Monday, June 22, 2009

Starting to find my stroke

I was too exhausted to get out of bed this morning to go swim so I postponed it til after work. I made it to the gym and got a 30 minute workout it. I was doing some of the drills that the coaches taught me last week and was able to really work on my breathing and just trying to stay consistent. I still have a lot of work to do but know that I will eventually get to where I need and want to be.

Lindsey Mason asked me to post the drills I have been doing so she could try them out so here you go.

1. after getting warmed up swim with your left arm straight out and stroke with the right one only, do one lap. Do the same thing for the left arm only.

2. lay on your back or side with your right arm straight out and left on your side, kick 10 times and rotate your body down to the right with your face going under water and emerging on the other side and switch to the left arm out and rifht arm down and kick 10 more times and switch back the other way. repeat this for one full lap.

3. I did this one with fins but if you don't have them it will still work. it is designed to help you get a feel for where your body should be positioned in the water and help you stay on top. Put your arms straight out and put your head between your arms, ears should touch biceps. Kick only and complete one full lap, while going try to play with your head position and get a feel for how you can streamline yourself moving through the water. I figured out that the further down my head went the higher my legs came up and made it easier to cut through the water.

4. If your pool has supplies look for a foam piece that looks like a figure 8 and put it between your legs right under your booty and just do laps. This will help keep your legs up and allow you to work on your breathing and stroke.

These drills are helping me a ton and I will continue to do them for a while until i get more comfortable with what I am doing. I do one drill then do a lap and then move to the next. Lindsey I hope these help. For all you other Triathletes feel free to leave comments with tips that you have done while training.

3 comments:

  1. one of my favorites is the fist drill. you essentially make fists with your hands and swim...it helps you work on efficiency in your stroke...if you aren't efficient you will know because you will sink! I love it because the last time i did it i punched my team captain right in the middle of his foot. I also like the drill where I beat Lisa! That one is always fun!

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  2. Hahahaha you beat me, that's a good one. If you mean in the sense of actually smacking me, yes, I'd buy that. But in the pool, no, no way, I will kick your butt down and back and down again. I'd only take 3 breaths and I'd smile while doing it--see? :-D

    I feel like this needs to be added: thumbs down, Coach Mike!

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  3. HA! that is great. Way to lay the thumbs down on Coach Cupcake!

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