Sunday, December 19, 2010
Butterfly
1) Do not be lazy on your turns. This is a very simple rule. You shouldn't think of swimming walls as a place you hang out and rest. If this is your habit, I am sure you always see your opponent swimmers take off at the wall and then you play catch up the next 25 or 50m before another turn. To fix this, we'll use a simple visualization technique. Every time you get ready to do a breastroke or butterfly turn, pretend/imagine that the wall is a hot stove and if you let your hands rest there, they will get burned. This will help you to get off the wall quicker.
2) Know your body position when doing a breastroke or butterfly turn. Some folks tend to touch the wall, then they lift themselves out of the water, using the pool wall as some sort of a box to push upon and then they fall back down and push off. Here, you need to think of yourself as a stationary object which does not move its axis. Once your hands touch the wall, tuck your legs under your body and push off. There is no reason for you to bop up and down during the turn. In other terms, you simple move your hands from the front to back and legs from back to front, sort of switching them around with the chest staying stationary at one place.
Breastroke
1) Do not be lazy on your turns. This is a very simple rule. You shouldn't think of swimming walls as a place you hang out and rest. If this is your habit, I am sure you always see your opponent swimmers take off at the wall and then you play catch up the next 25 or 50m before another turn. To fix this, we'll use a simple visualization technique. Every time you get ready to do a breastroke or butterfly turn, pretend/imagine that the wall is a hot stove and if you let your hands rest there, they will get burned. This will help you to get off the wall quicker.
2) Know your body position when doing a breastroke or butterfly turn. Some folks tend to touch the wall, then they lift themselves out of the water, using the pool wall as some sort of a box to push upon and then they fall back down and push off. Here, you need to think of yourself as a stationary object which does not move its axis. Once your hands touch the wall, tuck your legs under your body and push off. There is no reason for you to bop up and down during the turn. In other terms, you simple move your hands from the front to back and legs from back to front, sort of switching them around with the chest staying stationary at one place.
2) Know your body position when doing a breastroke or butterfly turn. Some folks tend to touch the wall, then they lift themselves out of the water, using the pool wall as some sort of a box to push upon and then they fall back down and push off. Here, you need to think of yourself as a stationary object which does not move its axis. Once your hands touch the wall, tuck your legs under your body and push off. There is no reason for you to bop up and down during the turn. In other terms, you simple move your hands from the front to back and legs from back to front, sort of switching them around with the chest staying stationary at one place.
Backstroke
Swimming, as we have always been told, is called the ultimate, all-around exercise activity. It is said that swimming works all of the body's major muscle groups has little impact on your joints and can burn as many calories as going for a run. Well, the problem of the last statement with the calories is the length of the exercise as one probably needs to swim a lot longer to burn the same amount of calories as in running. However, let's look closely at the all major muscle groups statement. Is it a truth or a lie. To help us bust this myth or not, I found the following video which gives us insight into what muscles are actually being used during swimming of all the strokes.
Most people view backstroke as one of the most beautiful strokes out there. When swam correctly, the swimmer appears as if gliding on top of the water with rotating arms in smooth motion. Let's have a look how it is done.
There are several aspects that one needs to focus on - head position, leg movement, hip rotation and arm motion. So let us dissect these one by one.
Your head should not be facing the ground or the walls. Well, if you do not kick, you aren't getting anywhere!
Most people view backstroke as one of the most beautiful strokes out there. When swam correctly, the swimmer appears as if gliding on top of the water with rotating arms in smooth motion. Let's have a look how it is done.
There are several aspects that one needs to focus on - head position, leg movement, hip rotation and arm motion. So let us dissect these one by one.
Your head should not be facing the ground or the walls. Well, if you do not kick, you aren't getting anywhere!
Freestyle
Freestyle is what you would call a asymmetric swimming style. Well, asymmetric is a strong word, but almost. What I mean by this? Imagine you are laying on a floor on your stomach, face down and your arms are along side of your body. Now you move one arm along the floor to the front of your head. Now you have one arm in front of your head and one at a side, this is quite asymmetric, isn't it. As opposed to symmetric swimming style where both sides of your body do the same things, so both arms would move from the position along side of your body to in front of your head at the same time.
Now that we have that covered, let's focus on freestyle swimming. It is very similar to what I have described above with your body being on the floor face down with one arm extended in front of your head and one arm alongside your body. Now just imagine you are in the same position in the water and start rotating your straight arms at the same time. So the front arm goes down in the water and the back arm comes up. Like a very slow windmill. If someone tells you that you should start the freestyle stroke only when your back arm reaches your front arm, they are wrong as that is not how to properly swim freestyle. I have discussed this catch up drill and is only used for fine tuning your arm movements in slower speed.
Now that we have that covered, let's focus on freestyle swimming. It is very similar to what I have described above with your body being on the floor face down with one arm extended in front of your head and one arm alongside your body. Now just imagine you are in the same position in the water and start rotating your straight arms at the same time. So the front arm goes down in the water and the back arm comes up. Like a very slow windmill. If someone tells you that you should start the freestyle stroke only when your back arm reaches your front arm, they are wrong as that is not how to properly swim freestyle. I have discussed this catch up drill and is only used for fine tuning your arm movements in slower speed.
