freestyle-swimming learning experience

08-17

I reviewed what I had done. If it weren't for this conversation record, I would have forgotten many details. Looking back, I realized I had accomplished so much. So far, it's been 30 hours in total: 08-17 19:00 - 20:50 After practicing holding my breath and entering the water with my head, I waited a few seconds before raising my head to exhale, then inhaled and held my breath to enter the water again (at this point, I was wrong to not exhale underwater after using up my breath). I repeated this cycle. The coach taught me to inhale through the mouth - hold my breath - enter the water - exhale through the nose - raise my head - exhale through the mouth (pronounced "puh") - inhale through the mouth - hold my breath - enter the water - exhale through the nose - raise my head - exhale through the mouth (pronounced "puh"). The result was that I could easily perform the movements while tied to an airbag and holding a triangular float with both hands. However, when I released the triangular float, I felt that I couldn't inhale in time after exhaling and fell into the water. My conclusion is that for beginners: inhale - hold my breath - enter the water - hold for 3 seconds - raise my head - exhale - inhale - hold my breath - enter the water - hold for 3 seconds - raise my head - exhale - inhale Progressive steps: Inhale - Hold breath - Dive - Exhale through nose - Raise head - Inhale - Hold breath - Dive - Exhale through nose - Raise head - Inhale For beginners, exhaling is done entirely during the moment of raising the head, while for advanced practitioners, exhaling is done completely underwater My feeling is that I don't feel physically tired. If it weren't for seeing everyone else leave, I would still want to practice for a while. I don't feel mentally tired either, and I have the desire to continue practicing

08-18

From 08-18 19:00 to 21:00, I practiced the breaststroke movements taught by the coach, including the actions of the pull, flip, kick, and grip. However, due to my knee injury, the kick and grip movements actually require exerting force towards the two sides perpendicular to the body. At this point, my knee bending was not tolerable, and I could only kick and grip within a very small range, which made it impossible for me to swim at all in the water. So I asked the coach if I could switch to practicing freestyle. The coach first instructed me to use my thighs to drive my calves to kick. At this time, my exertion was relatively consistent with my body, and my knee did not feel so uncomfortable. Moreover, swimming with a kickboard was fast and progressing. I practiced kickboard-assisted kicking, and felt that I had mastered the sensation of kicking. After swimming, I was exhausted. I could feel that if only my calves were moving, I couldn't actually swim. My thighs had to drive them, and I didn't feel like my thighs were driving them. When swimming, I felt a tightening in my stomach first, as if it was my hips moving. During the one and a half hours of training, I almost swam to the edge and stood still to change direction, taking a few breaths before continuing to swim. Only during the last few times in the last ten minutes did I feel like I was gasping for breath, needing to stand for tens of seconds, with almost no rest between sets (which was wrong). My feeling is that for me, no matter what stroke it is, breathing is the biggest technical challenge. Other than that, I feel it's within my acceptable range. In the past, I couldn't breathe properly while swimming and just floundered in the water. For a 50-meter swim, I only needed to stop and stand once, take a breath, and then dive down to the side. Kicking felt like a pleasure to me. After my knee injury, I almost didn't engage in any intense sports. However, when I was in elementary school, I was a sports star, excelling in sprinting, shot putting, and long jump, always coming first. After getting injured in high school, I almost stopped exercising. Now that I've found a way to kick without affecting my body, I feel like I have endless strength. I've also understood that the secret of freestyle lies in maintaining a straight centerline when rolling. Geometrically speaking, when swimming normally, the person is like a plane parallel to the water surface. When breathing, it needs to be perpendicular to the water surface

08-19

From 08-19 18:50 to 20:50, I practiced the theoretical principles and discovered a current issue. I understand the sequence: inhaling and entering the water - exhaling through the nose - turning with head and arms - drawing circles with hands - flipping the body - inhaling through the mouth. Throughout this process, my legs kept moving. The principle is clear, but the problem is that I cannot concentrate. I can only manage to focus on a few aspects such as breathing, foot movement, flipping, and drawing circles. Often, I miss one or two steps during the execution, resulting in incomplete movements. Sometimes, the momentum from my feet doesn't keep up, or I don't rotate while drawing circles. Other coordination issues also arise, such as inconsistency. I drink a lot of water, and completing the movements without feeling defeated is quite interesting. The principle seems simple, but I just can't seem to coordinate them properly. I am determined to master it, but I still feel some issues at the moment. Another issue is that I understand the purpose of drawing circles is to push the water backward and give me a forward momentum. However, I seem to lack the energy to feel the momentum brought by drawing circles. I know what it feels like to hold my hands when I used to swim holding my breath. There is a strong push, but I haven't fully integrated it yet. Also, when I flip to one side, I notice that my right leg is not as flexible as my left leg, which is due to my leg injury. Flipping to the right side doesn't feel uncomfortable, but it's evident that the left leg provides more balance and momentum. Inhaling - entering the water - kicking 6 times/exhaling through the nose after holding breath for 3 seconds - flipping the body/drawing a half circle with hands/inhaling through the mouth - turning the body back/drawing a half circle with hands/entering the water - kicking 6 times/exhaling through the nose after holding breath for 3 seconds This is my current training process, and the problem lies in:

