All through our lives, we claim to be rational beings. The fact that we are rational, many argue, is what separates us from other animals. But sometimes, being rational is not enough. One can learn all that is logical about swimming and still drown. Why? Because learning swimming is not rational! There are plenty of experts out there, with logical systems of success. But if any of them worked consistently, then no one would be reading my articles.

In this article, I will talk about my own experiences with irrational learning in sport.  In my case, the sport of endless frustration was running.  The root cause of my running inabilities are the same as many experience in the water.  If you know anything about running, you will probably think my experiences are funny.  And that is okay.  After all, clumsy is funny.  Laurel and Hardy made a career out of it

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Q: Should I use my mouth and/or nose to exhale while swimming freestyle?

A: The short answer is both, if you can. The important thing to remember is that you will be more buoyant when your lungs are full of air. So, you want those lungs to be full as long as possible. The best way to do this is to breathe out with your nose and mouth as quickly as reasonable. Using one but not the other takes more time, and this decreases your net buoyancy a little bit.   

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Coach Dobko will pick one of your questions each week and give you some insight into swimming. E-mail your questions to duanesworlddobko@worldnet.att.net.

Ever been in a pool with slippery walls, where your feet just slide down whenever you are trying to start that next repeat?  Ever wonder how experienced swimmers still find a way to push off without slipping?

Here’s a couple of tips you can use to show your experienced swimming friends you know what you are doing!  First of all, every wall in a pool is going to be different (even from end-to-end or one lane to the next).  Walls with rough edges are always going to have less slippage than walls with smooth tile.  Sometimes smooth tile can be your friend as the tile edges can create small ledges that you can hook your toes over.  Even the water in the pool can play a part here.  Pools that are poorly maintained will have gunk accumulating on the walls, making them slippery. 

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