Swimming - AGAIN!
I had such a good session in the pool this morning . . . that I’ve just got back from another session. Loads more work on the same basics as before, interspersed with some lengths of full stroke.
What I’ve found is that on all the drills from The Fish upwards, the thing that really helps me is to flick my head round to breathe, rather than a lazy whole body roll. By doing this, I keep my body’s position better, and don’t find my underwater arm drifting out to act as a brake. It also means that I can increase my breathing rate - I have quite a low lung capacity, but can really move what volume I have quickly.
The upshot of all this was that at the end of the session, I did some timed 50’s and 100’s, and found that
a) I could actually do 100m front crawl, without feeling that I was drowning. The stroke count per length was more or less constant, and I didn’t feel exhausted at the end. I know this doesn’t sound that impressive, but believe me, this is a big step for me.
b) My easy front crawl speed is now pretty close to my full-on breast stroke.
As you can guess, I’m pretty pleased about this!
One last thing - there’s a new edition of Total Immersion out (also in the USA - amongst others recommended by ZappoMan) - the one in my earlier swimming post today is the copy that I have. Not sure what’s been updated, but the price has come down. Worth the money before . . . worth twice the money now.
How do you like that book? My swim instructor guy (well, I actually only met him once for a 30-minute session, but it makes me feel like I have my own personal trainer) recommended this book. Since he made other recommendations about my technique which were extremely helpful, I’m guessing he’s right about this book. Any pictures/diagrams? I do best with visuals. Signed, undulating jelly fish
It’s pretty good, in that it builds up the technique in very small steps. This is much better than the teacher I had at school who basically stood at the side of the pool, demonstrated the ‘correct’ technique, and told us to get on with it!
There are diagrams, but these tend to be about the position you’re trying to achieve in the water for each of the ‘drills’, rather than a progression for each. That said, I think that if you took each of the drawings and put them into some sort of flick book, you’d probably have a pretty good swim strike to watch.
Finally . . . it takes a lot of practice. I’ve had months of it (OK, not that regular, and most of last year as time off), and the lightbulb moments sometimes take a long time coming. But when they do . . . .
Finally, finally . . . for the money - worth every penny.
Karl - Not waving but drowning - until yesterday
Thanks for stopping by my blog
I use Sportstracks and it automatically makes the pretty Google Earth maps when I upload the data from my Garmin. I’m sure that you can use various versions of GE to make maps by plotting the data yourself - but that’s far too much like hard work
Another blog I read has even prettier pictures than mine, I’ve just been too lazy to find out what program he uses (plus ST is free and I’d probably have to pay for something better)
Karl, good to hear your swimming is progressing. I will admit I’m a little surprised to hear your description of flicking your head being easier than rolling. As long as your body is staying aligned, then I guess it’s ok and it’s working… but you also want to conserve energy… and moving your head can be a drain.
I have found almost the opposite, when I let my ear move away from my shoulder, I will lose my spine position and sink like a rock… but if I roll my body with my ear firmly attached to my shoulder, then all is good.
Anyway, have a good holiday.
Hello ZappoMan . . .
the main problem I have with my body is a low lung capacity (4.5 litres - maybe from several cases of bronchitis as a baby - or perhaps I was just the runt of the litter). So when I exercise, the only way I can get enough oxygen is fast breathing - when I run, my stride is fairly short, yet I always breathe in on one foot & out on the other. I guess with the flick I’m trying to mirror this. Or perhaps I need to work more on the balance thing ….
[...] Immersion by Terry Laughlin. It had been recommended by my swim instructor and my new blog friend Karl. I skimmed through it last night and must say I love [...]