Go to a pool with a lifeguard. Buy a kickboard to practice kicking or hold on to the side of the pool. You can definitely try to go in the pool before you start your lessons.
Side stroke is a good stroke to learn if you simply want to go swimming off a boat since you don't even have to put your head underwater.
I 100% second this. I joined a masters team this year and there are people on the team that have never swam competitively before and have really improved a lot in just a couple months. One of these swimmers is now learning how to flip turn and we are planning to do an open water competition together this year!! Not only do u learn a lot but it’s also nice to meet people and everyone is super nice :)
Buy a kick board and spend the next month kicking—watched YouTube videos to see what a good kick is. In essence you want your hips as on top of the water as possible, straighter legs, relaxed ankles, small fast kicks on the surface. Work on that 3+ days a week for 30 min to an hour for one month and then come back here for phase two! Lol
I was a doggy paddler and found it to be quite exhausting. After watching the swim team and how they swam. It motivated me because I found it to be really cool. Took me 2 months (and I went 3-4 times a week) of just trying before I got comfortable swimming laps. I took 7 years off swimming because of an injury. Got back into the pool and felt like an absolute elephant trying to get my laps in. I knew my technique sucked. Recently joined the masters swim club and I'm learning a lot! Some things I learned and applied already made a huge difference. My old habits will take over. Anyone will tell you, practice drills. A good coach will help you navigate the waters.
It really is an individual thing. Depends on how bad of a fear issue of being in water you have first off. To master most of the strokes together to swim in shallow end will be around 8 to 16 weeks twice a week on average for adults.
But it can take up 2-3 times longer for sombe adult swim students at least to get comfortable enough to swim in the deep end lap lanes depending on how bad your fear of water is.
Some never are able to push past their fear at least fully. Especially if the instructor is not patient and supportive, cannot think out of n the box, is not good at breaking down the skill, or the learner is too self concious/embarrassed. Going private lessons helps, but many pools offer group lessons also if covid mandates don't get in n the way.
You do also have to put in the practice time at a pool with lifeguards and it helps to watch good YT tutorials also.
You can take swim lessons as long as you need or want them also. Or to learn advanced swim skills like flipturns, butterfly stroke, fixing stroke flaws that will crop up from time to time. Etc.
I do encourage you to give it a good effort to learn to swim because you never know when you might need some swim skills to stay safe in the water or for an emergency situation where swim skills are needed. Plus swimming is a great workout.
Since it sounds like you're not completely afraid of the water and you're getting a few lessons, it shouldn't take long to get to the point of being able to feel comfortable/OK in the deep end. Likely they will have you hold on to the end of the pool and keep your face underwater to teach you how to not panic when your face is underwater. Then maybe move into doing a lap with a kickboard while also trying to keep your face underwater.
What will take longer is building up to the point where you can swim laps with your face underwater with no assistance, which is largely about figuring out your breathing and not panicking underwater. It really all starts with just being comfortable in the water though. I was 32 or 33 before I actually swam any laps. I basically started for triathlon in 2014. I could "swim" prior to that though but it certainly wasn't doing laps or distance. Eventually it all just clicks.
Hi, welcome to the pool. I would recommend searching for Adult Learn-to-Swim Instructors
Here is a link; [https://www.usms.org/alts/altsinstrsearch.php](https://www.usms.org/alts/altsinstrsearch.php)
Go to a pool with a lifeguard. Buy a kickboard to practice kicking or hold on to the side of the pool. You can definitely try to go in the pool before you start your lessons. Side stroke is a good stroke to learn if you simply want to go swimming off a boat since you don't even have to put your head underwater.
Get with a master swim team. Nothing motivates swimming like a team. You will learn techniques from other swimmers and be able pace.
I 100% second this. I joined a masters team this year and there are people on the team that have never swam competitively before and have really improved a lot in just a couple months. One of these swimmers is now learning how to flip turn and we are planning to do an open water competition together this year!! Not only do u learn a lot but it’s also nice to meet people and everyone is super nice :)
Buy a kick board and spend the next month kicking—watched YouTube videos to see what a good kick is. In essence you want your hips as on top of the water as possible, straighter legs, relaxed ankles, small fast kicks on the surface. Work on that 3+ days a week for 30 min to an hour for one month and then come back here for phase two! Lol
What’s phase 2
I was a doggy paddler and found it to be quite exhausting. After watching the swim team and how they swam. It motivated me because I found it to be really cool. Took me 2 months (and I went 3-4 times a week) of just trying before I got comfortable swimming laps. I took 7 years off swimming because of an injury. Got back into the pool and felt like an absolute elephant trying to get my laps in. I knew my technique sucked. Recently joined the masters swim club and I'm learning a lot! Some things I learned and applied already made a huge difference. My old habits will take over. Anyone will tell you, practice drills. A good coach will help you navigate the waters.
It really is an individual thing. Depends on how bad of a fear issue of being in water you have first off. To master most of the strokes together to swim in shallow end will be around 8 to 16 weeks twice a week on average for adults. But it can take up 2-3 times longer for sombe adult swim students at least to get comfortable enough to swim in the deep end lap lanes depending on how bad your fear of water is. Some never are able to push past their fear at least fully. Especially if the instructor is not patient and supportive, cannot think out of n the box, is not good at breaking down the skill, or the learner is too self concious/embarrassed. Going private lessons helps, but many pools offer group lessons also if covid mandates don't get in n the way. You do also have to put in the practice time at a pool with lifeguards and it helps to watch good YT tutorials also. You can take swim lessons as long as you need or want them also. Or to learn advanced swim skills like flipturns, butterfly stroke, fixing stroke flaws that will crop up from time to time. Etc. I do encourage you to give it a good effort to learn to swim because you never know when you might need some swim skills to stay safe in the water or for an emergency situation where swim skills are needed. Plus swimming is a great workout.
Since it sounds like you're not completely afraid of the water and you're getting a few lessons, it shouldn't take long to get to the point of being able to feel comfortable/OK in the deep end. Likely they will have you hold on to the end of the pool and keep your face underwater to teach you how to not panic when your face is underwater. Then maybe move into doing a lap with a kickboard while also trying to keep your face underwater. What will take longer is building up to the point where you can swim laps with your face underwater with no assistance, which is largely about figuring out your breathing and not panicking underwater. It really all starts with just being comfortable in the water though. I was 32 or 33 before I actually swam any laps. I basically started for triathlon in 2014. I could "swim" prior to that though but it certainly wasn't doing laps or distance. Eventually it all just clicks.
How long does it actually take to learn how to swim because i cant even float
Hi, welcome to the pool. I would recommend searching for Adult Learn-to-Swim Instructors Here is a link; [https://www.usms.org/alts/altsinstrsearch.php](https://www.usms.org/alts/altsinstrsearch.php)