Purpose: to learn to exhale full and sink in the water; to develop comfort in the water

Pointers: Don't try to stay underwater too long such that you're gasping for air when you return to the surface. It should be a normal inhale when you surface. Don't hold your breath doing this drill. Inhale above water and exhale underwater with no pausing.

This drill needs to be done in water at least 5-feet deep. Always do several in a row.

Take a deep breath and then let it out as a big, relaxing sigh.
Relax your body, especially your arms.
See if you can sink to the bottom of the pool.
Keep a long and steady stream of bubbles going until you're lungs are empty.
Push off the bottom of the pool and return to the surface.

Immediately following the sink downs, swim a few steady freestyle laps thinking only about your exhalation. Exhale like you did on the sink downs whenever your face is in the water.

Does this drill make you a little panicky?

If you're not comfortable doing this drill, you may want to recruit a partner who can support you with this drill. You may also want to stay near or even hold onto the side of the pool during this drill at first. Make sure that you exhale enough to get to negative buoyancy and notice when that point is that you begin to sink. Exhale a few seconds past that point.

If this drill is a challenge for you, that's great. That means it's definitely an opportunity for stroke improvement.

Tags: TD304

Sink Downs

Does this drill make you a little panicky?

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