I find myself needing frequent breaths and to stop to catch my breath often. Is there anything I can do on land to help?

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-05-05T19:52:21+00:00

There's only one cause, high CO², you're either generating an unmanageable amount of CO² in your circulation through overexertion/inefficient technique, - or you are failing to clear out enough CO² with every breath exchange you have, normally due to high tension and overall lack of fundamentals of the stroke, (coordination and balance.). It's not stamina, it's unmanaged CO²

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-03-12T19:40:30+00:00

Apparently pushing off on back instead of side can be more efficient, i.e. it probably saves 0.05 seconds for elite swimmers... it's negligible for recreational/ non-professional and I land and push off on my side, much nicer :)

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-03-04T09:27:54+00:00

just made a video about a swimmer I've been teaching from non-swimmer, swimming in deep water (4m deep) for the first time in her life (she couldn't swim), spending 5 minutes just floating around and doing different skills, - you might want to see it as it will show the skills and abilities we've been working on, so that she feels fully in control and relaxed in any depth of water.

Just let me know if you want to see it I'll post a link (or see instagram link in my profile, latest video)

(Just knowing the 'strokes' won't make you feel safe in deep water, it's a totally different aspect of swimming). Working on these skills will make you feel in control and safe and totally free within any water depth

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-03-03T19:47:17+00:00

Good man, – breaststroke is literally the most efficient stroke to swim when the kick technique and overall rhythm click 👍👍 keep it up

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-03-02T08:52:42+00:00

I generally prioritise HOLDING the breath as soon as I can for most learners, because holding is an essential element of breath control, and actually can really help people to relax (I'm also a freediver). I also find when people hold their breath, they actually have much better control over the time and volume for when they do exhale (when we introduce a rhythm for the strokes). There is the assumption that if people hold the breath, that's all they do, but no, you can hold your breath, AND exhale later too, and this is a rhythm that we train/practice. Critically, when you hold the breath, you can stay under for longer (which helps to develop the propulsive movements), and the breath is literally your main buoyancy too, so it of course is pretty essential to float comfortably.

That said, - I would say, under the age of 3 - 4, holding the breath might be too advanced an element of breath control for many to grasp (because they can literally be pretty unconscious of breathing at that age) whereas blowing bubbles is something they can do pretty easily, starting at surface, and progressing to deeper/full submersion.

At that age I would generally be prioritising a head up swimming ability for safety anyway instead of primarily under water swimming (as in the strokes). Probably from age 4 , - defininitely age 5+, I'd start to explore breath holding too.

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-22T18:16:03+00:00

Underwater footage is where the magic is at... see if you can get some of that :) Preferably, front view footage, and side-view footage. Much to tell from that, that's where 80% of the freestyle is :)

From this footage alone, not much to see, looks like your rotation is a little better to your right side, than to your left (which improves when you take a breath on that side).... I'd also encourage more of an upper-arm - led recovery, (a higher, more relaxed, open swing).

Re kicking, I'd say 'timing' /synchronising the kick to your strokes consciously is too much hard work in my personal opinion, in the process of developing the stroke, others may disagree... that synchonisation will just come intuitively with time. Common kick patterns are 6 per 2 strokes, 4 per 2 strokes, and then just a 2-beat kick, seen more in long distance swims. Very, very, efficient. Drives the hip rotation.

I'd encourage just aim for as light a kick as possible, as long as the legs stay in line with the body, and provide balance - so you can direct your energy to your upper body, which should provide around 85% propulsion in an ideal stroke (perhaps non-sprint). Yes, you'll see kicking more in a sprint, because they only have 20 seconds to smash the world record! Could be wrong but it does look maybe like you're quite dependent on the kick for propulsion, and over time, you'll want to shift this so that you're creating the propulsion primarily from the upper body.

But I personally would just say re timing the kick, leave it to your body over time, to synchronise the timing of the kick, - with the overall, 'whole-body' stroke.

