Treading Water

jph100

hi

whats the best way of treading water? in my last lesson before christmas i was treading water for all of 5 seconds(which took a fair bit of effort) before id need top grab the bar.

does it get easier!?

thanks

Sabre0001

Certainly gets easier over time...I was taught two ways so try each (I'm sure there are more) and find the one you are most comfortable with:

1) Arms in the breast stroke motion, body straight, legs kicking as if doing the breast stroke

2) Arms in the breast stroke motion, body straight, legs kicking like cycling a bike (circles)

I found it's easier to be more relaxed with method #1 (and look less panicky ) but method #2 kept me more afloat...

jph100

ok thanks a lot. ill try them out asap.

the way i was doing it looked panicky,took up loadsa energy and only kept me afloat for a few secs.

ill practice these til i get it right. thanks!

AngryHippie

a few things that make it easier.
1 Getting a little panicky tend to cause you to lift yourself higher out of the water, requiring more effort.
2 Keeping your lungs full of air offers a large amount of "free" bouyancy.
3 Slow smooth movements are far more effective than fast sweeps
4 The eggbeater kick, this is basically breaststroke legs (frog kick), only difference is that you kick your legs alternately as opposed to both at the same time.
5 Keep your arms low down in the water, try not to break the surface, even with eddies.
relax, stay near the edge, and always make sure the lifeguard knows what you are doing, They'll probably offer to help for a few minutes, It's in their own interest to stay dry really.

promethius

a few things that make it easier.
1 Getting a little panicky tend to cause you to lift yourself higher out of the water, requiring more effort.
2 Keeping your lungs full of air offers a large amount of "free" bouyancy.
3 Slow smooth movements are far more effective than fast sweeps
4 The eggbeater kick, this is basically breaststroke legs (frog kick), only difference is that you kick your legs alternately as opposed to both at the same time.
5 Keep your arms low down in the water, try not to break the surface, even with eddies.
relax, stay near the edge, and always make sure the lifeguard knows what you are doing, They'll probably offer to help for a few minutes, It's in their own interest to stay dry really.

Great tips above, you covered everything i was going to say.
To the OP it gets a lot, lot easier. I was showing this to someone in the pool the other day who was having the same problems treading water.
It's possible for pretty much anyone to do the following and stay up "for free". Get vertical in the water, tilt your head as far back as you can. Keep your legs straight but not locked and point your toes. Big breaths and inhale exhale quickly. Hand relaxed by your sides and viola you're floating. You do need to be comfortable in the water to do this so may not work the first few times. If you feel like it's not working have an experieced swimmer hold you under the armpit for some support and or move your hands in slow figures of eight. My friend was amazed that he was wasting so much energy. The only thing out of the water will be your head if you try this but that's enough :-) Note some people just sink like bricks so this may not work for them but will for most.

Clseeper

The eggbeater kick seems to be the most efficient kick to try and thread water. Exactly like AngryHippie says but you don’t have to touch your ankles back together at the end of the kick. By kicking more out to the side/ diagonally down, you spread your body weight and make it a lot easier.

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=IWV4GHp03gA

This video is ok. The kick is quite fast and as your feel improves, you wont have to kick as much as this.

If your only starting then the most benefit would be seen by working on relaxing in the water and finding your floating point, then once your comfortable with that you can using your legs. Stereotypically men will float vertical, whereas women will float more horizontal. It all about your distribution of weight (fat, muscle, bone etc). By just getting comfortable in your natural floating position you can overcome your fear of sinking and can then concentrate on what your doing as opposed to just rushing to keep your head above the water.

The last person I was showing how to tread water actually found it more effective to just use his hands and leave his legs relaxed. Without seeing what you’re doing, it’s quite hard to give specific advice. Make sure to talk to you swimming teacher. They’d be more than happy to help.

Some good general advice in the above posts so hope all this helps.