Much Un-Learning

Today’s student had swum most of her 60-some years, even had a pool in her backyard as a teenager. Her stroke was old school and the breathing awkward with an unnecessary twist of the head and hop up to catch air. Given her experience and that she’s a friend receiving a free lesson, we spent 90 minutes going from A to Z. Well maybe P. Interestingly enough the activity that was most significant for me was the same one I’ve written about lately — client floats, I rotate the body from the feet. At first she was too stuck, with her chest and head firm into the water. I had to use one hand on her hip to achieve full body movement. After we worked on balance for quite some time and had moved into using the arms, we went back to the float activity. Her whole body moved as one but only on one side. With a little more instruction she freely swung from side-to-side with minimal assistance from me.