Better balance

[cjsmith]

20 lengths? 22 lengths? I lost track.

I'm definitely getting better at keeping my hips up and my head down. Another few swims and I'll start focusing on a better kick. I'm also no longer worried about being booted out of the medium-speed lane.

CRAWL STROKE people: I know breathing is done by rotating the head sideways. Do you also do anything to look forward, to see where you're going? Do you instead look only at your distance from the wall or from the lane boundary, so you don't veer? If the latter, is bumping into the end wall a surprise?

Comments

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

You don't rotate the head.

You rotate the whole body. If you only rotate the head, you'll get a crick in your neck after a few workouts. (Guess how I know this one).

I tend to navigate by looking at the stripe on the bottom of the pool. The stripe usually has a cross about a yard from the end.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

OK, yeah, I was imprecise about that one. I meant that the face points toward the side of the lane rather than toward the end. :-)

Cool beans! I have noticed that stripe and that cross, but usually only when I'm climbing in (or waiting for a good chance to climb in). I tend to close my eyes when they are submerged. I should get over that. After all, I haven't worn contacts for at least a decade!

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

Goggles, madam, goggles. Otherwise you'll fry your eyeballs.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I've got a pair donated by a kind LJ friend. I should go see if I can make them fit.

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Do you have prescription goggles? They are pretty cheap, under 20 bucks, and work well enough to see under water.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

No need for the prescription. My eyes aren't great, but they're not too too bad either! :-)

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

When you get good at it you might consider taking a breath every other stroke. I always tended to look at the bottom of the pool but slightly forward. Not at the wall ahead but the floor.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

You look down through the goggles, then? Clearly I've got to start looking through the water.

Yeah, I might manage the every-other thing with practice. (Or, if I'm really REALLY good, every one and a half -- left side, pause, right side...)

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

I used to like watching the air bubbles on my nails. It looked really neat flowing across my hand. I just kind of looked around and even watched the other people. It gets easier.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oooo, nifty waterflowy bubbly stuff to watch!

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

The coloring of the lane-markers is supposed to change ~3yds from the end of the pool to warn you it is coming up. Though I tend to look forward anyway.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks!

I *think* it might be possible to know even if I'm looking only sideways. A little musing at my desk gave me this gem which might not work at all in an actual pool. My idea: I can look into the distance and see the change in perspective -- the pool walls and the distant side of the pool will look different (have different angles visually) when I'm at one end versus in the middle.

Or I could be all wet. Come to think of it... ;-)

[mighty-sam.livejournal.com]

Goggles are a must. Once you start using them you'll wonder how you ever swam laps without them.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

The consensus is strong on goggles. I should dig out my secondhand pair and see if I can get them to fit.

[nosrednayduj]

I swim closed eyes and peek every few strokes. In the lake I swim 40 or so strokes and then have to stop and stick my head up to see how I'm doing on navigation (frequently poorly) because the visibility is pretty bad in the water.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Hee! Peeking every few strokes is very like what I'm doing! :-) In a lake it's got to be a lot more difficult. There aren't floating lane-divider ropes or nearby tiled walls or nice color-contrasting lines four feet below you in clear water.

[cassidyrose.livejournal.com]

You have to get goggles. Really.

Your eyes need to be open underwater (with goggles on) and you can tell where you are by the black line on the floor of the pool (your eyes should be focused slightly ahead. When it turns to a T you are close to the wall. Once you have been swimming a while you will know how many strokes it takes from the T to the wall.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I hear ya on the goggles. I'll dig out the pair I have and see if I can get 'em to work. (I have never in my life had goggles that didn't fill up pretty much immediately. But that may have been because last time I tried, I had a child's-size head.)

[cassidyrose.livejournal.com]

For no leaking I strongly recommend Swedish Goggles: http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/1147.htm

Back when, us competitive swimmers weren't able to wear goggles when competing as they'd fall off when we dove in the water. Swedish goggles changed that as the fit allows them to stay on. They do hurt for about the first week of wear (there is no padding and they pretty much fit in the eye socket), but once you are used to them there isn't discomfort (also, when I first started wearing them I was swimming 3+ hours a day so perhaps that is why they hurt). Once you get them fitted properly they pretty much never leak (they can be twisted to tighten the nose connector). I have not used a different type of goggles since 1989.

