Wearing goggles for your swimming lessons
Well from my own experience, bringing a pair of swimming goggles along to the pool didn't seem very natural, so i always wondered whether i needed one to learn to swim. Lots of people not wearing one, so do i really need it to swim or to learn to swim? A few times i tried to open my eyes underwater and found it difficult, distracting my focus on holding my breath and being calm. What's the point of having your eyes closed, you dont expect to swim blindly do you. So i finally convinced myself that i needed goggles and got a cheap one at the local hypermart. I actually needed prescription goggles, but since they're more expensive and i'm just trying out i just got a normal one for now. Tried it at the pool, and it really did make a difference. Chlorine in the water does sting your eyes, with the goggles on i could focus on learning to swim, i didnt need to get out of the water because my eyes hurt. So the first step is to get a pair of goggles. Prescription goggles are available. Next time i'll tell you how i ordered my prescription goggles as i couldn't get it cheap locally. Told you i'm cheap. :)
My first pair of swimming goggles
Holding your breath underwater; first skill to learning swimming
Yes, there is all that familiarizing yourself with the water, feel how cold it is, etc, but the first actual skill for me to learn to swim is holding my breath underwater. Some of you reading this for no actual reason would say "what, that's not a skill". But it is! For people who have fear of water, or being submerged, it certainly is. I'm not talking about rain man dustin hoffman type of fear here, just that feeling that you'll drown, and couldnt hold my breath for a few seconds underwater type. What you need to do is relax, dont think too far, just try it step by step. You have a friend next to you. You're at the shallow part of the pool. Your hands can touch the sides of the pool. Ok, you know you can hold your breath normally, just afraid to do it underwater, thinking it is more difficult. Its not. Put on you goggles. Now the target is to hold your breath underwater for 5 seconds. Take a deep breath, hold it, submerge. 1,2,3,4,5 success! Lift your head up. There you go, not anymore difficult is it. With the goggles you could see clearly down there too didnt you? Next, do it for 10 seconds. Then 15, then 20, by now i bet you have started to feel more comfortable being 'down there', perhaps liking it, perhaps addicted to it. Try and go up to 30 seconds or start walking around a bit. Now you can hold you breath underwater. Some learn to swim tips would tell you to practice exhaling as you lift your head out of the water, inhaling quickly and submerging again. Try this too, but just make sure your friend is there. There are many other tips on holding your breath, i'll share it when i have the chance.
No comments:
Post a Comment