Introduction to Physical Education Chapter 3

CHAPTER III Basic Skills Swimming Techniques Lesson 1 – Breathing / Bubbling / Breath holding A. Breathing Incorrect breathing is commonly the biggest stumbling block in learning to swim. Even if you know how to swim but your breathing is not comfortable, you cannot go far, propulsion is slow and you untimely get burnt out. Dry Land Exercise: Techniques: 1. Start by sitting up straight 2. Inhale deeply by expanding the chest cavity and lungs fully through your nose and mouth. 3. Exhale strongly through your nose and mouth. Mouth Drills: 1. Pinch your nostrils to close. Purse your lips and inhale strongly through your mouth. Keeping your lips pursed, exhale just as strongly through the mouth as in your blowing hardly out the air. 2. Repeat this 10x breathing deeply as you can. Nose Drills: 1. Cover your mouth and in hale deeply through your nose then exhale once again, expelling the air hard. 2. Repeat this 10x each time breathing deeply as you can. Combination: 1. Inhale deeply utilizing both mouth and nose and exhale strongly. All this deep breathing may cause you lightheadedness – because you are getting more oxygen than you really need. (means your hyperventilating, but once you’ll already in the water you won’t get the same dizziness because your body will be utilizing the extra oxygen. Water Skill Techniques: 1. Stand in chest-deep water. Bring your face close to the surface of the water and inhale deeply through your mouth and nose. 2. Bring yourself to submerge your face under water and exhale strongly through your mouth and nose, ripples and bubbles should be formed. The stronger you expelled air out the more bubbles to come out. 3. Repeat this more times as strongly as you can. B. Bubbling – (Blowing bubbles) This is a simple but effective breathing exercise to improve rhythmic breathing in swimming. To relax the chest, getting rid of CO2 builds up and is able to recover from a vigorous swim. Water Skill Techniques: 1. Take a deep inhalation through your mouth before getting in the water 2. Hold your breath, submerge your head in water, slowly do exhalation on your breath, blow bubbles through mouth and nose. 3. Repeat step 1-2 until you feel less tensed and alleviated heavy breathing. C. Hypoxic Training (Breath Holding) Holding your breath in a swim race is a necessity to win. This has been practiced for decades by swimmers. Holding your breath is a way to cut off the fuel of the aerobic engine ( oxygen ) so that the body is forced to use the anaerobic engine while you learn to swim fast. When you swim anaerobically on a regular basis you come to improve your speed. Water Skill Techniques: 1. Inhale deeply 2. Submerge head under water for a period without releasing air 3. Slowly release air as you emerge back to the surface. Lesson 2 – Floatation This is the capacity of one’s body to suspend on the surface of the water; one being buoyed up on water. Bouyancy is a characteristics force that acts upon all bodies submerged in a liquid. It acts in the opposite direction of gravity and causes an bject to become lighter. According to Archimedes Principles” an object immersed in a fluid is buoyed up ( lifted ) by a force equal to the weight of the fluid is displaces”. 1. The body will float if the buoyancy is positive ( body weight lessen than the weight of the displace liquid ). 2. The body will suspend if the buoyancy is neutral ( body weight is equal to the weight of displace liquid ). 3. The body will sink if the buoyancy is negative ( body weight is larger/heavier than the weight of displaced liquid ). Buoyancy is achieved depending on the weight of the submerging body. Pull of Gravity Gravity is the force on earth, which pulls all objects toward the center. The force of the gravity pulls down vertically and is concentrated at each objects center of gravity. The center of gravity is the point where an object balances perfectly. To stay balanced, the center of gravity must be on a vertical line with the point of suspension above and below it. The center of gravity of the human body varies on location depending on body shape and weight distribution. For example: In a male with muscular upper body and smaller hips, the center of gravity is higher than a female with narrow and wide hips. The lower the center of gravity, the more stables the balance. Therefor females are more buoyant than males. Man’s specific gravity: Males = 0.98 Females = 0.968 Factors affecting ones capacity to float: 1. Distribution of body tissue on physical structure. - Adipose tissue is concentrated more in one part of the body. ( e.g., around the thighs and hips of pear-shaped women ) the center of buoyancy moves closer to the center of gravity reducing the sinking effect in the lower part of the swimmer. 