Treading water is a vital skill to have in the water, whether you’re a child or an adult. It allows you to stay afloat, catch your breath, and conserve energy until help arrives or you’re able to reach safety. The technique involves using your hands and legs to keep your head above water while you’re in an upright position. It’s important to remember that treading water should be a sustainable activity, and you should aim to stay relaxed throughout the process. With time and practice, you or your child can learn to tread water comfortably and confidently.
Body Position:
For many people, they want to raise their head and neck out of the water to breathe, but this isn’t the best way to tread water. The air right above the water is just as good as the air six inches above the water, so why waste energy to lift yourself out of the water if you don’t need to?
The water level should be kept around chin level. This takes a while to get comfortable with for new swimmers, but it’s important to learn that as long as your mouth is touching air, you can breathe.
How to Scull with Your Arms?
Learning how to scull requires finding a spot with shallow water, such as a beach or shallow swimming pool. Start in the playground with two small piles of sand. With your hands move the sand back and forth from your body. Each time your hands change direction you will need to change the angle of your hands slightly so as to sweep the sand away. This movement is the exact same movement you will use when treading water.
How to Do the Eggbeater?
It may think that it might be easier to use a kick technique that you already know, but these are not very efficient kicks when it comes to treading water, as you will tire faster. The best kick to use when treading water is the eggbeater, or rotary, kick. This keeps your body stable and prevents bobbing up and down.
To do the eggbeater kick, start by sitting on the edge of the pool with your feet in the water or in an office chair where you can lean back and let your feet dangle. Move your right leg counter clockwise and your left leg clockwise. Once you are comfortable with both legs moving in their respective motions, move on to moving both feet at the same time.
Start with both feet at the top of the circle they will travel on, and circle both of them down and around. After that, you have to work on the timing of your legs moving, as they don’t follow the same pattern at the same time. Start your feet staggered from each other, with your right foot on the top of the circle, and your left foot at the bottom, and then start swinging your feet in circles.
When you get into the water, your body position in the water will stay exactly the same as when you were sitting. It’s important to stay compact and look like you are sitting when treading water. Together with your hands sculling, you should be able to tread water, and with practice, you will start to feel more comfortable with the motions and see that it does not require that much energy to stay above water.
Can You Tread Water for a Long Time?
Treading water for an extended period of time is achievable with practice and comfort with the movements. If a swimmer takes short breaks and floats on their back instead of continuously treading water, they can do so for more than eight hours.
Is Treading Water a Good Workout?
Treading water is an excellent form of exercise. It is low-impact, engages the entire body, and promotes cardiovascular health. Furthermore, treading water is adjustable and can be made more challenging by incorporating various techniques, such as using a dive brick or different kicks to target different muscle groups.
How to Tread Water for Water Polo
Water polo is an intense sport that resembles playing soccer while submerged in water, with the strict rule of never touching the sides or bottom of the pool. Even during timeouts and penalty shots, water polo players must tread water. For players who remain in the game for the entire duration without substitution, this could mean treading water for almost an hour, including bursts of sprinting, jumping, and blocking, all while surrounded by other players.
The first and most crucial step to treading water for water polo is mastering the eggbeater kick. Once this skill is mastered, players can start to focus on treading water without using their hands. This begins with using no hands, followed by raising the arms out of the water to the ears and ultimately above the head entirely.
Another important aspect of treading water for water polo is knowing how to pop out of the water. Simply reaching out of the water with the arm is not sufficient. The easiest way to pop out of the water is to perform a powerful breaststroke kick to propel oneself up and out of the water and then switch to the eggbeater kick to maintain that height for as long as possible.
For novice water polo players, the goal should be to get their shoulders or the top of their chest out of the water, allowing them to catch and throw the ball more effectively, as well as defend against shots and passes. In some positions, such as the goalkeeper, players are expected to be able to get out of the water up to their hips to defend the entire goal.
If you’re looking for assistance with treading water for water polo or other water sports, Easy2Swim can help. Our experienced coaches can help your child achieve their goals in the water, whether they’re learning for safety or trying to gain extra strength. Contact us today to learn more about how to connect with our instructors.
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