"I just practice what you told me, but right or not I don't know lah..."

This is what I usually hear, especially from my adult student singers after asking how was their given practice at home. My kids? Almost never.

Kids have the opposite problem—they think they can do everything. They'll pick the hardest piece and dive in like it's nothing.

Adults carry the weight of "am I doing this right?" before we even begin. As a lifelong learner with a growth mindset, I always observe myself closely. And in my recent experience self-teaching breaststroke, I found something revealing about the adult learner's mindset:

I don't really believe what I learn is true. Instead, I'll think what I see in others is right.

Let me explain... When I got out of the pool, someone else was swimming breaststroke too—swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

That sound immediately took me back to the stadium pool, listening to beginners learn. Lots of splash, lots of noise.

I looked at myself. No swoosh. Felt… a little behind.

So I watched his movements. Then I compared my own video against a proper tutorial.

And here's the plot twist:

That swoosh sound? That was his feet breaking the surface of the water. The tutorial called that 'not catching the water'—which is literally a key element of moving forward.

And me? Not having that sound? That actually meant I was catching the water. Holding it. The very thing I'd been chasing all along—that smooth, effortless feel.

That's when it hit me—I'm actually starting to read movements now. Not just do them.

Then I asked myself:

"Why do I always think others are right... when I have nothing to base that on?"

The transformation wasn't learning to swim.

It was learning to trust my body—after I taught it what "right" actually feels like.

I went back to this book Freestyle Made Easy and realized the author is talking about learning mechanics. Here’s what I found:

5 Layers of Learning Mechanics

LAYER 1: FEELINGS LIE.

You think you’re moving forward. You’re just fighting to not sink.

Your old feeling feels correct—because it’s all your body knows.

LAYER 2: PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT. NOT PERFECT.

Your nervous system doesn’t judge right from wrong.

It just repeats.

I hadn’t been swimming for years.

I had been repeating error for years.

LAYER 3: THAT’S WHY DRILLS EXIST

They bypass your old wiring.

Your body doesn’t recognize a drill as “swimming,” so old habits stay quiet.

LAYER 4: THE REAL GEM?

Drills teach your body what good swimming feels like.

Not looks like. Not thinks like.

Feels like.

Yesterday, my ears told me: loud splash = fast.

My body told me: I’m actually light.

The video proved: my body was right.

My ears were the liar.

LAYER 5: SO THE REAL TRANSFORMATION ISN’T “I LEARNED A STROKE.”

It’s calibration. Calibration is the process of aligning your internal gauge with external reality.

Before calibration, you guess.

After calibration, you know—because your feeling finally matches the truth. So if you're a pro swimmer reading this, feel free to laugh at my form. Or, hey, send some encouragement this way—I'm just a singer in the pool.

But I will say this… my breathing technique? Honestly feeling pretty solid right now.