Tips For Beginners
Swimming is a sport that is not natural to everyone. Walking, running, biking, all of these are quite easy to master, however, it takes some coordination and stamina to learn how to swim. Here are a few tips that will help you to conquer the world of water.
Before getting in the water, let's think about a few things.
First, swimming is done in a horizontal position which is not natural for many people. Most beginner swimmers feel disoriented when laying on the water, they sometimes feel like they are falling down. However, it is not the case. Try to think of it more as laying down into a nice and soft bed.
Second, let's stay with the bed analogy. When you lay down to sleep, your body is relaxed, all muscles are loosened up. This is very similar how you should feel when floating on the water. Believe it or not, but the relaxed you are the easier is to stay afloat. So listen to Erik and RELAX.
Third, do not use any equipment. True, it is easier to kick with a kick board, however, most people start getting dependent on the floating equipment and then it is hard to learn to swim the right way.
Fourth, don't be afraid, water is your friend. Many have mastered swimming before you.
Now let's get to the good stuff. You are probably asking, so what do I do in the pool? How do I start? Well, let's see:
1. If you are afraid of the water, you should start by standing up in the shallow end of the pool holding the wall and try to squat, so you get your chin close to the water. Breath easily. Once you are comfortable, try to go deeper under water while holding your breath. Now, don't just go up and down quickly, relax and use nice smooth motion to get up and down. If that is ok, try to stay with your head submerged for longer. If you have your goggles, open your eyes, look around you and explore the beauty of the water.
2. Now that we have mastered this, it is time for bubbles. Squat down holding the wall, so your mouth is submerged and start blowing bubbles through your mouth. You are still nice and relaxed and going up, taking a breath, and down, blowing bubbles for a few seconds. Try to increase the time you are under water blowing bubbles.
3. It is time you learn how to stand back up from horizontal swimming position. You are standing up, your arms are at your side, slowly lay on the water facing down while extending your arms above your head. So you end up laying on the water as a log stretching your arms as far forward as possible with your palms down. Hold your breath and relax. Your body should be flat, the surface of the water should be hitting you in the middle of your hair on top of your head, so get that chin toward your chest. Whenever you are ready to stand up, palms of your hands are facing the bottom of the pool and start moving them slowly from the front above your head, down toward your hips keeping your arms straight. So, they will make nice half a circle. At the same time, slowly bring your knees to your chest. Basically, you will try to become a ball and use your hands/arms to rotate your head out of the water (backwards) and your feet down toward the bottom. Once in that position, just expand your feet and slowly stand up.
At this point, you should be fairly comfortable being in the water. If not, keep practicing, until you handle 1,2,3 with ease. Good luck and remember, water is not evil. Don't think too much about it, we all have instincts to survive.
Before getting in the water, let's think about a few things.
First, swimming is done in a horizontal position which is not natural for many people. Most beginner swimmers feel disoriented when laying on the water, they sometimes feel like they are falling down. However, it is not the case. Try to think of it more as laying down into a nice and soft bed.
Second, let's stay with the bed analogy. When you lay down to sleep, your body is relaxed, all muscles are loosened up. This is very similar how you should feel when floating on the water. Believe it or not, but the relaxed you are the easier is to stay afloat. So listen to Erik and RELAX.
Third, do not use any equipment. True, it is easier to kick with a kick board, however, most people start getting dependent on the floating equipment and then it is hard to learn to swim the right way.
Fourth, don't be afraid, water is your friend. Many have mastered swimming before you.
Now let's get to the good stuff. You are probably asking, so what do I do in the pool? How do I start? Well, let's see:
1. If you are afraid of the water, you should start by standing up in the shallow end of the pool holding the wall and try to squat, so you get your chin close to the water. Breath easily. Once you are comfortable, try to go deeper under water while holding your breath. Now, don't just go up and down quickly, relax and use nice smooth motion to get up and down. If that is ok, try to stay with your head submerged for longer. If you have your goggles, open your eyes, look around you and explore the beauty of the water.
2. Now that we have mastered this, it is time for bubbles. Squat down holding the wall, so your mouth is submerged and start blowing bubbles through your mouth. You are still nice and relaxed and going up, taking a breath, and down, blowing bubbles for a few seconds. Try to increase the time you are under water blowing bubbles.
3. It is time you learn how to stand back up from horizontal swimming position. You are standing up, your arms are at your side, slowly lay on the water facing down while extending your arms above your head. So you end up laying on the water as a log stretching your arms as far forward as possible with your palms down. Hold your breath and relax. Your body should be flat, the surface of the water should be hitting you in the middle of your hair on top of your head, so get that chin toward your chest. Whenever you are ready to stand up, palms of your hands are facing the bottom of the pool and start moving them slowly from the front above your head, down toward your hips keeping your arms straight. So, they will make nice half a circle. At the same time, slowly bring your knees to your chest. Basically, you will try to become a ball and use your hands/arms to rotate your head out of the water (backwards) and your feet down toward the bottom. Once in that position, just expand your feet and slowly stand up.
At this point, you should be fairly comfortable being in the water. If not, keep practicing, until you handle 1,2,3 with ease. Good luck and remember, water is not evil. Don't think too much about it, we all have instincts to survive.
Swimmer's Workout, Fitness, And Training
Workout and practice ideas and tips for swimmers to use in their swimming workouts. Everything for swimmers from sample daily swim workouts, swimming workout sets, swimming training plan help to dry land training and strength training help.
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