Is there a trick to not inhaling so much water when swimming face down.

[Denninmi]

Having trouble coordinating breathing in general, my instructor wants me to really concentrate on breathing and arm movement and won't move me on until I get to a place where my performance is at least fair.

Still taking in a lot of water on the inhale, mostly though my nose. I turn my head so my face is out of the water, exhale, inhale, and get what seems like a cascade down my throat.

Any tips or tricks to it? Gotta get this one down, talked to the triathlon coach, he says if I get the swimming down to the point I can do at least 100 yards basically non-stop I will be good to go to enter the beginning tri program in January.

[Scuba]

1. Practice until the muscle memory is there. One tip might be ...

... to start your exhale while your face is still in the water, finishing just as it turns far enough that it's out of water. Then inhale, only through your mouth, while your face is out, stopping the inhale just before your mouth goes under again.

Like any coordination effort - playing a musical instrument or dribbling a basketball - practice, practice, practice.

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. That shouldn't happen.

If it did, I don't think anyone would ever learn to swim.

Some ideas:

Work with a paddle board. i.e forget about the arm movements and just practice turning of the head and the breathing . You should develop a rhythm after a while.
Then incorporate the arm movements. Propel yourself by kicking. ( Don' t THINK abut the kicking; it will probably just happen. In any case, just think about the head movements and quick breathing IN... then, w. face back down in the water... OUT. I'd practice w. turning your head just to one side at first. Whatever side seems most natural and comfortable.)

Also: (you can do this separately) just practice the arm movements in isolation. Your can keep your face in the water and take a few strokes at a time; then stop an breathe.

I'm self-taught. When I watch people getting instruction it always seems to me the instructor is overloading the student w. too many things to do at once. This is especially hard on older ( i.e. adult) students.

[Orrex]

3. You should try to sprout a blowhole in the back of your head

Problem solved.

[Denninmi]

5. I'll have to talk to the plastic surgeon about that one.

That would be one hell of a rhinoplasty!

[Orrex]

8. Or you could do it yourself with a melon baller

In fact, that's just plain fun to say:

Melon baller
Melon baller
Melon baller
Melon baller
Melon baller

[nenagh]

4. Thinking back to swimming, I always kept my nose closed and just breathed through

the mouth.

Blew out (exhaled) with face in the water...learned to turn head to the side when I needed a breath and inhaled through mouth
When my mouth was above the water.

First the instructors just taught us that, no arm movement..just focus on the breathing first.

Maybe Olympic swimmers inhale through the nose and mouth... But at first...try to just use your mouth to breathe..

Edit to add: I think it would be hard to exhale then inhale when your face is out of the water..

Practice exhaling through the mouth as you are moving your head towards above the water so then you inhale.

Whatever is easy and not forced... Good luck, a swimming is amazing.

[Denninmi]

6. All good suggestions.

I think 1) I will slow it down, do arm movement separate from breathing, and 2) definitely try the submerged exhale.

[noamnety]

7. Yep, exhale underwater.

It's been a while for me, but when I was young I was on a swim team - and no matter what stroke (except backstroke unless you are REALLY screwing it up!) we exhale into the water. We only turn our heads and inhale when we need to - not every alternate stroke - don't feel rushed to take a new breath if you aren't ready for it.

You can practice a few ways - one is only good if you can do it in private because it will look stupid! Try practicing with a mixing bowl of water: http://beta.active.com/articles/swimming-breathing-basics

and the other is try bobbing up and down blowing out underwater and inhaling above:

With the mixing bowl one, once you are totally comfortable with that and you can do it without thinking about it, you could add arm movements in the air. I remember back in our swim lessons, standing on dry land and doing the arm movements timed with moving our heads. Sounds stupid - but if muscle memory is the goal so you don't have to think about it so hard in the water, it makes some sense.

[Denninmi]

10. Ah, I already look stupid.

And I could care less. Told the Baywatch Crew (my name for the teenage lifeguards) what I was doing, with the line "I know I look really stupid, but". And they have all been really helpful, giving me little tips on some things, or just asking me how it's going. High end gym, so the staff is always professional, but these kids are genuinely interested in how I'm doing.

[jakeXT]

9. Cheating with nose clips ?

I've never tried to exhale and inhale while out of the water, there is no time for that.

[Denninmi]

11. I absolutely can't do a nose clip.

A psychological thing (go figure! :rofl . Makes me panic, feels like I can't breath.

[LiberalEsto]

12. I still can't swim with my face in the water

and I've been able to swim for more than 50 years. Can't explain why.

Ironically both my daughters were competitive swimmers, life guards and swim instructors, and one of them was assistant coach with two summer swim teams.