2018.10 Private Lesson Series Juventila.li

2018/10/07 – Session 2

Where We Are Headed

Let’s review the four essential features of the freestyle stroke we need to make sure are in place for you to experience the ‘magic’ of the stroke:

1. The Torpedo Frame
2. Long, firm Skate Position
3. ‘Send Force Forward’ through the Recovery Arm Swing
4. Optimal Arm-Switch Timing

Then, smooth, rhythmic breathing is built upon these.

In our first lesson, we typically work through the first two on this list. In this lesson we will focus on feature #3 and touch on feature #4.

Recovery Swing

The ‘wind up’ or delivery of that force-forward requires the recovery arm to come forward in a particular manner.  The recovery shoulder and arm move parallel to the spine, never pulling or pushing it. That arm presented to the air draws gravity, and it builds momentum as it swings. That force of gravity is used to send the arm and the high side of the body back down into the water, and the momentum is harnessed to slide the body forward behind the extending front arm.

This is the ‘wind up’ for delivering force forward, into the water to cut a path ahead. The body falls onto this skate-blade and slides behind the arm.

Overall, we want to create three main features in the Recovery swing movement:

1. The shoulder joint ‘opens up’, sliding parallel to the spine, to swing freely, with the least tension or internal resistance.
2. The swing of the arm builds momentum in the forward-only direction.
3. The swing of the arm is fluid, almost weightless feeling.

There are three sections to this whole Recovery movement that we need to construct:

1. The exit – how the elbow and forearm-hand will leave the water
2. The recovery swing – how the shoulder and arm move from back to forward position
3. The entry – how the arm is position to enter the water, and the pathway it follows

Recovery Drills

• Standing rehearsal
• One-Arm Recovery Swing (a.k.a. ‘Swing Skate’) (in slow motion)
• Alternate Arms Recovery Swing (a.k.a. ‘Swing Switch’) (slow motion, with pauses)
• Alternate Arms Recovery Swing (slow motion, without pauses)

Swing Skate is where you hold Skate Position on one side and then practice swinging the recovery arm on the other side, in slow motion. There is no switching of the arms.

Swing Switch is where you start in Skate, swing the recovery arm, then pause just a moment at entry, then switch the arms, slide into Skate, and repeat on the other side.

In Swing Switch, once you remove pauses, you are getting closer and closer to normal-speed, whole stroke swimming. As you gradually speed up the motion of the swing, you may also gradually lift that forearm out of the water (let the hand go wider to gain clearance), up to the point where your fingernails are still brushing the surface. You may follow this progression to gradually raise the arm up while maintaining your qualities with focal points:

• Full (relaxed) forearm is submerged
• Half of forearm is submerged
• Watchband is submerged
• (soft) Fingers are submerged, dragging through the water
• Fingernails are just brushing the surface

As a useful permanent standard, you may keep your fingernails every so lightly brushing the surface during your recovery swing, all the way to entry. I like to call this ‘dragonfly fingertips’, like a dragonfly skimming the surface of a pond.

You may view demonstrations of these drills on the Video Tutorial page.  You may also see snapshots of particular moments in these drill positions on the Freestyle Drill Resources page.

Exit Focal Points

Keep attention on the very moment before the elbow exits the water to begin the recovery swing. Pause there a moment, with elbow tucked against the waist, underwater, in order to override the instinct that pulls the elbow up in the air, behind your back. At the end of the underwater pull, as the elbow arrives beside the waist, that is the moment it needs to swing out wide from the side of the body rather than going high behind it. Once you set the elbow on the correct path, it will be much easier to keep it going in the right way, swinging wide beside the torso.

It is so important that you start the recovery swing in the best way, right from the exit moment. This sets the stage for the rest of the swing. If there is an error in how your arm exits the water, it will create error through the entire recovery swing. Be patient to get this exit moment down well.

