swim: body balance / kick drills
Dave L
Posts: 3
in General Chat
Hope someone might be able to help here. My swim is pretty poor, and to improve I went to see the nice people at tri central in Manchester. They told me I'm not on top of the water enough, kind of swimming uphill. They gave me some drills to improve basically kicking on my front in a nice straight body line, head looking straight down. Then I'm to roll to one side then the other with arms at the side just using my kick to gently roll from side to side ( a bit like the fish drill), and returning to a neutral position in the middle. In the first instance OK to use fins to get used to the roll.
All of this made sense and was backed up by the artical about poor kicking in this months 220 mag.
So this is what I'm doing for the next four weeks, then I'll return for another hour in their endless pool, for them to look at my arms. After a week I still need to start the drills with fins otherwise I tend to swallow loads of water. I can then do the drills without.
The main problem is however I tend to sink in the water when I roll to left side i.e. my right arm and hand isn't at the surface, as it is when at the other side. This happens particularly without fins, and also just the same if I have my left arm straight ahead and eyes looking down.
Does anyone have any top tips? I may contact Tri central for another session, or should I just stick at it as it has only been about 10 days? I'm just a little worried about practicing bad technique.
All of this made sense and was backed up by the artical about poor kicking in this months 220 mag.
So this is what I'm doing for the next four weeks, then I'll return for another hour in their endless pool, for them to look at my arms. After a week I still need to start the drills with fins otherwise I tend to swallow loads of water. I can then do the drills without.
The main problem is however I tend to sink in the water when I roll to left side i.e. my right arm and hand isn't at the surface, as it is when at the other side. This happens particularly without fins, and also just the same if I have my left arm straight ahead and eyes looking down.
Does anyone have any top tips? I may contact Tri central for another session, or should I just stick at it as it has only been about 10 days? I'm just a little worried about practicing bad technique.
0
Comments
They should have made sure that you could do the drills correctly before you left them as a drill done incorrectly may set you back technically as well as chronoligically.
Give Tri Central a call before the hastle & cost of a extra session. Can't imagine they would charge for a bit of telephone help especialy as you're going again. Bet they are really helpful.
They did a good job of trying to get me doing the drills correctly, I'm sure I went over the time I was booked in for. There is an element of it being down to me through.
Your're right though I'll pop an e-mail to them and ask some specific questions.
Thanks
Dave
- Without breathing on the final stroke, make final adjustments, eyeing the target on the wall while kicking vigorously.
- On the final arm stroke, let your eyes follow your hand as it pulls past your head. This will sustain your momentum into the turn. You will slow down considerably if you pull your arm down to your side without tucking your chin. You can see that Lindsay's right hand is stopped at her side; it will stay there throughout the turn
- As your last pull passes by your chest, you can take a quick dolphin kick in order to snap your heels, ankles and calves over the water with the water line level with the knee caps. The "snap" of the heels is timed to coincide when both arms are at your sides. The press of both arms downward toward the face initiates the "snap."
- Once you have flipped your legs over, your arms-which are now overhead-should still be at your sides, ready to streamline off the wall. The balls of your feet should be on the wall, toes up.
- As you push off the wall, tighten your streamline as you turn onto your side, positioning your body perpendicular to the bottom of the pool.