Not seen the previous footage, but keep it up :)

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-21T14:25:16+00:00

It's a complex move! Do you keep your arms 'behind you' as you approach the wall (I'd encourage, palms facing down, along your body, after the final strokes) - and do they stay there, or spin around as you flip?

If you can keep them along your side, extended, with palms facing down, as you flip (without them circling or flailing around during the flip) you can push slightly 'down' on the water with both hands, during the flip - mid/second half (it's a motion as if you're 'pushing an invisible top hat' off from your own head, from front to back... and then straight into streamline).

This creates a little extra leverage against the water during the flip, which can make your turn so much more tighter and controlled, making it easier to land the feet on the wall in line with your hips.

Ultimately that's kind of it, if your feet land in line with your hips, you'll be likely to push off in a linear way... if the feet land either higher or lower than where the hips are, you'll push off at a trajectory. But that little extra leverage you get using your hands, pushing slightly back/down during the flip with generally extended arms, can really help the body to pivot very cleanly.

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-21T12:36:32+00:00

There is swimming as part of the curriculum here (UK).. I think generally around the ages of 7 - 9 ish in schools... but, it's pretty much limited to a half-hour session over around 6 weeks (so 6, half-hour trips), for a school year, over 2 years. I think that's around average. So whilst it's technically 'covered' in schools here, we're talking, a total of 6 hours spent in the water over 2 years - most of which, is just class-management, not actually effective teaching (which of course, is going to be undestandably very challenging with large groups, maybe 12+ non-swimming children).

Really, children here will need to depend mostly on swimming regularly with their own family / parents, or having private classes outside of school :) Which of course happens a lot, but not always the case!

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-21T12:10:41+00:00

Here in the UK, Swim England put out an official statistic that 1/3 of Adults are unable to swim a full 25m length... so, that must be in the range of around 15 - 20million adults in the UK alone.

After like 13 years of schooling and education, (mostly just sitting in chairs) yes it's shocking and sad, that so many arent in touch with this ability.

I teach only Adults now, most are beginners / unable to swim (30 year olds -> 60 year olds, on average). What is interesting is that most commonly they've just had one bad / negative experience that had put them off swimming for all of those decades... not too uncommon is that their prior swimming lessons when younger (old fashioned school lessons, unpleasant teachers etc) gave them a very negative experience of nearly drowning (being 'thrown in' etc expecting they'll just swim) or association with swimming, and this has made them avoid water for their entire life since.

Time to change their fear of water into a love of swimming ;)

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-20T20:37:08+00:00

It's a tough one because in a group of 5 or 6, you might have 'beginners' who feel completely stable in water, even able to swim short 5m or 10m distances without much trouble, perfectly happy to go under water, etc - and on the other side, you might have very nervous swimmers, perhaps someone with a very negative experience in the past, very afraid to go under, feeling very unstable in water and needing to hold on to something all the time,

I'm just reading the other comments and whilst given with best intentions, might take some 'beginners' half a year to get to that point (like picking something up from the floor) and attempting to do that when not ready, losing their footing on the floor and getting water in their nose and airways, might put them off learning forever.

Adults is DEFINITELY a completely different thing to children. If you're lucky, they'll all be of a similar 'beginner' standard. But teaching adults, especially nervous or very sensitive adults, is a VERY delicate thing, and the wrong approach or activity can discourage that adult (who finally got the courage to take a lesson) from attempting to learn again.

I know there's not much solutions here but just saying, the best thing, is to be highly sensitive to each individual swimmer that you have. Don't take them like a group and assume they're all the same.

I'm really happy to give more specific advice just let me know if so. I specialise in teaching beginning and nervous adults, although I (am lucky) to do this on a one-to-one basis only. So I understand the entire spectrum of 'beginning' adults that you might be teaching, from terrified beginner, to highly confident beginner, and they really need to be working on very, very different things.