1. Tightening the core drives the continuous movement of the thighs, calves, and feet, and the key is to keep moving
2. Draw circles and flip simultaneously So we need to deliberately train this process until it becomes muscle memory After repeatedly providing feedback on the correct units, there will be synergy among multiple units. My understanding is that the body has incorporated these "new movements" into a low-power system, so there is no clunkiness when switching quickly within a single thread. In essence, it is a natural emergence. It is interesting for me to experience and personally practice this process. This is the feeling of positive feedback pushing me forward. Although it is not perfect at present, I actively want to make it perfect, which is very interesting So far:
3. Stand with your legs bent to prevent swallowing water
4. Breathing, turning, kicking and clamping in breaststroke, but gave up due to physical reasons, total time 2 hours
5. Freestyle kick, flip, and breathing, totaling 4 hours My current achievement is that I am still unable to coordinate my freestyle swimming movements smoothly for 6 hours

08-20

08-20 19:00 - 21:00 I practiced the entire process of right-side breathing, achieving 100% completion of the complete right-side breathing (with good mouth closure during entry) and circle kick stroke process while wearing a kickboard. The left side was 80% complete. The problem I discovered today is that I can do the above while swimming alone, but if someone interferes during my swim, it disrupts my rhythm. For example, there was a person swimming breaststroke next to me who happened to kick at the same time I was taking a side breath, forcing me to stop immediately. Also, freestyle is indeed faster than breaststroke. Today, I swam at the same starting line with a classmate who is learning breaststroke at the same time. I reached the side, while he was still on the way. Now I'm thinking about what the specific manifestations of body imbalance will be when I remove the kickboard tomorrow. My own speculation is that the biggest possibility is that I will sink a bit when rotating without enough time to breathe in, and I also discovered today that it's better to keep the mouth closed during inhalation and entry, rather than puffing it out

08-21

08-21 19:15 - 21:05 I went to training again, but the coach told me to still wear the assistive device. Then he asked me to do the following exercises in a cycle: left side stroke, no breathing, kick; right side stroke, breathe, kick. I felt like I couldn't hold my breath long enough for one cycle. Underwater, I couldn't keep exhaling through my nose continuously, otherwise I would run out of breath before reaching the right side for breathing. I could only control my exhalation through my nose intermittently until I could breathe. At the same time, I understood that the ultimate goal was to master freestyle swimming without holding onto a kickboard for 50 meters without stopping. I will continue to improve in the future

08-22

08-22 18:50 - 21:05 Today, I went for training again, still with a kickboard and air pocket. The coach asked me to add the action of holding water when paddling. During practice, I realized my misconception from the previous days of training (I thought my hands were straight). The main correction was that when breathing on the right side, my left hand did not move straight forward but unconsciously leaned towards the midline of my body. I always thought my hands were moving straight forward. After asking the coach to record a video, I saw that there was indeed a problem. I have been practicing this since then, consciously leaning to the left a bit more in the direction I think is correct. This way, I don't have to raise my head to take a breath when breathing, and I can breathe through my arms. To be honest, today I felt like I was getting worse with practice. Fortunately, after recording a video later, I found the mistake and suddenly realized that the shoulder rotation on the left side is the same as that on the right side. Copying the shoulder rotation on the left side to the right side also helped me breathe better. Instead of the body rotating, it's the shoulder rotation that drives the body to rotate. I was wondering why I felt my hands were straight but were actually leaning to the right. My speculation is: because of the injury to my right knee, the nervous system silently re-labeled "center of gravity leaning to the left" as "center of gravity". In the water, buoyancy cuts out most of the influence of gravity, making it easier for the body to return to the anatomical neutral position (spine vertical, shoulders horizontal). But the problem is: my brain still carries the reference of "leaning to the left = center of gravity" from land. So when I think my left hand is "straight forward", I am actually referencing that shifted reference point - relative to the true midline in the water, my hand is leaning to the right. In addition, the freestyle roll is a dynamic chain: right leg kick → right hip rotation upward → left shoulder downward pressure → left hand extending forward. If the right leg is unable to exert force or cannot exert force due to injury, the amplitude and strength of the right roll will decrease. In order to maintain balance and propel forward, the body will instinctively allow the left hand to cross the midline to "reach" for the water on the right side - equivalent to compensating for the lack of power on the right side by extending the left hand forward. This is a very subtle compensatory pattern that is difficult to detect, as the brain perceives it as "normal exertion of force"

08-23

08-23 18:50 - 20:50 Today, I went for training again. I removed the airbag and only kept the kickboard. Then I realized the importance of the integration of hand, shoulder, and leg movements. When swimming, I consciously turned my hands slightly to the left when following the centerline, my shoulders should rotate to facilitate breathing, my legs should continuously provide strong propulsion, and I should hold my breath during one stroke and start exhaling through the nose when preparing to turn until I can inhale through my mouth after turning. After inhaling, I quickly return to the starting position and continue to the next round. Today, I felt tired, not during the swim, but before going there. My mind seemed to be constantly thinking about whether to be lazy and skip this training session today, but I couldn't bear the efforts I had made in the previous 6 days. In the end, I persisted with willpower. In fact, I knew that the remaining days would be boring, refining each movement until it became muscle memory. I actually felt that I had theoretically mastered freestyle swimming, including the details that needed attention. Now, recalling what the coach told me, I have made it concrete through training, but I haven't reached the qualified standard yet. This process of learning to swim involves: positive feedback of new knowledge - frustration and tiredness due to details - repetition to coordination. In fact, this experience chain can be found in many new learning fields. In the future, I can use this experience chain to guide and measure my mastery of learning new things

