. Just as the hand is entering the water, the body begins to roll naturally to the side and the head moves WITH the body to take the breath.

To teach this timing, I have the swimmer practice head-lead kicking and breathing without using her hand as a guide.

Notice how she goes to air by simply rotating her body.

She can go to both sides.

Next, she does a 6-Count, 3-Stroke-Switch Breathing Drill.

She starts in streamline and takes three strokes. As the hand enters on the 3rd stroke, she goes to air.

She pauses in this position with her other arm by her side.

After about 6 kicks, she returns her face to the water. She recovers the arm once…twice…three times…and rolls to air on the other side.

The next step is to rotate to air…but not rotate all the way around to the back.

You can see that as she extends the arm forward, her body rolls to that side and the head simply rolls WITH the body toward air.

Most of the rotation to get a breath occurs through the roll of the body, not through an independent rotary movement of the head.

The swimmer should try to keep as much of the head as possible in the water.

It’s not necessary to lift the head at all or to hold the head up and away from that leading arm.

Notice how I’m holding her lead arm NEXT TO HER HEAD as she goes to air.

All the swimmer needs to do is roll the mouth to where the air is.

The swimmer should stay long with the leading arm… and keep the side of the head above the ear IN THE WATER when breathing.

Swimmers who do this well will have just one goggle out of the water when they breathe. The other goggle stays in the water. We call this one-goggle breathing.

A swimmer will make a bow wave as they swim, creating a breathing space below the surface of the water.

It helps to keep the leading arm long during the breath. This gives the swimmer more time to catch a leisurely breath…and helps the swimmer maintain a good body position in the water.

An arm that is long should stay UP near the surface of the water and should not fall down while the swimmer is breathing.

She can feel the lead arm touch the back of her head while she breathes.

The face returns to the water by a rotary movement of the head before the body rolls back to the other side and before the breathing-side arm enters.

Here I assist to make sure her head turns face down before her arm completes the recovery.

I try to get her face down before her recovery arm has passed her shoulder.

After the breath and after the swimmer has rolled her face back into the water, the swimmer should be looking down. The chin should not be lifted. The eyes look down and the head is aligned with the spine.

She should exhale deeply (bubbles should also be coming out of the nose) and the face and jaw should be relaxed.

Now the swimmer is ready for her next breath, from a neutral head position.


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Freestyle #6:  Timing the Breath

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Freestyle #6: Timing the Breath

Freestyle #6:  Timing the Breath