Swimming is like learning to ride your bike for the first time. You start with stabilisers (or a kick board),to gain balance, and after a few falls later, you master it. Once you learn to ride a bike it’s almost impossible to forget how to do it.
Swimming is pretty much the same- I would say it’s even easier than learning to ride a bike. It won't be difficult as long as you master these steps:
Learn how to float on your back. Go to the shallowest end of the pool and slowly relax your body- keep looking up at the ceiling/sky above. This isn’t necessarily hard and you can master it pretty quickly as long as you remain calm.
Once you are comfortable floating, you can now try backstroke. It sounds difficult but trust me it is the easiest of all strokes. All you do is kick your feet, to begin with, keeping your belly pointing upwards. When you can do this comfortably, start using your arms. Bring one arm back, hands pinky side down, and stroke- repeat with the other arm. That’s it!
With that done, you can try front crawl. I’ll admit it is a little harder but much more efficient than backstroke. Being able to float on your back should also enable you to float on your belly and this is our starting point. Again, go to the shallow end of the pool and move yourself forwards by grabbing on to the railing. The railing will almost act like stabilisers so you can stop as soon as you are uncomfortable. For the breathing, slowly exhale- blowing consistent bubbles. Master these steps completely before moving on!
You're nearly there! Like riding a bike, you eventually stop using the stabilisers and I know it might be frightening to let go of the railing but try to keep a friend close. Stay in the shallow end and push off the pool wall with your arms stretched out in front. Try it again but this time, kick your feet also. Practice this a few times. Now we're ready to start using our arms. Use a kick board like the one pictured below. Follow the same steps as you practiced but now with only one arm on the board. Practice doing this vice versa. Now pull one of your arms back ,with the other on the board, and stroke. Keep practicing this until you feel confident enough to let go of the board and always look down to keep your balance.
One last step… breathing. Breathing is vital in swimming as doing it incorrectly will tire you out very fast. This is how I do it but ,just to let you know, there are other methods out there. So, once you stroke and one arm is out of the water, turn your head so one ear remains in the water (like the picture below) and breathe through your mouth. I take a breath every three strokes but this might be different for you. Once you've got this down, you can swim!
Disclaimer : Of course, I may have missed things out so it is always best to get swimming classes but I tried my best to explain it to you.
Disclaimer : Of course, I may have missed things out so it is always best to get swimming classes but I tried my best to explain it to you.