Learning to swim as an adult

I have been quoted a price of €50 per lesson so far, seems abit steep, unless its Michael Phelps teaching me [/QUOTE]

That is shocking!!! there is no way u should be paying that much, the price for private lessons in my local pool is €20 and that was over a year ago with the recession it could be less now.....

redarmy1929 wrote: »

That is shocking!!! there is no way u should be paying that much, the price for private lessons in my local pool is €20 and that was over a year ago with the recession it could be less now.....

yeah i know, guess some parts of Dublin were never hit by it.

20-30quid is what im looking for really

Was this in the city centre!? That sounds about right! If you were up towards the Northside I'd be able to help you BUT I doubt you're going to travel to Portmarnock for swimming lessons!

nedelosion wrote: »

:eek:

i'm going to lesson number 3 tomorrow! i have a fear of water, and am basically forcing myself to do this, the only way i could get myself to do it with out getting upset in the pool was to have one to one lessons with an instructor and with my 7 yr old daughter (she can swim) , i wasnt going to let her see how stupidly petrified i was of what was goin on day one was ok my instructor is fab she knows if i need a minute to calm down or when to push me, i think the key is who teachs you and how comfortable you are with them.....i have friends who are lifeguard trained but i couldnt learn with them it had to be a stranger i dunno why..... i so far have floundered in water cried and gotten frustrated but ya know what i got over it.....and im going to do it all again tomorrow and pay someone to watch me while i do it but ill get there......trust yourself people...and dont do a me on it and get emotionally attached to your kickboard.....apparently its going tomorrow :eek:

Well done! It sounds like your making serious strides & a few more weeks you wont know yourself!! Are you getting your face in the water? I couldn't gather that from your post? When you realize you'll move easier through the water without the float just by staying streamlined (basically flat & stretched) you wont want it back!!! Good luck

nedelosion wrote: »

yep face in water not a problem, its the needing to stand up and not being able to without swallowing water and my heart busting out of my chesst in panic that is the problem lol

Hmmm, I don't want to be undermining your coach but has she thought a basic breathing technique when you get in the water? Before every class get in the water, take a big breath in & let yourself float as you slowly breath out, the objective of this excercise is to relax in the water but control where you're going .

• If you feel you have to at 1st hold the wall then eventually graduate to free floating.

• When you relax & breath out for long enough the 1st part of your body to drop will be your legs as they're furthest from the lungs! Let this happen & keep breathing out your mouth slowly!

• As you breath out you'll lose buoyancy & eventually sink to the bottom!
  You'll find that this takes quite a while when you control your breathing showing you actually how much air you have inside you & will allow you to be more confident in how long you can actually stay face in the water for! I have a begginer hitting 45 seconds off the bat but he's an exception, anything over 15 seconds is great!

• The other thing that begginers (some coaches ) don't pick up on is the musclses you use to breath out. You need to use your cheek (buccinator) muscles! Simply inflate your cheeks when you breath in & use them to gently force the air out your mouth. This takes pressure off your Neck (mainly scalene) muscles & is much more comfortable. I've fixed breathing in less then a minute for a few people just by getting them to do this!

The other effect of sticking your head in the water for ages is lack of oxygen to the brain so you get that doped up relaxed feeling so either way you'll be more confident! (This part is a joke btw....just incase someone thinks I'm 100% serious) :P

Hope this helps!

Hi all,
Like the OP I decided to bite the bullet and get some one on one lessons. I started around last August with the intention of getting one lesson a week and take it from there. However, being a dad to two young kids has ensured it hasn't worked out as planned and I also got a shoulder/neck injury, and my lessons have probably been averaging one every two weeks.

I started out quite fearful of water but gradually got a grip of that and was kicking with a board and face down in no time. A while back I got rid of the board and was able to kick for the wall from about 10 metres. I started practising strokes and felt I was really getting somewhere.

However, last week my instructor asked me to try some floating in the water and I stalled. I can just about let go of the wall and float but I have to be near the wall. I'm just not comfortable yet in open water and I feel this will hold me back unless I get it sorted.

My instructor is top class by the way. He doesn't just say 'do this, do that'....he explains things to me and is encouraging but firm in getting me to try things out. But the classes are adding up and I'm conscious of the fact that I have spent a fair bit of money on lessons at this stage.

Any tips/advice to help me through this stage would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Alan, what you're saying makes perfect sense but I just can't relax enough. As soon as I start to lose control of my bearings I get panicky and it all goes pear-shaped.

The thing is I know deep down that this is the most crucial stage for me and the importance of it is playing on my mind so much. I have another lesson tomorrow so I'll give it a really good shot then.

thegreengoblin wrote: »

Thanks Alan, what you're saying makes perfect sense but I just can't relax enough. As soon as I start to lose control of my bearings I get panicky and it all goes pear-shaped.

The thing is I know deep down that this is the most crucial stage for me and the importance of it is playing on my mind so much. I have another lesson tomorrow so I'll give it a really good shot then.

