Proper exhalation while swimming is a vital skill for two reasons: 1) it’s how we teach you to keep water out of the nose while you are on your back whether it be floating, flutter kicking, or learning backstroke, and 2) it’s how swimmers release air in preparation to take a breath.

Ultimately swimming is all about breathing. In Level 1 and Beginner Adults we focus exclusively on teaching how to breathe underwater. Developing and maintaining a correct pattern of inhaling and exhaling is the first fundamental skill for anyone to be able to swim and be safe in the water. If your swimmer is in Level 1 or if you are still “bob-reluctant,” check out our deep-dive on bobs blog post here.

This blog post is for you if you or your child are saying, “I can’t…”

… go as far as the coaches are asking
… hold my breath that long
… float – I just sink!
… do a somersault in the water
… touch the bottom of the pool (at 3-4 feet of depth)

The average healthy person should have no problem covering a distance of 20 feet in the water provided they are exhaling properly and performing the skills being taught correctly. Swimmers that are not exhaling properly are likely to feel winded or become out of breath more quickly. Exhaling, on land or in water, releases tension. When you hold your breath, your body is unable to release carbon dioxide (CO2) and you will begin to fatigue. This causes a sense of urgency or “needing” to breathe and results in a swimmer lifting their head, thus losing a stable body position and further fatiguing the body while trying to regain buoyancy or movement.

Simply put, holding the breath and retaining tension makes it hard to move. This feeling of needing to breathe creates a sense of fear and no one, regardless of age or ability, is able to learn when fear is present. By first teaching every single student how to breathe underwater, we are able to helping to establish a baseline comfort and confidence in the water that allows them to then be able to learn.

For more advanced swimmers who are expected to bilaterally breathe during freestyle, stockpiling CO2 from not exhaling makes the time between strokes feel very long regardless of how strong or powerful you are. A swimmer, in this case, is more likely to revert back to breathing solely on their favored side. This results in your stroke becoming lopsided from poor body rotation on your non-breathing side, which then leads to arm pull deficiency and other problems such as stress injury on the shoulder joints and back. All stemming from a poor breathing technique!

If you or your child is struggling to exhale through the nose, close the mouth and make the “letter M sound– hmmmmm” when putting the face into the water. As one improves the ability to exhale without needing to think about it, it actually becomes possible to exhale easily through the nose with the mouth open and not swallow any water. However, this can be difficult to achieve when first learning how to exhale through the nose.

What exactly is a “slow and controlled bob?” Developing and maintaining a correct breathing pattern is the first fundamental in teaching anyone how to properly swim. In Kids Level 1 and Adult Beginners we focus exclusively on teaching how to breathe underwater. In order to pass Level 1, your child must be able to easily perform 10 slow and controlled bobs.

A perfectly executed bob is when a swimmer takes a BIG breath in through their mouth and then submerges their head fully underwater while releasing air out their nose. The air exhaled through the nose becomes bubbles once submerged underwater. Children and those who cannot safety stand in the pool are asked to holding on to the edge of the pool with two hands to complete every rep.

At home, children can practice their bob in the bathtub. Our coaches frequently describe the exhale through the nose as “humming” underwater. The act of humming produces exhalation through the nose instead of the mouth.

What we look for is that the swimmer is able to consistently and repeatedly put their head underwater while exhaling properly through their nose, come up and take a new breath in and then do another bob exhaling through the nose again and getting the head completely submerged underwater. This is called proper air exchange.

Additionally, we want to see that anyone bobbing is confident and comfortable performing ten bobs in a row without stopping, getting distracted, or needing to adjust goggles or wipe water from their eyes/nose/mouth.

Proper air exchange relieves tension in the body and is a foundational step in developing water confidence and comfort. This becomes especially important in Level 2 when you learn how to float on the front and back, a survival skill.

If you have already mastered the “bob” check out our blog post here for important reminders on breathing for swimmers across all levels of our learn-to-swim program.

Why is the Sweet Spot SOOOOO important and why do we teach it before teaching swimming with arms? Because the Sweet Spot is the key that unlocks swimming efficiency.

Swimming efficiency is a competitive advantage for athletes and a survival strategy for the rest of us. Efficiency in the water is not about having the strongest muscles or the fastest cadence. Efficiency is about combining balance with movement. Balancing is the default position. Pairing that with moving through the water, by expending the least amount of energy, equals efficiency.

Balance is first taught to beginner swimmers with front and back floats. These are the easiest balance positions to learn because they provide the most surface area and least amount of movement to work with. Front and back floats are like riding a bicycle. The Sweet Spot side float is like learning to ride a unicycle. It’s about countering the unbalanced part of the body. This makes the sweet spot a difficult yet critical position to master when learning how to swim.

The Sweet Spot is the single most important position in freestyle and backstroke. These strokes, when performed well, are really all about swimming side to side. The finish of each of these strokes is in the sweet spot or side balance position. A proper sweet spot is a swimmer’s rest/recovery position in freestyle and backstroke.

In the Sweet Spot position, a person is stretched out as long as possible on their side with their head turned just enough towards the sky so they can breathe while their feet engage in a very small flutter kick. We want swimmers to learn how to perform the Sweet Spot on both sides of the body. Most people have one side that feels more natural which is completely normal. Students learn Sweet Spot on both sides because it will help you learn how to breathe bi-laterally in Level 5!

What the Sweet Spot Looks Like:

• Head is in line with the spine in a neutral position, chin up slightly
• Eyes are looking up towards the ceiling; tip of the nose facing the ceiling
• Top hip is up at/near the surface of the water
• Arm closest to bottom of the pool is extended in streamline in line with the head and NOT moving
• Arm closest to ceiling is extended down the side and NOT moving, resting on the thigh
• The top facing shoulder is dry out of water or at the water surface

Common Sweet Spot Mistakes to Correct:

• Under or over-rotation – either rolling too far onto stomach or back reverting to the front or back float
• If the chin is tucked too much swimmer’s body will look like a curved “C”

How to coach yourself or your swimmer in Sweet Spot:

• It’s okay to feel terribly awkward when practicing the Sweet Spot – it’s an entirely new position for the body. When are we ever floating on our side?! The body is smart and will learn to feel comfortable the more time you spend in the Sweet Spot.
• When practicing on your own outside of lessons, try rolling onto the side to take a breath instead of standing up or flipping all the way onto the back. Have fun with the rolling and pretend you are a seal in the ocean! It’s okay to flop around and make a splash. Be grateful for giving your brain and body a challenge.

Overall, Sweet Spot competency builds endurance and improves one’s ability to swim longer distances. Although the Sweet Spot is a skill first learned in Level 4 and Intermediate Adults, it continues to be practiced as a “recovery position” throughout the rest of the Learn-to-Swim program levels and strokes.