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I have developed a weird style that has arms from, oh, the breaststroke or the butterfly or something, and a scissor-kick from the sidestroke. My head bobs on every stroke; at the high point I breathe, and even at the low point my eyes are usually still out of the water. (That last is very handy for me. I veer if I'm not looking.) I'm bothered by the asymmetry of the scissor-kick, but not enough that I spend time doing it the opposite way.
I have almost completely forgotten how to do the basic crawl. I can flutter-kick, and I am comfortable doing that when I am on a kickboard, but the flutter-kick doesn't go well with what my arms want to do. The arm and head motion of the crawl feels very wrong to me, and besides, it puts water in my ears. I am convinced this is the main purpose of the crawl. :-)
I have almost completely forgotten how to do the basic crawl. I can flutter-kick, and I am comfortable doing that when I am on a kickboard, but the flutter-kick doesn't go well with what my arms want to do. The arm and head motion of the crawl feels very wrong to me, and besides, it puts water in my ears. I am convinced this is the main purpose of the crawl. :-)
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Awkward
Honestly, swimming isn't much of a workout until you get your technique straightened out, as you've already indicated. It's one of the reasons that swimming is often discouraged as a cardio for the very overweight (like me). It's a SKILL and its better exercise once your technique is up.
If you're having chronic problems with your feet and can't bike, yes swimming lessons are a very good idea.
Re: Awkward
Well, the actual swimming isn't all THAT bad, once I'm in the pool. Granted, attempting the crawl is awkward. :-) What I dislike most about swmiming is the high overhead: TWO changes of clothes AND TWO showers AND a round trip in the car AND having to conform to the Y's schedule. Twenty minutes of swimming costs an hour, and can hose your day if your schedule doesn't line up properly with the Y; twenty minutes of running costs thirty minutes and you can do it whenever you wake up. I don't get how busy people swim. OK, ENOUGH whining from me! Enough!
Honestly, swimming isn't much of a workout until you get your technique straightened out, as you've already indicated.
I have? The way I understood it was that swimming is much more balanced than running: I need arms as well as legs. Once the arms come up to speed I will be able to swim longer. No?
Re: Awkward
Yes, once you get your practice in, it's a great full body workout. If your cardio health is good, you'll be able to push yourself nicely once your strength catches up.
Where swimming has a bad rep (and you can click on the Fitness tag on my journal for lots of rants about it) is in the weight loss department. There are a lot of factors there that I do not think are adequately explored. But from your user pic, I doubt that's even a concern for you!
Re: Awkward
I really do need those arms, though, huh? :-)
It's true that I'm not looking at it as a means toward weight loss. I'm mainly after cardio health, because with messed-up feet, swimming is probably my best shot at that. I'm otherwise *sooooo* prone to becoming a complete couch potato!
Re: Awkward
It is also better exercise once one can do it for longer and more consistently. Interval training is also key for the more advanced swimmers. (I swam competitively for many years as a child and teen, then again recently as a master's swimmer). Increasing yardage as one progresses, doing a variety of strokes, and doing a mix of middle and long distance training with sprint training all make it more challenging in terms of cardio and strength.
Re: Awkward
Strength and speed aren't primary goals for me, although I recognize that I may need to work toward those to keep my interest up. I admit I'm very intrigued by things like the swim from Alcatraz. Having a challenge, even a major one that will take time to reach, does help keep me going. I'd need MUCH more speed (and thus probably much better technique) to ever tackle something like that!