One focal point at a time

Today’s student was ME and my instructor Eric DeSanto at Highpoint Wellness in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Eric is a certified Total Immersion instructor.  He showed me how I was overdoing some parts of my stroke while under doing others.  After I’d try a short distance he’d ask, “what was your focal point?” reminding me that we humans can only focus on one piece at at time.  I was able to appreciate feeling flustered and confused at times, realizing this is exactly how my students feel when I’m the instructor.  Eric was a big help to me and I hope anyone reading this will attend his weekend workshop coming up in November (look for the details in a future post).   Here’s what I learned:

Basics:
Need to flatten considerably, my angle is closer to 70º than 45º.
Head down – cap seam perpendicular to pool edge except when breathing.  Head stays still as body moves through the strokes.
Hand below shoulder with relaxed wrist pointing down.

New to me:

1. Kick, rotate, stroke.  Breathe as hand passes mouth.
2. Arm at 90º angle in front of head
3. Finish stroke to full skate position with down hand stretched out towards knee
4. Keep forward arm forward until the other arm meets (or nearly so)

Use stop drills to emphasize above.

Kicking is good for 1) speed short distance, 2) keeping warm, 3) at end of long swim to bring back circulation to muscles before stepping out of pool

Use fins to feel when arms are wide or crossing.  Use hand paddles upside down to help with 90º angle.