Precise breaths

Precise breaths (cue)

Definition: Breathing to the side in Front Crawl or Freestyle should be practiced repeatedly in a way that develops good habits. Avoid letting learners create sloppy or tilted breathing.

Core cues:

1. "The head should be aiming down when not breathing."
2. "To breathe, turn the head and the hip to the side towards the surface."
3. "Stop turning when enough of the face is over the water line; roughly 2/3 of the face."
4. "After the breath, return the face down, into the water with a twist of the head and hip."
5. "Face in water, turn and Breath to side with ½ step back keep ear, eye, and lip touching water."

Coach interpretation:

• "The head should be aiming down when not breathing.": Watch that the head aims down between breaths.
• "turn the head and the hip to the side towards the surface": Watch for the head and hip turning together to the side.
• "roughly 2/3 of the face": Watch for enough of the face over the water line, then stop the turn.
• "return the face down, into the water with a twist of the head and hip": Watch the face return down into the water with a twist of head and hip.
• "keep ear, eye, and lip touching water": Watch that the ear, eye, and lip stay touching the water.

Teaching strategy:

Create good breathing habits before asking learners to swim longer distances. Remove fear and struggle by keeping distances short.

• Practice turning the head.
• Turn the head, and turn the hips with it.
• Practice putting face in the water, then turning head to the side so that half the face exits the water.
• Sneak in a single breath during a short swim like 3xSL + 5 FR + 1 breath on stroke #2, 3, or 4.
• Repeat this step extensively.
• Long distance swims with support; kick boards, etc.
• Do many short distance drills; Position 1, Position 11 + arm, etc.

Limit breaths during short swims of 3-5 strokes; about 10 yards max. Aim for good breaths.

Common errors and corrections:

• head bending: Good breath: body in line; Good breath: face still touching water.

Progression:

Comes after Spinal Axis (Face touches the water. Hips and head twist together.). Leads to short distance drills such as Position 1 and Position 11 + arm, and long distance swims with support; kick boards, etc.

Short verified cues (confirmed present; check by eye): “Aim for good breaths.”