Why Your Freestyle Falls Apart When You Breathe

By Audrey Holmes · 4 min read

Why does my freestyle fall apart when I breathe?

Feeling balanced until you turn for air is a very common experience. One possibility is that the lead arm stops providing support at the moment you rotate to breathe, so the body briefly loses its long line. Noticing what your front arm is doing during the breath is a useful place to look.

Everything may feel balanced until you turn to breathe. Then you wobble, your legs drop, or your forward movement slows. Several things can contribute to this. In this Guide, we will explore one small moment that is easy to miss: what the front arm does while you turn for air.

I'm Audrey. One moment worth observing, because it happens underwater while your face is looking for air. For some swimmers, the front arm may press down, collapse, or begin pulling early as the head turns for air.

And that front arm was your support beam. Take away the beam exactly when you're turning your head… and the whole building leans.

Why it feels like a different problem

Notice — the symptom is at the breath, but it FEELS like a balance problem, a leg problem, a panic problem. Your body may respond to the loss of support by hurrying, kicking harder, or lifting the head. One small change creates a chain reaction through the whole stroke.

The banister

Here's the picture I want in your mind: while you turn for air, the front arm stays long. Extended, patient, resting on the water like a hand on a banister. You're not floating in nothing — you're leaning on something.

Extend your support arm WHILE you turn to breathe. Those two things happen together — that timing may help the breath feel more supported.

And keep the breath small. One goggle stays in the water. You don't go up to the air — you roll to it, with the banister under your hand the whole time.

Timing can make breathing feel more stable. When the support arm and the turn begin working together, the wobble may lessen. Nothing collapses, because nothing stopped holding you.

Try this on your next swim

Slow motion, and take your air only when the front arm is long. Ask one question: “was my front arm still long when I took air?”

If it feels different, you have learned something useful. If it does not, that is useful information too, and another part of the breath may need attention. Either answer is progress.

Keep learning in the water.

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The banister

Extend your support arm WHILE you turn to breathe. Those two things happen together — that timing may help the breath feel more supported.

And keep the breath small. One goggle stays in the water. You don't go up to the air — you roll to it, with the banister under your hand the whole time.

Timing can make breathing feel more stable. When the support arm and the turn begin working together, the wobble may lessen. Nothing collapses, because nothing stopped holding you.

Try this on your next swim

Slow motion, and take your air only when the front arm is long. Ask one question: “was my front arm still long when I took air?”

If it feels different, you have learned something useful. If it does not, that is useful information too, and another part of the breath may need attention. Either answer is progress.