Now if only I could swim "right"

[cjsmith]

I have developed a weird style that has arms from, oh, the breaststroke or the butterfly or something, and a scissor-kick from the sidestroke. My head bobs on every stroke; at the high point I breathe, and even at the low point my eyes are usually still out of the water. (That last is very handy for me. I veer if I'm not looking.) I'm bothered by the asymmetry of the scissor-kick, but not enough that I spend time doing it the opposite way.

I have almost completely forgotten how to do the basic crawl. I can flutter-kick, and I am comfortable doing that when I am on a kickboard, but the flutter-kick doesn't go well with what my arms want to do. The arm and head motion of the crawl feels very wrong to me, and besides, it puts water in my ears. I am convinced this is the main purpose of the crawl. :-)

Comments

[aliceinfinland.livejournal.com]

I've done that same crazy stroke. It is easier for the abdomen and lower body to do things asymmetrically. However, the best exercise comes from forcing yourself to do things symmetrically and not roll. That's what I learned in Pilates, which I again recommend if you can find a good instructor. (I imagine it could be really boring with a bad instructor.) There is no weight bearing on the feet in the Pilates I did, and you don't have to shower or even change if you were already wearing yoga pants. But you get exercise. And with the right instructor, yoga-like meditation.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That crazy stroke is fun! And as soon as my arms tone up a bit, from a few decades of inactivity, I could probably do that stroke all day.

But I should be careful and work toward better technique or I might injure myself. What would I do for exercise if a shoulder went out? Yikes.

Pilates does sound good!