If a person reads a lot of theory about how to swim, different types of techniques, other people’s written experiences etc., can they swim if thrown in a deep swimming pool? Or, at least, be able to swim enough to reach the steep end and save themselves from drowning?
By “a lot”, I mean spending over 6 months to a year, gaining theoretical knowledge. And when we throw them in the pool, they are willing to try it, as in, “I have learnt enough, and I am willing to try it out.”
For any skill, no matter which, the more theory you know the more accelerated your learning rate will be. But it doesn’t inherently teach you a skill.
having knowledge =\= learned skill
having knowledge -> increased perception of mistakes/inaccuracies while learning -> more rapid rate of mistake/inaccuracy correction == accelerated learning rate
In a way you could say that theoretical knowledge is equivalent to having talent in terms of what effect it has.
The same way people can learn to dance while reading a book.
I firmly believe I was way more prepared to ride a motorcycle because I spent countless hours reading about techniques before I got on one.
So… Maybe.
When I was a dancer - if one of us was injured, they made us come & watch the practice because apparently your body does gain knowledge just by watching.
But that was with a baseline knowledge already.
I think it would help, learning about swimming before doing it. More so if you are already physically active in some other way though.
Maybe. But you won’t know until you actually try.
Just like many physical things, not really.
A huge part of your brain is dedicated to motor skills and hand eye coordination. You aren’t going to improve or learn these things until you actually do them. It’s neurological, you can’t move a muscle you don’t have neurological connections for, it’s a learned skill. And you cannot learn it without actually doing it and making those connections.
Imagine never letting a baby crawl, and you just teach them about crawling, walking, running…etc once they’re old enough to understand. But they have never moved yet in their life.
They would essentially be disabled, none of the neural pathways necessary for the movement they need to do have been developed. These would need to develop from scratch, by struggling and failing.
Everyone here that says yes and then mentions practice is not getting your question.
The spirit of your question would be reading about it and understanding the theory and then dropping yourself in the middle of a lake. And either you learned and you swim to shore or you drown.
I’m sure most of the people here that are mentioning practice would understand that you would just drown and that you would not actually have learned how to swim.
Probably. Take it to the shallow part of a pool (where you can stand up if you need to) and practice until you are comfortable trying more.
Also, watch some videos. I think it’s easier to learn something like swimming by watching others than by reading about it.
I do a lot of research on random things. ADHD urges me to go into deep dives on very niche subjects that I don’t really have any experience with. On the rare occasions that that research becomes applicable to my actual life, I do feel that I am more skilled than a complete novice would be. I still need to get the practical practice in but if I understand the core theory of something first, its way easier for me to pick it up first try.
No, just like you don’t learn to drive, program, play an instrument, speak a foreign language, self-defend, etc. that way. The practise phase isn’t optional.
All these “absolutely not” responses are silly, IMO. I speak as someone who’s quite a good swimmer. Practical experience is important to get good, certainly. But if your main objective is simply to not sink and to have a basic ability to propel yourself, I think that’s stuff you can manage quite easily starting from pure book learning. The “not sink” part is key, because that will give you the time to actually experience what it’s like moving around in the water and clarify what that book learning told you.
You probably don’t need 6 months of study, at that point your time would be better spent finding an actual pool. The sorts of basics I’m talking about here that would be useful is stuff like how to float with your face in the air so you can breathe, and once you’ve got that part down how to efficiently kick your legs to propel you rather than just flailing around uselessly. Learn those key tidbits, drill on just that, and then if you find yourself unexpectedly tossed in water you’ll know what to do to not die and get yourself back to the edge.
There’s also the mental load to take into account.
If it’s your first time in water, you’re prone to panicking.
Especially when your head gets submerged for the first time.
So I think even if you integrate all the theory, you still need to be very careful and slow on your first try for this to succeed.
There’s a difference between already developing motor skills and then trying to improve those motor skills by learning from the skills of others.
And having not developed those motor skills and then trying to learn them from the experiences of others.
If you have never crawled or walked your entire life, you can’t learn how to crawl or walk just by reading about it. The neural pathways literally don’t exist for you to be able to balance and move. You would need to actually do the physical actions to develop those neural connections for those motor skills to develop.
A significant part of our brain is dedicated to controlling our body, not just to knowledge and thinking. Those portions of our brain largely develop alongside us actually moving and practicing motor skills.
You could learn technique and what you’re not supposed to do as long as you have all the prerequisite motor skills relate to that information. If you are missing the prerequisite motor skills then you will not be able to.
That last part is where many of these “Absolutely not” answers are grounded.
Someone who is able to walk around and control their breathing already has those prerequisite motor skills.
Into a pool? Yeah, it really isn’t that hard. Plenty of people manage to get in their first time after verbal instructions and make it short distances.
You won’t have great form, and you’ll probably wear yourself out fast because of it, but as long s you know ahead of time that there’s some basics that even a dummy can do to stay afloat while you rest, you’d be fine.
Wouldn’t even take six months. If there was a book written with basic techniques, described well, you could absorb that in however long it takes you to read.
Panic would be the barrier, not knowledge. But knowledge can sometimes prevent panic, so it’s totally doable.
I mean, fuck, I know people that have started out with way more complex movements with nothing but reading up and done well for a first timer. If there’s illustrations, it’s even easier.
I would imagine that they’d forget most of what they learned the second they realized they were drowning. Panic would shut their brain down.
Maybe, if they recover somewhat and manage to doggie-paddle or something, they’ll remember a useful sentence or two.
If they’ve read enough about the subject then they’ll realize that they’re not drowning. You don’t drown simply from being in water, the actions required to let you float with your face in the air is almost trivial. Knowing what those actions are is enough to get you to the “okay, now how do I go somewhere?” Step.
I very much doubt it would but it would likely help to some degree. I can say I did not learn till late in life and am a horrible swimmer but do a decent backstroke and side stroke which are, to me, the more useful basic swim strokes. Learning to float on ones back is most of whats needed for a backstroke. The stroke itself can be fast or slow. Most people can be in neck heigh water and just relax to allow their feet to stop supporting them and keep their face and mouth above water. If they fill their lungs with oxygen the chest should naturally go up to the surface as well. Thats like with the worst body shape.
There was a German mathematician who allegedly managed to do it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Kaluza
Strange stories were told of his private life, for example, that he taught himself to swim during his thirties by reading a book about it and succeeded at his first attempt in the water.
Most people don’t immediately drown during swimming lessons, so yeah knowing the motions to make means they should be able to handle calm water as long as they don’t panic. Heck, knowing how to do the dead man’s float is enough for the vast, vast majority of people to stay bought for a long period of time.
Toss them in a heavy current and odds of survival are minimal without prior practice.
