Monday, September 29, 2008

I Can Finally See Myself Swim

After three seasons of swimming I have stopped making any gains. I decided to seek out professional help and recently took a swim clinic offered by Triathletix. They also offer a swim DVD. While the DVD has the same drills and teaches the same techniques, I wouldn't recommend it. It is too short, has rather low production values and simply isn't worth the price. I think that the clinic on the other hand is definitely worth it. There just is no substitute for someone looking at you and pointing out what you need to work on. Also, it is very difficult to master the drills (and lets face it, the drills are useless unless you master them) if someone doesn't watch you and point out what you are doing wrong.

I think the most important thing I learned in the class was how to time the catch with the rotation of the hips. The Total Immersion books that I first learned from talk about this, but without someone actually demonstrating it, it is really hard to get. I still have a lot of work to do on this aspect, but at least I feel like I have the tools to get there.

On the last day of the clinic, we did some underwater filming so that we could see how we are implementing the techniques. Below is the result.

As a result of the clinic, I swim with more relaxation and ease but also go farther with each stroke. Before the clinic it took me 20 strokes to go 25 meters and after the clinic that was reduced to 16 strokes.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Steve Stenzel said...

I did the DVD, but I was able to do that with my wife. So we could point out each others problems.

Nice job in the water!!

8:08 PM  
Blogger Slow John said...

Looking good!. I did this clinic last spring. I agree that it was quite helpful. I was also glad that I didn't look like a total lumox in my video. Good going. Your stroke is strong!

9:32 PM  

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