SWOLF and BLABT - two swimming acronyms that might actually be holding your swimming back!

[@RolfMaier-b3u]

Thank God for people like you.

[@swimsmooth]

Many thanks Rolf!!

[@yolandacarstens7987]

Bubble Bubble Breath - Works so well. I did some cold water swimming for two months (11°-14°). When trying to cope with the cold & your heart rate skyrocketing, the bubble bubble breath worked extremely well. You feel yourself relaxing, breathing slows down & heart rate becomes normal. Thanx Coach #paulnewsome

[@swimsmooth]

Yes indeed! I used it myself to get around Manhattan in 2013 - LOL!

[@richc47us]

I am not an elite swimmer. I am 76 and do roughly 6000m per week. I've be watching video after video month after month to learn how to improve my swimming and find that there's a lot of confusion out there in what the best thing to do to improve things. But after many months of trial and error, I found that no matter what technique I was concentrating on, the one thing I learned to do was to just relax, don't get uptight, and just breathe. After that I found that breathing controls everything and if i don't breathe well, I won't swim well. Even while I am swimming I have to concentrate of my breathing....Awesome insight from you and thanks so much!

[@sunshinemultisport]

I remember that chap! Great improvements from targeted drills, focusing on the key areas and keeping it simple.

[@swimsmooth]

If you look closely you're in one of the shots!

[@KayRolandi]

The bubble bubble breath technique was the one thing that really helped me to breath bilaterally some years ago, thx Swim Smooth!

[@swimsmooth]

Big thanks for letting us know Kay!

[@dannybowles6181]

Why I wonder do you think no elite athletes breathe every three?

[@stephenmaxted6886]

Thank you very much for a very helpful video. I shall try 'bubble bubble breath' when I swim in the Royal Docks in London tomorrow. It made me very nostalgic to see the Claremont Aquatic Centre in the video. I spent March and April in WA visiting family and swam at the centre a number of times. I had not had a swimming lesson in my life until just before COVID hit and am now training for a 70.3 to celebrate my 70th birthday this summer. Greetings from the UK and best wishes.

[@swimsmooth]

Claremont misses you too Stephen! Hope the Docks were good!

[@katebeedot6964]

I "recaptured" my long lost swimming efforts (years) by deciding to spend the first 5-8 minutes in the pool just bubbling underwater; after around 6 months of hard work I can swim freestyle properly, the little exercise (which I still do) gives me self assurance to overcome the fear of drowning. Anyway, I strongly believe in the bubbling routine and definitely recommend it every time at the start if breathing is or even was an issue since it works (you're moving from free air to water) and lets you then concentrate on technique.

[@swimsmooth]

Great to hear it Kate. Nice work getting back into it!

[@katebeedot6964]

@@swimsmooth Thank you ! It was a big psychologic effort to restart: a lot of fear every single time but seems I got through (not quite 100% but nearly) so all I can say is that you have be stubborn and brave to get what you want. Excellent channel :))

[@swimsmooth]

@@katebeedot6964 well done Kate - so good to hear you're moving ahead stoicly!!!

[@emmaoconnor1065]

I've taught swimming for years too (mostly children) and found B.L.A.B.T really unhelpful.... Breath control has to come first! I rarely used it, and found teachers who did would have their clients stuck, as they felt they couldn't move them on without a perfect kick (for example). Excellent video, thank you.

[@swimsmooth]

Great to hear it Emma - I look forward to sharing the second letter next week...

[@qkayaman]

Few months ago I started working on my catch and I quickly degenerated into not being able to swim more than a 50m lap. Took me weeks to figure out why, and then I realized I forgot how to breathe due to concentrating on the catch so much. Went back to square one, concentrating on exhaling properly which fixed it, so yes, I agree breathing is probably the most important thing to get right.

[@swimsmooth]

Sometimes basics are best!

[@prljf9623]

Well worth watching, listening and learning!

[@swimsmooth]

Many thanks for your support!

[@grahamgd]

As an adult swim instructor, I regularly see people bi-laterally breathing but only actually getting a proper breath on their 'good side' and only part of a breath on their 'bad side'. This results in them running out of air because they are really only breathing every 6 strokes. The simple solution for this is to swim one lap breathing on the right and the next lap breathing on the left and repeat. This gives you time and focus to work on your "bad side". Once you can breathe the same on both sides you are ready to breathe on every 3 strokes.

[@swimsmooth]

Great! There's many ways to 'skin' the bilateral cat as it were and your suggestion Graham also tackles the way to improve breathing to your least favourite side - nice!

[@dcoughman]

I would say the next important thing to work on is maintaining a horizontal position.

[@swimsmooth]

@@dcoughman thanks David - you might well be right...stay tuned for next week's instalment 👍

[@maemilev]

Bilateral breathing should not be done on every lap. Those that do it in every interval training programa will tend to be ineffective and slower. E.g if 10 x 100 meter. Only 1 time u should do bilateral.

[@dannybowles6181]

Absolutely. Bilateral literally means "both sides" not "every three". 50m right, 50m left. Whatever you choose and if you want to breathe just one side that's cool but of course you really need to be able to breathe on one side of the other. It's the every three thing that's a myth.