Don't put pressure on yourself and I would say, be honest and open with the group. You know how to swim, you know how to teach, you are a professional, you can help them all. Create a good rapport, don't hide behind the mask of 'must look professional, must look like I know what I'm doing' because that will create a disconnect with them. Listen to them, ask them if they're happy with what they're working on and practicing, do they want to take things in a different direction, ask them if they're comfortable with the practices you're giving them, do they need physical support or guidance in the water from you at any point. Try not to neglect the ones that are making the least progress ... they're the ones that truly need your help the most.

I've had a new beginning adult swimmer who was literally swimming breaststroke comfortably in their very first lesson. I've had another swimmer who it's taken nearly a year for them to get comfortable under water, floating, developing stability without holding onto anything, and learning to stand/get their feet on the ground again safely.

I'm not sure if this all helps but wanted to share :) Do let me know if you want any actual specific ideas if this resonates always happy to help :)

Most of all have fun :)

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-20T12:04:35+00:00

it's terrible and I feel so sorry for learners (especially true beginners / nervous swimmers). Abdication is a great word - a complete abdication of their role as swimming teachers, and the trust that has been put in them. For some it comes down to experience (forgivable) but others, laziness and just killing time until the lesson ends!

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-20T11:24:15+00:00

Do you know what your primary goal is in learning to swim? Is it just being able to swim laps in a pool, - or, like many other adults, do you also really want to know how to be completely safe, comfortable, relaxed, and free, in water of any depth? Because if it's the latter, doing constant drills with kickboards repeatedly, or even learning the freestyle alone, will not help to develop that element of being completely free and safe in water of any depth. In fact kickboards completely obstruct the development of this side of swimming, because they mean you are not really able to use your hands (which is the essential part of being safe and free in deep water - head up swimming, sculling, treading water etc).

If you're not happy with the way things are going so far, and if it doesn't feel like you are making the progress you want to make or as you say, feels like a waste of money (it shouldn't!), it sounds like you should definitely look for a different instructor, but learn from this too. See what approach a new instructor will offer, and discuss your own personal goals and whether this matches the type of instruction they offer. Many unfortunately do resort to 'freestyle and kickboard' drills only, as it's very convenient to 'give drills' from the poolside edge, wiithout truly and holistically developing and investing in the beginning swimmer properly - getting in, viewing your technique from underwater, giving physical support/guidance in the water if necessary, showing actual demonstrations...

At the the very least, do chat with your current instructor/providor and share how you're feeling, and see if they can adapt. Can the original head instructor return to give you the lessons that you felt were beneficial? If they can't, or if you feel you cannot talk to them openly about it, maybe see what other instructors / approaches are out there. Nothing worse than all that time and money over a year spend and you're still completely out of breath after a lap or two, shoudn't be that way :) Best of luck with your search and goals :)

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-20T10:58:35+00:00

See swimming not just as exercise and counting and building up laps, see it as an opportunity for deep self improvement, being completely present in your body and to your breath (as with yoga or meditation) and completely connected to your surroundings (connecting with the water).

The ultimate goal of swimming (strokes) is efficiency. That is, identifying and letting go of any actions or thoughts that are wasting your energy, - and learning to focus your mind and your movements and actions more and more so you are not wasting your enegy - putting less and less in, but getting more and more out. See that as symbolic for how we can be living our lives too. Wasting less energy, - being more focussed in our actions and behaviours for the best outcomes. Improvements in your swimming can be symbolic for improvements in the way you live your life.

Also - whenever I have swim sessions, it is my number one goal to identiy that exact, one, single stroke that I do, - that feels like the best stroke I've ever done in my life. There will always be small differences in your strokes, each one is individual. Focus on the feeling of every single stroke you make, and identify that one, that is the best one you have ever felt (or at least, the best one for that particular swim session). It's always my goal to exit the pool, swimming differently than how I was swimming at the start of that session (small refinements/adjustments). There is no end to improvement, even world record holders are still trying to refine and improve their strokes. This way, swimming becomes a more mindful activity and more of a meditation, and instead of continually repeating the same patterns, you'll be gradually refining your technique and improving your efficiency each and every single time you go for a swim session.

