December 11, 2006

Drowning...

"I cannot believe you didn't drown..."

My swim coach didn't exactly say that, but she could have summarized her critique of my observed dolphin-like prowess, or not, with that simple statement.

Now, to her credit, and mine, she did recognize that I have incredible potential to compete with the likes of the Thorpedo.

"You move well through the water..."

And that was as positive as she could be...

She then told me, over the course of 45 or so minutes, the slight position changes that I could make that would make me go from a struggling 2 minute 100 yard swim x 1 to a slick, shark-like beast with sub 50 minute ironman swims. Oh, wait... That was what I dreamed last night she told me...

But let's get back to reality...

So on my first session with her today, my coach told me, in no specific order of importance, that I would do great if I could just do the following:

Get my head higher... Keep my elbows up... Don't bend my knees so much when I kick ("STOP RUNNING WITH YOUR KICK!!!") Rotate your body more... Rotate your body evenly, your hips and your upper body together as a unit... Keep your elbows up... Breathe... Breathe every 3rd stroke, always... Keep your ankles plantar-flexed... Keep your eyes focused in front of you...

Hmm. This is going to take some time! Well, at least she layed it all out for me... No sugar-coating this ego... Give it to me like you see it, and I'll take it and run... Or swim...

So, I think I have some work to do in the pool.

And with that huge list of things to work on, and about a dozen drills which she swears will help, I think I better just go jump in a lake... And swim!

Thanks for joining My Daily Spin.

3 comments:

Audrey said...

a comment a swim coach gave me during an open water swim:

I'm swimming as slow as i possibly can and you still can't keep up. You can do a lot better than that.

but yea, i loved it. the whole niceness thing of the professional world...sometimes i am so over it. :)

SingletrackJenny (formerly known as IronJenny) said...

I think that if you didn't swim as a youngster, that it is 2x as hard to learn as an adult. But I see adults learning it all the time, and then being actually really good at it.
Be patient - you will get it. It's all technique. Just do what your coach tells you and one piece at a time, you will get it and then it will seem like 2nd nature.
Ask her to video-tape you doing laps. When you watch yourself, you understand exactly what she is trying to describe to you that you are doing right (or wrong).
One tip that helped me be more fluid was to pretend I was swimming through a toilet paper tube - you can roll all you want to breathe on the sides, but stay in the tube - no hips swaying back and forth bumping the sides of your tube. Roll your hips with the rest of your body. You'll be kicking on your side at times, but that's OK as long as you stay in your tube.
Good luck!

Triteacher said...

LOL - I have been there! It's frustrating as hell, but take the advice a chunk at a time. It will help, but yes, ya gotta swim. A lot.