[@grahamgd]

Yesterday I helped a very elderly lady who had been doing swim lessons with other instructors for months but could not swim one lap in a 25 metre pool without stopping. The only thing I changed was I got her to take her time and do the breath in almost slow motion. The one piece of advice on breath control got her to swim the lap on her first attempt.

[@swimsmooth]

I am so pleased to hear this Graham - this has made my day! Thanks for reporting back and say hi to the elderly lady for me and wish her luck!

[@ΠΑΝΑΓΙΩΤΗΣΧΩΡΑΪΤΗΣ]

I have to get the swimsmooth dvd..... I already have the book but the picture is a must... Thanks For this video

[@swimsmooth]

We still have the original DVD for sale on shop.swimsmooth.com but would recommend our online streaming platform swimsmooth.guru for a better approach these days to our content 👍

[@the_sheet]

1) I recently returned to master's swimming after 20 years. I swam on my own those 20 years. 2) A coach watched my stroke from above and noted that I was high in the water. 3) my kick is very weak 4) I recently learned from another KZbin video series that breath is the most important part of the stroke. I AM SOLD. Breathing through my nose is somewhat restricted, so what works for me is a combination of nose first then mouth exhalation the end...

[@swimsmooth]

Great to hear it!

[@swimsmooth]

And welcome back to masters!!

[@the_sheet]

@@swimsmooth OMG going to a workout tonight, I’m stoked…

[@swimsmooth]

@@the_sheet awesome 👏

[@gregghorwitz3213]

Great content!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. I started my swimming career in the 1970's and 80's where the hourglass pull was the "ideal" pull technique. Well, here I am 40 years later still fighting to resolve this hourglass pull on my left arm (because I only breathe to my right) and I can tell it's inefficient. Being a triathlete, I break every stroke so 50% of my strokes are less effective than they could be. Would you suggest bi-lateral breathing to resolve this? I've incorporated swimming and pulling with a snorkel into my workouts so I can focus on pulling straight back, and this has shown success, but only when I have the snorkel. Immediately after incorporation breathing to the side, whelp, there it goes. Back to the obnoxious hourglass. Any suggestions on how to resolve this 40 year habit?

[@swimsmooth]

Definitely have a go switching up breathing to the other side Gregg + wait for Friday's 3/5 in the video series as I've got a great drill to assist with that...

[@robohippy]

Missed this one.... Efficiency is intelligent laziness. No clue who said that.... Every swimmer, biker, runner has a different cadence that is just right for them. Part of that is playing around to find your proper stroke rate. I do make a point of doing some lengths of the pool to try to get fewest number of strokes, and I swim a lot of catch up style, both of which focus on distance per stroke, and rotation, full extension. Other than that, sprinters have a much higher stroke rate than distance swimmers. For breathing, I tried for years to develop the ability to breath every 3rd stroke, and by 100 yards, I would be gasping. Swimming gallop style like Katie and Caleb is a natural fit for me. I don't think I have seen a comprehensive video on that yet, though Raul at Swim Skills NT mentioned it in the video about 4 ways to swim freestyle. All the men swim that way, and some of the women do. The cadence is a quick 1, 2, then a slight pause, then repeat. They also tend to have their heads come up out of the water a bit more than the traditional even cadence stroke used by Ariarne Titmus who breaths on a 2, 2, 3 pattern. Again, for me, I run out of air. I figure that part of the reason she couldn't catch Katie in the 800 and above would be oxygen debt. That is a less critical issue for sprints, but for middle and long distance, it can be a huge issue. Watching your swimmer at the end of the video, he is not getting full arm extension on either side. As for feet sinking, the Olympians who swim gallop style do not have the problem. Other than head position, best one I heard, from a coach at Speedo, "suck in your gut like you are trying to put your belly button on your spine". This puts the focus on your lower spine/lumbar region, and your abs from the belly button down. An exercise you can try, feet, butt, and shoulders against the wall, and try for perfect body position/posture. If your posture is 'perfect' you should just be able to get your fingers behind your lumbar region. If you can get your whole arm, or even hand behind your lumbar region, then your posture needs work. When you suck in your gut, to pin your fingers on the wall, you will feel this from your belly button down to your pubic bone. If you do this as you swim, your feet do not sink. I learned this one in days as a gymnast. If you are spinning, your body needs to be perfectly straight.

[@swimsmooth]

Love that quote about efficiency. Check out kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXOVgKFpd85oeK8 and kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5nFZYuGZ66Yqpo for our Stroke Rate Ramp test which is exactly what you mention there about finding your optimal rate 💪

[@dannybowles6181]

Belly button to spine is an excellent tip, it helps set the pelvic tilt better which really helps those of us with sinky legs

[@robohippy]

@@dannybowles6181 I tried swimming with a pool buoy once, and it didn't do anything that I could tell. I do have to remember to suck in my gut much more now that I am older.... This is the lower abdomen from the belly button down, and that gets the body into the straighter line, as near as I can tell. Still pondering that sitting on the bench and extending arms and how that puts that arch in the spine, exactly where you don't want it. Curious as to why the person is seated, rather than standing up, which is closer to the posture you want for swimming.

