Never learnt to swim?
Jump in with Zoggs!
Always been a little nervous of the water or never had the chance to learn to swim? Why not give it a go? Swimming is proven to have great benefits both for your physical and mental health, as well as being a great way to spend quality time with friends and family. Zoggs have some top tips whether you are just beginning your swim journey, or looking to get that practice in between lessons.
Trust the Natural Buoyancy
The element of learning to swim people always struggle with is trusting the natural buoyancy of the water.
To get used to the buoyancy, a Zoodle can be a great support. Try placing the Zoodle under your arms, lean forward, rest your weight on it and allow your legs to naturally float to the surface of the water. Once you are comfortable with the floatation of the water, start by slowing kicking your legs to get used to the feeling of moving around the water. You can give it a go on your front and back - to float on your back, place the Zoodle behind you tucking each end under your arms and lean back. This is a great way of exploring the natural floatation of the water and bonus it can be very relaxing, just try not to fall asleep!
Take a Breath
Ready to move on a step? Remember, only move onto the next step when you are completely happy. The most important thing is that you are enjoying the water, it is not a race! If you feel comfortable with the water, while floating on your front, try placing your mouth under the water for short periods of time holding your breath. When you feel comfortable, slowly place more and more of your face into the water until you can place your whole face under. Don’t forget your goggles! Zoggs Phantom 2.0 goggles are the perfect goggles to stick by you from beginner to confident swimmer. Available in a smoke and blue lens, with anti-fog, curved lens and soft seal it is the ultimate all round goggle. Once submerged, try turning your face left and right to practice breathing both sides. Your breathing technique will become second nature in no time.
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Master the stroke
So you’ve mastered the natural buoyancy of the water and your breathing - it is now time to start working on your swim stroke. While the Zoodle has been supporting you till now, if you feel comfortable, try and start using this less and less. A great way of doing this is holding the Zoodle by each end (in an arch shape) and hold this out in front of you. As you did with the Zoodle before let your legs float to the surface and start a gentle kick. Place your face in the water and continue to practice your breathing left and right. While this improves your kicking and breathing technique, the Kick-board slightly reduces the level of buoyancy support allowing you to start feeling the movement of the water and trust the natural floatation.
To start with, hold the kick-board using the handles or the top edge (so your forearms are resting on the top). As you feel more confident move your hands to the bottom edge and start to practice your swim stroke. With one hand on the board take your arm back and over to return it to the board, repeat this with alternate arms. When you feel comfortable breathing on both sides, try and take a breath every three strokes. In no time you will be powering up and down the lanes!
You’ve got there, you’ve learnt to swim but what do you do then? Take a look at the Zoggs technique videos, these can help you to perfect that swimming stroke, kick or your breathing. Or if you want to change it up a bit Zoggs videos show how to use Ultra Blue Fins and Hand Paddles to help with your swim training.
Check out Zoggs technique videos
What are you waiting for? Head to your local centre and take your first dip. If you're still not ready to dive into lessons, you can head down to test out the feeling of the water - you soon won’t want to leave! Just remember: swimming is all about enjoyment of the water, whether that is having a relaxing float, swimming up and down the lanes or taking the kids for some quality family time - swimming is all about having fun!
If you are looking for any of the products mentioned in this blog check out your local centre for a full range of Zoggs swimwear and equipment.
If you enjoyed this blog you may be interested in our "Everyone should learn to swim!" blog too!
References
Suzie Forbes - Zoggs