2. The proportion of fat. - The adipose tissue acts insulator, less energy is used for internal body heating and for maintaining streamline. 3. Lung capacity ( volume of air ) - More air in the lungs makes the body less dense than water. 4. Density of water – swimmer will float slightly higher in salt water than in fresh water. 1. Surface seawater = 1.035 kg/m3 2. Deep ocean = 1.050 kg/m3 Salt water is 3.5% denser than fresh water. Therefore, the higher the density of the water the more pronounced effect the body to float. 5. Buoyancy force and pull of gravity Different Types of Floatation A. Prone float ( Dead man’s float ) It is also known as the front float. As the term implies the body position is kept on prone position, face down and arms stretch forward, the legs kept straight at the back. Water Skill Techniques: 1. Stand on chest-deep water 2. Inhale deeply and hold 3. Lean over into the water 4. Face down; stretch your arms forward and legs behind 5. Relax your body and allow floating 6. Recovery to stand from prone position B. Back Float – lying on your back on the water. This posture will teach your body to trust in the water being able to learn to float. Water Skill Techniques: 1. Face the wall, stand at shoulder deep level. 2. Hold your body through your arms fingers touching the edge of the wall. 3. Breathe deeply and exhale slowly so is not to lose your buoyancy. 4. Slowly drop your head back pillowing yourself onto the water, keeping your face up afloat. 5. Arms stretched open to side at streamline level and palms pressed down. 6. Lift your chin, chest and hips. Keeping your whole torso up. 7. Legs are kept dropped a little bit sinking with little movement. Slowly release and hold off the wall. 8. Recovery to stand from the back float position. C. Turtle float – the knees are raised to the chest, the forehead is tucked in and the arms wrapping around the knees. Water Skill Techniques: 1. Take a deep breath and hold 2. Raise the knees close to the chest and encircle arms around, 3. Tuck in face to chest 4. Float and relax 5. Recovery D. Jelly fish float – part of water safety This is also known as survival float. Leaning to float the varied positions helps in understanding the lifting effects of water. Jellyfish float is imitating swimming movement position of the jellyfish in the sea water. Water Skill Techniques: 1. Stand in waist-deep water 2. Take a deep breath 3. Bend trunk downward with face down in the water 4. Hang arms down and allows the water to support the body 5. Lift the feet off the bottom 6. Keep the body bob to the surface like a ball form 7. Recovery ( draw the knees upward, press the water down and raise head up, keep balance ). E. Jackknife float – the term was derived from the former name for type of dive in which the diver bends at the waist in midair; legs are straight together with his hands touching his feet/ankles. Water Skill Techniques: 1. Inhale deeply, take the jellyfish position 2. Stretch the arms downwards touching the ankles 3. Hold the position, relax and float 4. Recover Lesson 3 – The Glides A push-off arrow like position of the body as I moves through the water without the arm and leg movement. This can be done in both underwater or on the surface. A. Prone glide Water Skills techniques: 1. Stand with your back on the pool wall 2. Stand at a shoulder deep water 3. Extend your arms forward 4. On bend knee lean your prominent foot on the wall 5. Stick your face in the water. Hold breath 6. Position your body in the streamlined push-off 7. Recover B. Back glide Water Skills Techniques: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Assume in climbing position, hands holding the gutter edge Push off Place your head down pillowing, enough the ears to level in the water surface Arms by the side Legs straight Tummy should be pushed up to keep it just under the water surface Recovery Lesson 4 – Water Treading Water treading is a basic survival swimming skill. A method used to keep afloat. The swimmer stays in vertical or upright body position on water, head is above the water surface. Arms and legs are moved to keep afloat. Water Skill Techniques: 1. Keep your head up on the water surface and breath normally Arm Movement 2. Sculling – A back and forth movement of the hands and arms. To maintain the body position. Provides propulsion and keeps you from sinking in the water. This is the first safety skill a swimmer should learn. Scull your arms/hand horizontally, forward and backward direction (moving them up and down, you will tend to move you up and sink). Leg Movement Types: a) Kick your leg back and forth with your feet pointed downward. b) The egg beater Kick your legs on circular manner with your feet kept stiff. Lesson 5 – The Sidestroke A resting stroke used in recreational swimming. Also it is both life-saving stroke and life time stroke. Lifeguards during rescue situations hold the victim with one arm up in front and scissors kick from sidestroke is commonly used. It is good for long distance swimming hence it utilize less energy and simple breathing. Water Skill Techniques: 1. Body Position – Glide. Float on your side. Align head, back and legs. Legs should be straight together with toes pointed out. Hold your head up to keep the face high thus the mouth and nose placed just above the water for easy breathing. Head and back should stay aligned throughout the course of stroke. 