Even if the Swedish don't work for you, there are lots more options out there than there used to be.

[rampling.livejournal.com]

20 lengths? 22 lengths? I lost track.

Ahhh, I'm not the only person who loses track! I still recommend that cute little swim lap counter, because, for me, not knowing how much I completed feels like I didn't get full credit somehow. ;)

For crawl, from what I remember, the kick is the least important part. What was most important for me to learn is that there's an important body roll involved. As your arm pushes under the water that side of your body should also tilt down. So along the long axis of your body you ought to roll 35-45 degrees in each direction, toward each underwater arm stroke. Makes each stroke more powerful and efficient. The breathing then is a (relatively) simple matter of tilting your head sideways (avoid lifting it up/back) quickly to grab a breath. With a 45 degree body tilt, the extra added head tilt to get to a breath isn't too tough. Be sure to breathe out while your head's underwater (previous to tilting your head to take the breath) -- then a quick tilt of your head as an arm passes overhead. You can choose whether to breathe every right (or left) hand stroke, every other stoke, or semi-random depending on how out of breath you feel.

I've also heard it said that the crawl feels a bit like stairclimbing -- with your arms. Not sure how helpful that is, but at least it's cute.

And, yeah, use the lines on the bottom of the pool to stay in your lane and spot the wall. Goggles are (IMO) practically essential for lap swimming so you can do this.

Observe some of the better swimmers at your pool, and see how their body rolls, and how they do that quick little breath. Seeing it in practice and observing these details in action could help a lot.

Here's a nice summary of crawl suggestions (http://www.trisportepping.co.uk/trainadv/swimtech.html):

* The body and legs are in a flat position
* Body roll facilitates breathing - the head is not lifted
* Front crawl is performed with the body tilted on its side, the body rolling from side to side in time with each arm stroke.
* The lead arm is held out in front in the glide position. When the arm stroke begins, it does so slowly, accelerating as it moves back towards the end.
* The arm pull begins with the hand catching up with the elbow - the elbow always remaining in a high position
* Always remember - more efficient, less effort

Well, I find the penultimate point confusing, but the rest sounds good.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That counter does seem nifty! I may break down and get one.

Got the goggles. Gotta use 'em.

Thanks for all the info!

Right now I'm still not crawling. I'm doing my Weird Stroke and working on going through the water horizontally. I'd like a more symmetric breaststroke-style kick. After a bit of reading, I know that what I would have (if I made the kick better) really is pretty much a decent breaststroke. But I know I'll work on crawl soon enough, and today on the flutterboard I practiced breathing to the side. (Doesn't work as well on a flutterboard, of course, because the whole body roll isn't really naturally occurring.)

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

I haven't said anything about your swimming because I've never been a swimmer -- that is, I can get around fine in deep water and get myself from one end of a pool to the other, but I don't know how to swim properly -- so I can't offer any helpful responses even any intelligent comments on your swimming. But I wanted to let you know I've been reading and it sounds like you're doing great! Keep up the good work!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm very like that too: I can get around in water, and I can get tossed in and not need saving, but my motion is no thing of beauty. And really, unless I want to race or am worried about misuse injuries, it will never have to be a thing of beauty. That helps take the pressure off. I can improve at my own pace.

Thanks for the encouragement! 8-)

[firecat]

I just figured out how to use the countdown timer on my waterproof watch as a counter. I put it into "set the timer" mode and increment the minutes once per length. Ah, how clever I felt when I figured that out. Unfortunately, I also discovered I wasn't going as fast as I thought (I thought I was doing half a mile in 30 minutes, but I was losing count and turns out it actually takes me 35 minutes).

I find it more comfortable for my neck and head to look down when I do the crawl. I have a bad habit of looking slightly forward.