• Swing elbow wide (swing out, not up behind the back)
• Elbow pulls the hand – hand is dragging behind
• Exit The Sleeve (pull forearm and hand out of water as if extracting from a jacket sleeve)
• No splash exit (the arm slips quietly out of the water)

Recovery Focal Points

You may start practicing the recovery swing slowly, like a robot, which will keep your torso deep and the recovery arm mostly underwater in drill mode. But eventually, as the precise movement pattern becomes more familiar, more comfortable, you must speed up the motion so that is fluid and fast enough to feel like the arm is truly swinging, light-weight, lifting off the torso for a moment.

• Swing hand a bit wider (create equilateral triangle shape)
• Relaxed forearm and hand (‘rag doll arm’)
• Drag the knuckles (until the last moment, then swing hand forward)
• Push the Dot forward (dot on the elbow bone)
• Keep shoulder internally rotated until last moment
• Elbow reaches shoulder line before wrist
• Keep fingertips in contact with surface (a.k.a. ‘dragonfly fingertips’)
• Swing The Bag

Entry Drills

• Standing rehearsal to create entry arm shape
• Swing Skate (swing to Entry Position and dip it a few times)
• 1-Arm Slot (standing, with one arm in entry position, fall forward into Skate)
• 2- Arm Slot (standing, with one arm in entry position, and one arm in Skate Position, fall forward and switch arms, slide into Skate)

Entry Focal Points

Bringing the arm to this high elbow position is like building a wave to its peak height before the energy breaks and spills back into the water. It is so tempting to drop that elbow before it reaches its high position above and in front of the ear. Focusing on bringing the hand around will urge the elbow to drop, so let that hand drag behind until the last possible moment (that your shoulder joint comfortably allows). This will urge the elbow to climb higher as it comes forward, coming to its peak position higher than the head.

This high elbow sets up the forearm to aim straight ahead on its track, angled downward steeply into the water. Then you let gravity just pull this arm down into the water and begin extending underwater, following the Ski Jump path to the target.

• Elbow swings forward in front of the head as far as comfortable
• Elbow high above ear (like a tent over the head)
• …(to be continued)

You may examine other useful focal points for Recovery and Entry on the 101 Focal Points page.

Entry Drills

• Standing rehearsal to create entry arm shape
• Swing Skate (swing to Entry Position and dip it a few times)
• 1-Arm Slot (standing, with one arm in entry position, fall forward into Skate)
• 2- Arm Slot (standing, with one arm in entry position, and one arm in Skate Position, fall forward and switch arms, slide into Skate)

Entry Focal Points

Bringing the arm to this high elbow position is like building a wave to its peak height before the energy breaks and spills back into the water. It is so tempting to drop that elbow before it reaches its high position above and in front of the ear. Focusing on bringing the hand around will urge the elbow to drop, so let that hand drag behind until the last possible moment (that your shoulder joint comfortably allows). This will urge the elbow to climb higher as it comes forward, coming to its peak position higher than the head.

This high elbow sets up the forearm to aim straight ahead on its track, angled downward steeply into the water. Then you let gravity just pull this arm down into the water and begin extending underwater, following the Ski Jump path to the target.

• Elbow swings forward in front of the head as far as comfortable
• Elbow high above ear (like a tent over the head)
• Feel the stretch in the back as you reach entry position
• Feel BOTH shoulders slide toward the ears, bracing the upper spine
• Forearm aiming straight ahead on track
• Forearm angling down steeply (45 degrees)
• Hand entry position across from opposite (lead arm) elbow)
• Ski jump shape entry path – Slide down to target depth and then extend forward
• Spear wrist through your target

You may examine other useful focal points for Recovery and Entry on the 101 Focal Pointspage.

Arm Switch Timing

Without focusing on it directly, the drills for the Recovery Swing also set up the critical timing of the arm switch.  As you were doing in the drills, your Skate side of the body remain long, firm, and the lead arm should continue extending forward, until the recovery hand arrives at the entry position. This is the best switch moment. Switch a little too early or a little too late and you lose the effect.