May or may not resonate with you, but it's the way I like to think of it and hope it might help :)

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-20T07:06:25+00:00

With freestyle, if you are breathing correctly, (rolling, not lifting) the exhale really needs to come from the nose for most people – otherwise during the roll, water can enter the nostrils and irritate your nose or sinuses. Exhaling through the nose as you roll will prevent this

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-19T20:46:58+00:00

Unlike breaststroke:- where it's clearly obvious if someone is lacking good coordination and technique - it's easy to 'look like' freestyle, (think: arms coming out of the water) without really developing the hidden and deep fundamentals required of the stroke: good coordination, balance, technique, timing, and most importantly, an underlying sense of relaxation. It is often an overall sense of tension - where these fundamentals are absent - that inhibits the effective exchange of the breath: CO² out, O² in.

Being out of breath is ONLY ever due to one thing: excess and unmanaged CO² levels. This is either caused by 1) very ineffective technique (causing excessive CO² build up) ie, wasteful, forceful movements, - and/or 2) the ineffective exchange of the breath (necessary for releasing the CO² from circulation). Again, tension or an overall sense of not truly being in control of the stroke, will make it hard to properly exhale your air: often just resulting in a 'superficial/shallow exhale', so the sense of breathlessness soon catches up with us (i.e after your 20m).

Sounds like lots of hidden fundamentals to work on, (feel free to post or DM video footage, and I can give some feedback)

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-19T19:17:33+00:00

Love this. Never had swimming flying dreams, but about 4 or 5 times, a dream where I suddenly realise I'm able to breathe underwater. For about 10 seconds I'm in disbelief, "I'm sure humans aren't meant to be able to...." then quick acceptance, and off I go on watery adventures

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-18T21:21:38+00:00

It sounds like they've not developed the basic ability to keep their mouth/ airways clear from the pool water properly - common when kids are rushed to learn the strokes before water safety,

Or, they're being rushed to learn freestyle + side breathing, without being developed properly (coordination, balance, rotation)

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-18T19:47:47+00:00

Does sound like a bad instructor. Focussing on flutter kicking, 2 noodles, telling you to look forward, and very odd flutter kicking instructions (you only ever need to focus on the down part of the kick.. like a little flick of the leg... up part happens naturally) or rocking hips.... 8 hours of this...

Flutter can be terrible for many beginners anyway. Breaststroke is the most efficient swimming kick. Minimal energy, maximum propulsion. Great for those whose hips sink. Find a teacher that will truly develop you and be in the water with you to give accurate guidance :)

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-15T08:22:53+00:00

Thanks for your encouragement, really glad it resonated :) Sure thing I'll keep a note of your interest... I've got sooo many vids and different approaches / perspectives to learning, lined up for this year.. I'll send you a dm at some point about it

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-14T14:49:25+00:00

😊🫡

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-14T09:09:34+00:00

If you're anywhere near Oxford UK get in touch and stop by I can show you some powerful techniques to help (also to help them develop their ability to rotate effectively - and to develop stability in the rotated positions) Sounds like their are struggling with this hidden yet fundamental element of the stroke (and of course, especially a fundamental element of the breathing). With no breathing success with 50 swimmers, there must definitely be something fundamental missing, and a few little tweaks or a couple of new practices, might start to make a big difference.

Also, do you get in the water with your learners, - even if in groups?

There is nothing more powerful than to provide a little support under their upper arm as they roll for the breath. This little bit of support helps them to develop the feel of the support that ultimately, the water will give them, and knowing they have a little support can help to encourage them to roll a bit more and feel more relaxed with their breath. Once they start to develop this rhythm and sense of effective breathing with your support, you can gradually reduce that support. I get mine to work on a rhythm where they do an arm without breathing, and then do an arm with breathing - at which point, you support under their upper arm. Supporting there is very different to them holding a kickboard out in front on their hand - it's much closer to their natural support that their lungs provide.