What I would suggest is, that you use two floats and when you lie on your back you will stay up in the water, gradually reduce the float to one, and then try with none at all. You can hold the floats, by putting your two hands on top of the floats, or cross them over your chest.

lorcan122 wrote: »

What I would suggest is, that you use two floats and when you lie on your back you will stay up in the water, gradually reduce the float to one, and then try with none at all. You can hold the floats, by putting your two hands on top of the floats, or cross them over your chest.

Well, I managed to float on my back holding a float underneath my head, which is not something I had even tried before. I also put the float across my chest, kicked for a bit and then turned over onto my front and kicked on. My instructor wants me to try and hold my my arms above my head with hands interlocked and start floating on my back. That's my next step...hopefully!

Just be careful with holding a float underneath your head, a lot of funny things can happen there, some people have problems standing up from this position so if you are reading this and considering trying it for the first time, don't try it on your own. To be honest I wouldn't recommend that exercise at all, instead try to achieve balance (horizontal position) with one hand on the wall, try to stand up a few times, with your hand still on the wall, once you ready to let it go try it again with your both arms by your side but still close to the wall, just in case if you need to hold on to it. It will also give you some confidence as the wall is there waiting for you if anything goes wrong. When you feel ready, move away from the wall, but please make sure that someone able to help you is watching you, just in case if you start panicking. I've seen this happen so many times that I just can't stretch enough how important it is to make sure you have some supervision while trying to stand up from the back crawl position for the first time.

I'm not a big fan of floats as I honestly believe that in most traditional ways of using them they place buoyancy in a wrong (unnatural) place, I'm not saying I'm not using them at all but I try to stay away from them as much as I can.

"My instructor wants me to try and hold my my arms above my head with hands interlocked and start floating on my back" It is a great way to improve balance and streamline, but its also quite difficult, so my advice to you, stretch and breath out strongly through your nose when you go underwater soon you will discover why .

Both links posted by Weylin are great source of swimming drills, but be under no illusion they won't replace swimming instructor, main problem with self learning is that you can't really see yourself drilling, and trust me what you do in reality is usually different from what you think you are doing, I know it sounds like some poor defense for an old school of teaching but every time I do a video analyze with people who swim on a really descent level, when they are watching themselves for the first time they are usually shocked as in their head their technique is looking at least 'slightly' different

I'm not saying DVD's and streamed videos are a bad way to learn or improve your swimming technique, just make sure you have some feedback going on other then your own perception as it can be strongly misleading.
Another thing with youtube videos... just remember that anyone can upload a video on yt, and I've seen some bad examples out there that I wouldn't recommend to anyone, so if you find something interesting ask for a second opinion from people who know this topic a bit better here or at least read some comments on this video. GoSwim.tv is always high quality and I can recommend them without looking at it same goes to SwimSmooth and Totalimmersion.

Well with stretching its easy, the more you stretch the more balance you will get so your chances for staying up are much greater, also your streamline will improve so you will move through the water faster and easier by piercing through it rather then pushing it around, soon you will discover that water doesn't like to be pushed around and if you push it to hard it will fight back

But I'm guessing its the second one you are interested in, once you are on your back your nose is pointing up, when it submerges water likes to flood it a bit, while you are in a nose down position the air pressure in your nose is usually sufficient to stop water from getting in (if not just breath out gently through it), when you are in a nose up position however air is quickly pushing its way through the water to go up being replaced by the water, if you continue to breath out through your nose I can give you 99% warranty that no water will get into it, if you wont then God help you First time is always funny so just mind my words and relax remember after all its only a bit of water, you drink liters of it every day another spoon is not going to kill you.
(its only 99% as there is a chance you wont breath out strong enough)

Good luck, once you will click on it its much easier then it looks at the begging

Hi everyone, very interesting thread and I've got a bit of a lift from reading some of the progress reports. I'm going to lesson 2 tonight after three failed group lesson attempts over the last few years. I'd got to the point of thinking, I'm never going to be able to swim but heading for 43rd birthday this year, it's make or break.

Lesson one was soul destroying, I couldn't do anything the instructor asked. He is very patient and really supportive but why do instructors stay on the side of the pool? I swallowed a lot of water to the point I was going to choke! He asked me to stretch my arms out in front of me with hands locked together, I couldn't even contemplate that so he gave me a float. I CAN'T put my face in the water, I just ended up in a complete panic and felt like a fool. I was hoping that lesson one would be a learn to float session as I've never been able to manage it but alas, it was straight into the practicals.

Off to buy a nose clip today to try and eliminate one problem. I think I need a set of flippers and a snorkel mask too!!

I take it from your post that you are now getting one on one lessons? From my experience the best place for the instructor to be is on the side of the pool and not in it. It just takes you out of your comfort zone and I think that is a really important part of learning to swim.

I didn't get that from his post at all! I really hope that's not the case because if he is paying for one on one lessons the instructor should be in the pool with him. You'll learn faster by having things explained to you & been shown what to do properly & not waste your money. If this is the case find a new instructor!!

colly3 wrote: »

Thanks for the jee up there GG. I know I will get there eventually, I really, really want to learn and become a confident swimmer, regardless of how long it takes me.

