Discover your life aquatic

Here are the practices for your home and pool study after week #1 of Sensational Freestyle. Please do each of the home practices at least twice (only take 25 minutes) and the pool practice at least once (30-40 minutes). 

Mirror Practice @ Home

General Instructions: 

* Find a mirror at home that you can use. The taller the mirror is the better. 

* Put on your bathing suit, so that you can see how your body is moving in detail. 

* Bathing cap and goggles are optional.  :) 

Drill 1: Glide position

* Assume the glide position close to the mirror but far enough away that you can see your whole body. 

* Use the "Y" arm position while facing the mirror. Then turn to one side and let your rear arm drop so that you are facing the mirror, body angled away from your extended lead arm. From here check your position in the mirror. 

* For each of the check points below, try variations of body or arm/head position that give you information on how straight, relaxed, tense, and relaxed you feel. 

Check: Spine and head are aligned at all times

Check: Extended arm (gliding arm) is parallel to your body line and neck at all times

Check: Rotated torso to 45 degrees or further as adjusted in class during water drills

Check: Cheek is not pressed against your arm 

Check: Back arm (the arm that is close to your body) has the elbow pressed into the body just above or on the hip. Hand and forearm are resting on the top of the thigh. 

Experiment: Different degrees of rotation in your body to see what makes your shoulder feel more open

Experiment: Different degrees of relaxation or tension in your hands, wrists, shoulders, and neck. Look for the most streamlined AND relaxed position you can find. 

***Obstacles:

The main obstacle for the glide position is losing track of one or more important body positions. Having just one thing out of place can throw your balance off considerably. While you may find it easier to get into glide position while standing up in front of a mirror, in the water your swimming muscles memory may take over. 

Here are the most common obstacles to check in the mirror with a view to developing a way of priming yourself to do them correctly in the water: 

* Head lifts while in glide position: focus on looking straight into the mirror with your eyes, nose and chin all facing the mirror as a flat plane. 

* Front lead arm is extended high towards the surface or is stretched far too tightly: Use the Y position (arms at 11am and 1pm) to get into the glide position and then modify from there. Your shoulder should be relaxed. 

* Back arm is bent at the elbow and drives you underwater or creates an unstable position: Ensure that your elbow is pressed lightly against your body just above your hip bone. 

 * Insufficient or too much body rotation: The mirror is particularly helpful for this. Ensure that you can see both shoulder when you are in the glide position. If you are rotated too far, you rear shoulder (furthest from the mirror) will be hidden partially or completely. This is too far!)  If you are rotated to little (flat), your hips and shoulders will look square to the mirror. Be sure to explore both of these extremes and practice turning your torso while keeping your head and lead arm stationary to effect a good glide position. 

Drill 2: Kicking drill (10 minutes)

* Use a mirror if possible.

* Stand on a thick book or step and let one leg (the kicking leg) dangle free in space.

* Using only your hip flexors gently swing your leg to the front of your body and then let it swing back on its own momentum.  Stop still after each movement. 

* Become aware of your lower leg staying relaxed and following your upper leg after a slight delay upon switching to the forward direction.

* Last step: as your leg swings to the front use your quad muscles to gently flick your foot to the front. Point your toes gently.

Check: Feel your leg is supple to start

Check: Work on developing a whipping feeling throughout the leg that starts with the hip swing

Check: Kicking action comes with your body tall

Check: Let your knee move independent of your hip, disengage it

Check: Move your leg in a continuous cadence and avoid pausing in the back position

Experiment: Try different amplitudes (kicking in the water will work best with an amplitude that keeps the legs hidden behind your body as it cuts through the water)

Experiment: Different degrees of tension in your leg, try totally locked knee to simply feel the hip driving the motion then try letting the knee unlock without engaging it at all.

** Obstacles

If you identified, or we identified, one of the following obstacles in your attempts, you will require some extra drill time as specified.

Knee not disengaging during the kick. 

Experiment:

- Find a means of doing the drill above with the addition of a small immovable object (block) that sits in the path of your kick but only a few centimeters thick in the direction of your kick. To locate where it should sit, stand on the raised item you used in the drill and with your legs in a natural standing position, position yourself/the block the block is under your leg that is going to kick. Move yourself forward now such that the block is a distance behind your kicking leg such that when your leg draws back as far as it goes for a kick the block would be a few centimeters ahead of your leg. The block should not extend out to the side away from your body further than the width of your foot.

- Bring your foot back around the block and your toes should be stopped by the block with any forward motion. The block should not reach higher than your toes. Continuing moving your hips forward your knee will be forced to bend slightly until the angle is such that the toes can clear the block. Keep practicing looking for the knee to immediately be loose when contact is made with the block and that the hip can whip the foot forward once it clears the block.

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Pool practice: Push-offs and Glide

Push off drills (15 min)

* Hold your breath for these to maintain your buoyancy.

* Experiment with the consequence of exhaling.

* If you find your legs or body sinks or is sitting below the surface take a large inhale before your push off.

Drill 1: Push off flat, let head become supported in the water (5 x mini-laps), how far can you glide? 

Drill 2: Push off flat, let arms become supported in the water (5 x mini-laps); how far can you glide?

Drill 3: Experiment with different arm and head positions to further investigate your own balance points (6 x mini-laps)

Drill 4: Push off with kicking, let head and arms feel weightless relax (5 x mini-laps)

Drill 5: Push off with kicking, maintain good tall spine (5 x mini-laps)

Drill 6: Push off with kicking, experiment with good and bad postures, big and small kicks (5 x mini-laps)

Glide drills (15 min)

• Remember to do drills for both sides!
• If you are still having issues with your kick, use fins for half of the repetitions to prefect the glide position without worrying too much about propulsion. 

Drill 1: Glide position with kick, let head relax into the water (6 x)

Drill 2: Glide position with kick, let lead arm relax into the water (6 x)

Drill 3: Experiment with both arm and head positions (6 x)

Drill 4: Glide position with kick, try different degrees of rotation (ie. how much you are on your side or flat) (6x)

Drill 5: Glide position with kick, try different kick amplitudes (how wide), frequencies (how fast), and degrees of relaxation (tight or loose ankles) (8x) 

Drill 6: Stealth glide: try your best glide position with the aim of the quietest, most efficient and relaxing drill (4x)

** Obstacles

Legs or Whole Body Sinking:

Experiment: Push you head a little more down into the water, checking to insure there is no tension causing it to be held out of the water prior to this.

Experiment: Drop glide arm so hand is pointing more towards the bottom of the pool 

Experiment: Use fins with the minimal kick required to perform glide, combine with adjusting hand/arm position as previous experiment

Head Too Far Underwater:

* Look at how the following experiments affect your horizontal body posture in the water and your vertical position in the water.

Experiment: Raise glide arm and hand flatter and inline with your body

Experiment: Larger inhale

Experiment: Different positions of head through engaging your neck muscles in various ways and not engaging your neck muscles

Head Looks off to one Side:

* If you look off to the side while in the glide position, rather than looking straight down at the bottom of the pool, it is highly likely that your rotation will be off or that you may be lifting your head slightly. You will also feel more tension in your neck and upper back.

Experiment: Try purposely looking to the side of the pool and straight down (relaxing your neck) to feel the effect on your balance and tension. 

Experiment: Try shrugging your shoulders and then releasing them; can you turn your head further now? You head/check should not be pressed against your arm, so if it is touching straighten your neck out or try moving your arm so that it is pointing straight ahead from the shoulder, not into your centerline.

Conclusion

Let us know if you have any questions about the drills. We'll be asking you what additional awareness you discovered as you went through the drills, so taking notes is highly recommended as you move through the drills.