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Is not being able to swim more a mental thing or a physical thing?

vi edit

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
I don't intend to mock people who don't know how to, but I am curious as to which it is more of. I grew up around water my whole life so it's second nature to me. But, I've met many people who say they don't know how to. The actual physical ability to swim, whether that be tread water or doggy paddle isn't difficult from an actual physical aspect, hence the question of is it a mental thing of being scared of water and fearing to try it.

 
I've read somewhere that if you were to throw a baby into the water it would know how to swim, but they loose this ability around 1 year or 10 months and need to relearn.
 
if i remember correctly, humans are positively buoyant so would naturally float without doing anything. then it just takes a little coordinated activity to tread water and similarly to swim, albeit perhaps not entirely very efficiently. so imo it's mental.
 
It's a lack of knowledge. Riding a bike is easy, too, once you know how to do it. Same with driving a stick shift.
 
Originally posted by: tweakmm
I've read somewhere that if you were to throw a baby into the water it would know how to swim, but they loose this ability around 1 oe 8 months and need to relearn.
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I've heard some explanations of this saying that it's because a baby was "swimming" for 9 months in the womb. As to why it has to be re-taught....no clue 🙂
 
Originally posted by: yobarman
it has to be a mental thing.. it's so easy to tread water i don't understand how people cant do it.
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I have no problem being in the water. I just have no idea how to swim or tread water.

I guess the only way for me to learn is to be thrown into the deep end of a pool or something, but it really isn't important enough to me to want to learn how. I never go to the beach (I live in Arizona) so there is really no reason for me to learn.
 
Some us just aren't as gifted as you.... 😛

I *can* swim I just don't. I never could tread water, tho... I don't know why I hate it. Maybe my parents forcing me into classes when I was a child. I don't know.

I just have a terrible, unfounded, phobia of water on my face.

Only real thing on this planet that I'm scared of.

amish
 
Swimming is like a natural instinct. People who "can't swim" are probably more afraid than anything...and then they probably flail their limbs wildly, pushing themselves under. To stay afloat (in a upright position) you just need some slow movement of your limbs...or you could just float on your back and not move at all...
 
Originally posted by: notfred
It's a lack of knowledge. Riding a bike is easy, too, once you know how to do it. Same with driving a stick shift.
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I thought about that, but I don't know if I agree. Riding a bike actually requires some semblance of balance and coordination. With swimming, you just kick up and use your arms to keep you afloat. No real coordination or balance required.
 
I've never been able to float on my back without 'cheating' but I'm like a fish in the water.

It has to be mental. It takes no skill to stay afloat.

-silver
 
if i remember correctly, humans are positively buoyant so would naturally float without doing anything. then it just takes a little coordinated activity to tread water and similarly to swim, albeit perhaps not entirely very efficiently. so imo it's mental.
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I'm not positively buoyant.. I sink straight to the bottom unless I fill my lungs with as much air as possible.. then I only sink slowly.

My brother, however, who is built a lot different than me (fatter), is positively buoyant.

Either way, it's still easy to swim. I have a friend who couldn't swim all the way till 8th grade. We started going to the pool and we roughed around. He always stayed in the shallow end. Well, one day, he started drifting to the middle of the pool where he could barely touch and he started panicking. He yelled 'help' and started panicking.

I watched him for a few seconds (duh, wasn't gonna let him drown) and he stopped panicking so much and let himself touch his feet on the bottom and push off of it to get back above the water. He did that a few times, each time staying above the water longer and longer until he was treading water. He was so excited about being able to just tread water. It was funny.
 
It has to be mental. It takes no skill to stay afloat.
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Don't know if I completely agree with that either. Some people are naturely more boyant than others. I'm one of the most boyant people I know. When I went scuba diving, I had to wear extra weights around myself to help pull me down. Other people naturally sink like a rock. If you are one of the second group, then you have to try a little harder to keep yourself up.
 
$.02++

i believe almost all animals have a natural swim ability instinct, though some may not like being in the water(cats,little sisters w/floaties). it's never taught to them, so i would find it interesting that if after millions of years of evolution(assuming evolution took place), humans were the only species to not have this instinct. that post about newborns being able to swim would seem to support this. of course, it's quite possible that without constant exercise of this instinct it eventually gets overwritten by other more survival oriented learned skills(facial mimicking, language, drinking from a bottle, learning to grill meats, liking big purple dinosaurs).
 
Originally posted by: vi_edit
Originally posted by: notfred
It's a lack of knowledge. Riding a bike is easy, too, once you know how to do it. Same with driving a stick shift.
Click to expand...

I thought about that, but I don't know if I agree. Riding a bike actually requires some semblance of balance and coordination. With swimming, you just kick up and use your arms to keep you afloat. No real coordination or balance required.
Click to expand...

If ridig a bike took any kind of above average balance or coordination, a lot less than 99% of the population would know how to do it. It's no more difficult than swimming.
 
Originally posted by: notfred
Originally posted by: vi_edit
Originally posted by: notfred
It's a lack of knowledge. Riding a bike is easy, too, once you know how to do it. Same with driving a stick shift.
Click to expand...

I thought about that, but I don't know if I agree. Riding a bike actually requires some semblance of balance and coordination. With swimming, you just kick up and use your arms to keep you afloat. No real coordination or balance required.
Click to expand...

If ridig a bike took any kind of above average balance or coordination, a lot less than 99% of the population would know how to do it. It's no more difficult than swimming.
Click to expand...

....except for the fact that if you fail you don't die!

amish
 
definetly mental, it isn't really hard to swim

freestyle takes some practice, but anybody can do the breast stroke for at least 10-20 yards
 
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