Burkatron... I'm afraid your worst fears have been realised, yes, it was one to one lesson. Mainly due to my fear of drowning or worse!! I had hoped the guy would have been in the pool but to be honest, I didn't know what the "right" or "wrong" process is.

This really grinds my gears TBH, you're paying good money & the snake is ripping you off! I deal with guys like this where I work, it pays off as his customers eventually come to me & learn more in 1 lesson with me then they do in 10 with him for the same price!

Well I got stood up tonight... he was called away to another pool, didn't find out until I was in the pool but I'm not complaining,

Ah classic, defo time to find someone else!

I brought my 16 and 10 year olds (I think they secretly thought I was going skiving or something and wanted to check up on me)

Anyway, all was not lost, my 16 year old daughter took the spongy board from me, gave me a tube thingy similar to what I have lagged water pipes with!! and boy!!, what a difference. She had me doing lengths of the pool, end to end and as the clock ticked by I could feel my confidence growing. Now I probably looked a sight but I really don't care because I was actually moving and not a panic attack or fear of mortal danger in within a 5 mile radius!!

That is great news!! The bolded but is how you should feel in the water so you made massive progress!!


I found the tube less restrictive than the board and when I tried going backwards, I was fit to explode with excitement because when my stand in "coach" saw this, she helped me to float... OK it was a temporary thing but at least I know it's possible now and that in itself is a confidence builder for me.

I realise both my legs and arms are weak, I have nowhere near enough strength to sustain my new found aquatic freedom, so I am going to have to work on this problem.

I really doubt this is the case, you don't need strength to swim! It's all about technique & relaxation! This will come!

I also need to learn to breath properly and my leg / arm coordination is shocking, for someone who can normally juggle half a dozen tasks at a time, I am finding it next to impossible to breath and keep coordination in tune.

Again, this will all come in time, it's a step by step process & believe me you're on the right course!

Hey ho, I feel great after tonight, we had 2 hrs in the pool and it flew by. Have booked another lesson for tomorrow night so fingers crossed... will give you a (shorter) update then.

I hope this is with your daughter & not that clown you were working with before, don't waste your money!

Burkatron, could I please ask what general area you are in? I may be jumping to conclusions here (?) but reading through all your hugely informative posts, I assume you are an instructor? I'm not expecting miracles but no harm to have a plan B should the need arise!!

Thanks guys.

Nope, you're right,it's one of my 3 jobs!! I work in a pool in Navan Monday to Fridays & Portmarnock on weekends. Where abouts are you based & myself or 1 of the other guys will be able to help you or put you in contact with someone that can! Waaay past my bed time!! Well done on your progress! You wont know yourself in a few weeks!!

Lesson 2 was wow material, different instructor ( he didn't get in by the way and GG, I'm with you 100%, he didn't need to but reassured me that he'd be in at a second's notice if necessary). Had a sit down chat first, told him number 1 guy was ok but that I thought he was expecting too much too soon. No 2 asked what I felt was OTT, told him my breathing was crap and that I couldn't bear the idea of my face in the water. I really think the guy is some kind of miracle worker because my the end of the lesson I was floating with my face fully submerged!!

The first bit was all about walking a few feet towards the wall (shallow end) taking a deep breath, dipping my head under the water and breathing out as I came up. At first he was counting out loud so that I could concentrate on the breathing as opposed to the timing, then he stopped (even though I didn't notice) and we carried on from there. Before the end of the lesson I was (according to Mr Wonderful) doing ok. The lesson was supposed to last 30 mins I got a full hour - he asked if I was in a hurry but to be honest I was so impressed with his methods, I could have stayed all night!! He wouldn't let me use the nose clip that I was hanging on to for dear life and NOW I can see his reasoning, ok, I had a few gulps of water but nothing that scared me like before. The lesson finished with floating from the half way mark to the wall while practicing the breathing and it was deadly. The one thing I did have difficulty with was actually just floating, for some reason, I started flapping my legs and arms, thinking I was an olympic athlete, and then I just lost all momentum. I tried so hard not to move anything, but my limbs had other ideas. I've booked another lesson with this lad next Thurs because I really think he's helped me overcome probably, my biggest fear, the whole face in the water issue.


GG, I don't think it's fair to say I was "swimming" from one end to the other... I was making it from end to end but anyone on the sidelines looking at me probably wouldn't call it swimming Arms and legs were thrashing around like bejaysus but my face never went in the water once (apart from when a big hefty guy in the next lane was doing some water gynamastics and there were tidal waves in the pool!!) The tube was my crutch and it would have been an entirely different story if I didn't have it - I would NOT have been able to go past the shallow end. I was desperate to show off my new found skills to the instructor last night but thankfully, he never gave me the opportunity to make a complete show of myself!! Are you still learning GG or have you reached your goal?

I'm going to try to get to the pool a few times before the next lesson but the one thing I realised last night and I'm ashamed to admit it... I'm far more confident when I'm with someone, after the lesson, I floated around for a while but soon got out. I'm going to bribe the kids before next Thurs:D

thanks

Get onto the iws they are the best instructors and will have anyone swimming in a couple weeks/months garaunteed!