Two strokes forward, one stroke back | Total ImmersionTotal Immersion

I have been priveleged to work with two amazing women over the past 2 months. They are busy, succesful driven ladies who want nothing more than to improve their swim stroke. They both travel extensively for work and as a result, have not been able to practice routinely in between our lessons.

Each swimmer came to me with their own set of habits that need to be changed. Because they’ve had so little practice time, every lesson seems to be a review of the previous week’s lessons.

But by bit they are starting to make imprinted changes in their stroke. Nancy, who used to sink like a rock, is now a master of balance in superman glide. When I ask Nancy to focus on a specific stroke thought, however, her lizard brain (or rather her non-amphibian brain) takes over and tries to pretend she’s a land animal again. Her shoulders tense, her neck arches, she lifts her head and her hips sink to the bottom of the pool.

So we take a step back to the basics and repeat superman glide…and her balance is fine. We move back to skating position focusing on nothing but head position…balance is fine. The moment I ask her to focus on her hand while skating…balance almost instantly dissappears.

For Nancy, identifying those drill moments & thoughts that keep her in balance, in harmony with a peaceful, non-panicked mindset are the key to her being able to practice on her own.

I bring her back to a place where she is successful in the water at the specific task I’ve given her (neck relaxed, eyes down, laser beam forward). It’s the most basic of TI drills, yet 2 months later, it’s still Nancy’s safety point…a point where she feels calm and in control.

And mastering this feeling of being in the water and being calm and control is the most important skill a swimmer can have. Tonight we revisited this point several times as we progressively moved through a sequence of spear and swing switches. And by the end of the night, she had created a succesful sequence for doing 3 swing switches with proper timing and balance.

It’s still a fair way from doing whole stroke swimming with continuity, but Nancy is developing a toolkit for mastering her own practices. Know your strong points. Have confidence in the skills you do well. Don’t be afraid to revisit a place of control and calm.

What is your reference point? What stroke thought or drill do you turn to to regain control of your practice when it’s gone awry? What other tricks do you have up your sleeve for keeping your practice moving forwad?

http://www.louistharp.org Louis Tharp

Great point pat.

In high performance driving you learn that where your eyes go, your car/motorcycle/go-kart goes. So if you stare at the crash/retaining wall/tree in front of you, you will become part of it. This is why you see one tree on the side of a road and a car that hit it, and it’s why it’s not helpful to have a cross with flowers to mark a previous accident.

I think swimming is about putting your brain where you need it when you need it there. Controlling kick? Brain goes to hips. Improving catch? Brain goes to stretched lat muscles. This is what makes focus 50s worth doing.

When you stop thinking you’re only a few alpha waves away from imitating that person in the next lane with toys stacked on deck.

Louis Tharp

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cynthiam

Funny, but I just posted a reply on a forum thread & extolled the virtues of superman glide. It has become my go-to drill, every time I get in the pool. I do short lengths of it in a 15m activity pool and then do a few lengths when I move to the 25m pool. ALWAYS before doing any whole stroke.

Today, it felt like I was using a pull buoy, my hips and legs felt so high in the water.

One drill I’ve been doing lately which really complements SG is skating on one side and rolling to a sweet spot breath and then back into the skate. I have less coordination and control on my left side, though it has improved markedly over the past 6-8 months. Both drills have really helped my balance.

The other thing I do is to swim some really slow whole stroke. If I feel too uphill and can’t seem to correct it, I stop and go back to SG or skating. Then to switches (spear/Zen and swing). Then to switches mixed with a few whole strokes. And so on. I go back to where I feel competent then add a little. If it still feels good, I add a little more. If I can’t focus, it’s time to do some somersaults for fun and/or hit the hot tub.

Cynthia