2. Scissors Kick – ( provides the full propulsion of the swim. ) a) Bend knees towards chest until thighs will be at 90 degree angle with your torso. b) Open leg with the upper legs kicking towards front and the lower leg towards your back. c) Snap legs together and repeat from initial position. 3. Arm Movement Leading Arm – arm closest to the bottom of the water. In the catch position, extend the leading arm forward in line with the body – few inches under the water surface. Palm flat face down. Trailing Arm – arm extended fully towards the feet. Rest the palm on top of the thigh. From catch position, pull down the leading arm; bend the elbow as the trailing arm comes up bringing it together under your chin. Push your trailing arm sweeping your hand bringing it down towards your feet. Repeat the cycle. Lesson 6 – The Trudgen Stroke The trudgen stroke is also known as racing stroke or sometimes called the East Indian stroke. The term was derived from the name of an English swimmer John Trudgen ( 1852-1902 ). The swim is a combination of a sidestroke and freestyle swimming with scissors kick pushing the water back by the arm and side kick action with the legs. Water Skill techniques: (ehow sports and fitness editor 1999) Body Position 1. Begin with a glide, face down position Arm Movement 2. Start the crawl stroke with just your arms, saving your arms from your shoulders, first one, then the other, with one arm recovering while the other strokes. Each hand cuts through the water, then sweeps down and back to your side , pushing water toward your feet. 3. Straighten your arms to push water back, then bend your elbow to left and swing your arm back to the forward position. Leg Movement 1. Snap your legs together like scissors closing, as your right arm enters the water. 2. Side kick when you push the water back “When the left hip is low, the kick is performed as the left hand moves forward…snap the legs to keep together as the right arm goes forward.” Body Position/Breathing As your right arm leaves the water slightly roll your lower body, keeping your left hip drop below ( side position ) and take a breath on the opposite side. Lesson 7 – The Dog Paddle The Dog Paddle is a basic swimming technique that you can use in short distances and stay afloat. The movement imitates a dog as it swims, hence the name. Water Skill Techniques: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Push off – assume a prone position and float on your chest Extend arms forward palms facing down Flutter kick – move quickly up and down with toes pointed Tilt your chin keep your forehead and eyes above the surface. In circular movement alternately move each hand forward and downward then the rear and up. In this manner your pushing the water forward and downward which lifts your upper body and create propulsion. Lesson 8 – The Crawl Stroke – Hand – over hand Arm Motion Swimming stroke where the arms are moved alternately overhead towards the front and push it against the water to create progression. This accompanied with flutter luck motion. Water Skill Techniques: Arm Movement 3 stages: 1. The catch – (water entry) Extend your right arm straight out in front your fingers together pointing downward. 2. The pull Pull your arm straight down until your thumb brushes the outside part of your right thigh. Bring it back furthest as you can. 3. Recovery Lift your elbow up as high as it will go as you bring the arm forward and straighten forward back to catch position. Repeat the action with your left arm in cycle motion with your right. Pull – recover – and catch. Breathing Every time you bring your right arm to recovery – inhale with your face snap to your right side and as you do the catch-to-pull action face down and slowly exhale under water. Leg Movement: - Flutter Kick Flutter Kick – It is a leg action that accompanies the crawl stroke. The most basic of all the kicks, supports propulsion and stabilizes the body position preventing excess wiggling of the hips. Water Skill Techniques: 1. Move your legs up down alternately in a consistent rhythm, strong and steady. 2. The power of the kick should come from the hips. 3. On the downward kick, bend your knees slightly and keep your ankle loose 4. On the upbeat, hold your knee relatively straight and raise your foot only up to your heel breaks the water surface.