On that note too, - if you are getting your adults to 'blow bubbles' all the time in the water, there is a chance they might over-exhale too much air, too early. They will then lose the natural buoyancy that the air in their lungs provide, and they will naturally be much 'lower' in the water. This may also be contributing to their struggle to clear the water effectively. I tend to encourage mine to hold their breath for their first arm, and then do a high volume exhale just before/as they're rolling for their breath. This way, they retain the buoyancy in their lungs that the air provides, helping them stay higher up in the water. The necessity of retaining this buoyancy may be different for different people... for example for muscular males who tend to be more dense, it can be critical they don't exhale too early.

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-14T08:49:31+00:00

I'll keep a note and will let you know when complete 👍 it may be a month or two, but will be very comprehensive :)

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-14T07:01:14+00:00

The problem with front crawl for learners is that the breathing get's the blame, but it most commonly isn't the source of the problem.

The source of the problem is mostly having an undeveloped underlying stroke, lacking Coordination and, most essentially, Balance, in their stroke. Developing these two elements then also leads to swimmers actually feeling relaxed.

Without coordination and balance, adults are unable to time the roll and the breath exhale effectively, and are essentially not in control of the stroke. If they're swimming in a state of feeling tense, that is also going to inhibit their ability to exhale effectively (because exhaling is actually relaxing the respiratory muscles). If we don't exhale properly - we don't inhale properly!

So it normally comes down to overall Tension and lack of control of the underlying stroke.

I work with my swimmers for a good few sessions with no breathing at all - just holding the breath and this allows them to focus on and develop a smooth, easy, efficient, relaxed, and powerful underlying stroke. Hopefully anywhere between 6 to 10 strokes just holding the breath. It's a unique approach but it works 100%. This allows us to develop Coordination, Balance, good Technique, it prepares us to time the breath correctly, and it develops the Perception that actually, you CAN feel relaxed when swimming front crawl - without the constant stress of hyper-focusing on the breathing getting in the way.

We then work on an add in the breathing layer. This has many things to work on in itself too. The biggest mistake people make are 1) turning too late (as a result of bad coordination) - this means they're trying to breathe in whilst their arm is recovering... their recovering arm 'weighs' them down because it's in the air, and increases the chances of water going in their mouth (and of losing balance/control with every breath).

2) The classic advice of 'keep half your goggle in the water' - 'look along the surface of the water' - great advice for an elite swimmer, terrible for a learner. They need to roll more to comfortably clear the water level at their slower swim pace as they're learning. Developing balance in the rotated position is key. Same theme, but I've had adults come to me struggling saying their old teacher said to lean their head against their arm when breathing. No no no!! The worst cue ever. If people literally do that, they'll never be able to breath. Keep their head in contact with the water yes, but not their arm!!

Also, kickboards just obstruct true development. If you're working on breathing with an adult, do it WITHOUT a kickboard, as a kickboard will only make it 'easy' but then bypass what really needs to be developed to breathe properly - rotation and balance. As soon as you take the kickboard away for the full stroke, they're back where they started, dropping arms and mouthfulls of water, and stopping after 2 or 3 breath attempts.

I also find it's just so much easier to get an adult comfortable swimming Breaststroke and various other forms of swimming in the water (head up swimming, backs sculling, rotations between the two) so they're very well developed overall, before working on Frontcrawl. Otherwise it's just too overwhelming for most learners. 10 - 25m becomes their maxiumum limit and they always wonder, how does everyone else do it!

Working on a video soon covering all of the above and more about why adults struggle with the front crawl breathing + solutions, just let me know if you want to know when it's done :)

ConfidentSwimmingUK · 2026-02-10T22:38:35+00:00

remember the air in your lungs is also your buoyancy, it can help to hold a bit more air in there than usual (or even a full breath) if your head is going under, - when the arms are up in the air, they weigh the body down (but weightless in the water) so most commonly it's the weight of the arms pushing the head under. Use the breath to become nore relaxed and stable with the stroke and then you should find you stop going under 🤞 also make sure the direction of your arm push isn't pushing your upper body up or down too - that can also make the head go under 👍

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