[@dannybowles6181]

I love this concept works well and brings legs up@@robohippy

[@MrWoodsey96]

I still think that the body position has to be important, alongside that breathing - if you don't get that right, breathing becomes so much more difficult; as you know, I agree with you for the rest of it, that breathing patterns are important to make things more consistent and smooth, etc... I also don't agree that SWOLF is useless, I just think that the way that it is implemented is poor ;) I say this while (still) trying to increase my stroke rate after last year as that was something that I found incredibly useful that you pointed out. x

[@swimsmooth]

Hey John - hope you're well. Body position is absolutely important John, but we're talking here about a 'hierarchy' of needs or a step-by-step and I'm simply pointing out that B.L.A.B.T (I.M.H.O - sorry, couldn't help it!) shouldn't feature breathing 4th in that list. And as I'll summarise next week, breathing has a huge impact on body position. Regards S.W.O.L.F - my point here is simply that it's not a measure of efficiency as it's purported to be - it gives no regard to the physiological output/response (typically heart rate) that can occur if you try to overly drop your score by (typically) kicking more. Are you out in Mallorca?? Wish I was there!

[@jackg1385]

Paul Thank you for great videos with tons of good info You mentioned air in the chest (not necessarily holding air) sinks your legs. However, is it possible to breathe by the belly and therefore have some air pulling your butt up thanks

[@swimsmooth]

Belly breathing is certainly something you should be trying, but I'd still caution you against holding onto your breath and not exhaling - ask yourself, would I ever do that when I bike or run? If I did, how would it make my activity feel?

[@valejul]

Thank you!

[@swimsmooth]

You're most welcome!

[@chickenszoom8897]

I sooo use my arm as a lever to push my head up when breathing. trying to correct!

[@swimsmooth]

Hope this info is helping...if not yet, then next week's 3rd instalment will do! Stay tuned!

[@bene3445]

Is there a difference between breathing out through your nose ore your mouth, or why the different test at the beginning?

[@swimsmooth]

Either and/or both is good

[@roberthall7336]

Thanks for focusing on breathing!

[@swimsmooth]

No problem Rob, doctors recommend it!

[@maemilev]

*try decreasing your stroke count in choppy sea, u be drowning!* those that practice SWOLF and BLABT are usually pool head on swimmer or in lane where they are swimming alone only. Or an observation derived from competition analysis only. Or swimmer that swan 100m or less training programs. Swim with more than 8 swimmers in 1 lane will be impossible to reduce your stroke count if you want go faster in a 200 meters interval session.*

[@swimsmooth]

Some sage points about stroke rate in rough water!

[@dannybowles6181]

He is is higher in the water on the every 3 pattern because he is holding more air than every 4. His legs and hips are no lower on every 2. Emptying your lungs does not bring the legs up. Try lying face down in the pool with your arms forwards and slowly empty your lungs. What sinks first? Yup your hips and legs.🤔 How often do Ledecky, Paltrienieri, Phelps, Lochte, in fact pretty much all the best distance swimmers in the world breathe? Every 3? Nope every 2. You need air to float.

[@swimsmooth]

Hi Danny - the focus here is breathing in it's entirety - not whether someone should be a LEFT, RIGHT or BILATERAL breather, but that if something's going to go wrong in your stroke it'll typically happen when you're breathing. I'll add a summary of these issues to next week's video with some additional insights from the work with Sam Long especially with regards the Kona course - enjoy your weekend Danny ✅

[@dannybowles6181]

@@swimsmooth Many thanks. The implication was that breathing less frequently (and therefore exhaling more) meant sitting higher in the water. I love a lot of your stuff but that "breathe more air out to get hips up" is not scientifically accurate. It's in your book, in one of your videos in an endless pool and you are repeating it here (or seem to be). Lie in the water face down and let the air out and you hips and legs sink. The air is your fulcrum. You need it. You say 3 pattern is the magic number but most people are way more comfortable on an every 2 pattern and that's why most elites chose to breathe every 2. Of course no breath holding but no blasting continuously either. We need air to float, especially the heavy leg brigade. We do not breathe into our chests we breathe into our diaphragms (or should). And the diaphragm's next door neighbour is the hips! Keep up the good work. As I said loads of great stuff from you but on that one you've got it wrong. Keep air IN your diaphragm to keep the legs and hips up.

[@swimsmooth]

@@dannybowles6181 thanks Danny for your input.

[@dvicho123]

@@swimsmooth @dannybowles6181 when I want to swim fast short distances I'm fine breathing every 2 strokes, however when I need to swim long distances it's easier for me and I breathe better every 3 strokes. Now, if my hips are high or low when swimming, I haven't noticed, I'll ask my coach if he notices any difference. Thanks to both.

[@swimsmooth]

Thanks - keep us posted 👍

[@kevinabalo]

The girl in the lane next to him . ... .