08-24

08-24 18:50 - 20:35 Today, I went for training again. At first, I couldn't find the feeling of turning my shoulders and head to breathe, and I felt frustrated overall. I wanted to give up, wondering if my 800 yuan was really worth it. Later, the coach told me that I was turning my head, but I wasn't turning my head as a whole. Finally, I understood that when changing breath, I should turn my head first and then breathe, and my hands should start to stroke after my head has turned. After I operated like this, I could indeed change breath. In the past, when training, I always thought that turning my head and stroking my hands should be done simultaneously, so I couldn't balance them. Now, by removing the air bag and using a floating board, I can turn my head and breathe 100% correctly. It seems that for people to fully understand each other, they must practice-correct errors-practice until they successfully understand. I never understood what turning my head meant before, but after the coach added the instruction of "first x then y", I understood the movement. Of course, I'm not saying that I couldn't understand the words, but the instruction of "turning my head first and then breathing" provided too little information and didn't indicate the order of the movements, so I couldn't understand it in terms of movement. I can imagine that I will definitely encounter this problem in the future when doing other things. At that time, I need to check whether each individual element of the movement is correct, and then check the timing between the elemental movements. I'm not just referring to the actual movements, but also to promoting the progress of a certain matter, etc

08-25

08-25 18:45 - 20:30 Today I went for training. For the first few laps, I reviewed the swimming with a kickboard from yesterday, and then I was able to swim without the kickboard. However, the current problem is that if I don't swim quickly and continuously, I sink. It feels a bit tiring to swim. One of my classmates is also a swimming coach. Although I can swim now, he watched my swimming video and advised me to go back to the basics and practice kicking. Do I feel that I already know freestyle swimming? Or am I too conceited? He compared it to driving a car. You are not incapable of driving, but your driving is rough. It's rough enough to drive on the road, but it's rough enough to make long-distance driving tiring and dangerous. I feel like I'm solving new problems every day, and it seems like there are endless problems. Swimming shouldn't be seen as a "to-do list" (complete these tasks and you can graduate). Instead, it's for continuous enjoyment. The current goal of "not sinking for 50 meters" is too ambitious. The goal shouldn't be "how far can I swim", but "have I experienced a specific feeling". If I have experienced it, it's success. If not, it's also success - because you have confirmed that "I haven't found this feeling yet". Small accumulations can produce surprising results. Also, is it necessary to take breaks? I'm afraid that after taking a break, I will lose the progress I made before, wasting my previous efforts. But in fact, implicit memory, like riding a bicycle, once established, won't be lost. I haven't taken a break yet. My plan is to complete all 13 classes and then change the training time to the morning, with three days of training and one day of rest. This is my desire for "systematic training"

08-26

08-26 18:45 - 20:30 Today, I went for training again. The coach asked me to kick with a kickboard for 25 minutes, then swim without the kickboard for 25 minutes, and spend the remaining time kicking with the kickboard. I can now swim without the kickboard, but I feel short of breath when I swim about 20 meters

08-27

08-27 18:45 - 20:48 Today, I went to the deep end and was able to swim 25 meters unaided. At first, I was a bit scared of the deep end, but I got better later. Then, the coach asked me to practice the bent arm stroke, which I kept practicing. Afterwards, I chatted with my friends and the coach for 20 minutes. Currently, I can do the bent arm stroke, but I need to concentrate and tell myself to keep it up. If I'm not careful, I'll revert to the straight arm stroke. Now, considering the problem with my right leg, my next step is to learn to float on my back for rest instead of treading water in breaststroke

08-28

08-28 18:50 - 20:35 I went for training again today. I swam a few laps in full before practicing leg kicks. Suddenly, I saw the coach's fins and tried them on. It was like opening a new world. It was fast and effortless. It was like cheating

08-29

08-29 18:50 - 20:30 Today, I went for training again. Now, I can swim 25 meters without any assistance, but I can't swim back. I noticed that the resistance seems to be greater when swimming back from the deep end. Swimming still makes me tired. I see others swimming leisurely and effortlessly, but I don't know why

08-30

08-30 18:40 - 20:30 Today, I went for training again. I spent the first 30 minutes practicing leg kicks on a floating board, and then swam two laps without the board. My legs felt uncomfortable, so I just flapped around in the shallow water area for fun

08-31

08-31 18:45 - 20:30 Today, I went for training again. I finally completed this 15-day course. Although I had to make a great effort to persuade myself today, I ultimately wanted to see it through to the end. Technically, I didn't make much progress, and my length remained unchanged, still around 30 meters. Now, I feel like I just passed my driving test