You may notice the feeling of acceleration on each stroke when you shaped the entry and timed the arm switch like this. This is exactly the magic we are looking for as these pieces come together!

Memorize this entry position and timing (in the picture above). There is some slight adjustment in the timing for slower or faster tempos, but this is the approximate timing you need to train into your muscle memory.

Back Float and Interrupted Breathing

When working on the Back Float remember to think of “Head back, chest back, pelvis up.” The essential part of having a successful and enjoyable back float include the proper streamline body shape and relaxation, trusting in the water to do it’s job to keep you afloat.

First start with an open arm “t” shaped float. As this become more comfortable, reshape the body into the Interrupted Breathing position, smoothly and calmly. Feel the way the body slightly tilts to accommodate the shift in weight for balance. Relax and allow the body to be supported by the water.

Images of the Interrupted Breathing position can be found on the Freestyle Resource page under Interrupted Breathing photos.

2018/10/28 – Session 5 of 5

Practice Set for Rhythmic Breathing

Skills To Build

• To maintain the optimal Arm Switch Timing
• To turn and return the head without disrupting that ideal stroke pattern
• To feel as little disruption to balance and streamline as possible
• To make breathing feel the same on either side

Breathing easily depends greatly on the strength of your stroke skills which support it. You want to feel your body long, straight, and firm in Skate as you turn and return the head from breathing. The turning of the head should not disrupt the position of the body, nor force the movement of the recovery arm. Use the thrust of the catch and aim your body in Skate to slide the upper body near the surface so the head is right there at the air already.

Focal Points

• Lead arm keeps extending while head turns/returns
• Lead arm stays on track while head turns/returns
• Head stays weightless (neutral) on non-breathing strokes
• Head is stays straight with spine (on ‘shishkabob’) as it turns
• Turn toward air as soon as possible, just at the start of the catch/entry
• Turn toward air a bit more aggressively than the torso turns
• Just touch the air long enough for a quick breath, then return right away
• Take just a quick sip of air
• Stretch the chin and lips toward air like a ‘hooked fish’
• Small bubbles from the nose
• Clear the airways just before breaking the surface
• Make just a partial air exchange (don’t hold breath, don’t exhale massively)

Choose 3 or 4 of the focal points above to work on today.

Then, for each focal point, work through these activities, as far as you can go successfully. Take one focal point and work through the list. Then take the next focal point and work through the list again, and so on.

Practice Set

• 4 to 6x, for each side, Superman To Skate with ‘Nod’
• 4 to 6x, for each side, Superman To Skate with ‘Split The Face’
• 4 to 6x, for each side, Superman To Skate with ‘Hooked Fish’
• 4 to 6x, for each side, 3 Strokes To Skate
• 4 to 6x for each side, 3 Stroke to Skate, 1 Stroke

When you have successfully capture a sip of air, challenge yourself with a sequence which involves a few initial strokes, a breath, followed by continual strokes. See suggestions below.

• 4 to 6x, for each side, 3 Stroke, 3-Part Breathing, 3 Strokes
• 4 to 6x, for each side, 6 Strokes with 1 turn to breath (no pauses)
• 4 to 6x, for each side, 9 strokes with 2 turns to breath along the way
• 2x length of pool, for each side, turning toward air on every 4-2-4-2 strokes
• 2x length of pool, turning toward air on every 3 strokes

2018/11/25 – Session 1 of 6

Nice work today! The pieces may still seem a little rough, but they are coming together well.

Although you didn’t start lessons with any conscious awareness of discomfort and anxiety in the body, the water is still an unfamiliar environment. In time, with continual exposure and directed activities in the water, your nervous system will relax and learn to trust the water and your body in the environment. For now this should be considered an additional skill to work on along with your stroke specific skills. I’ve included guided notes towards building greater comfort and relaxation in the water. This will release some of the tension that results in a sinking or sitting lower in the water sensation.

There is enough content below for several practices. I recommend taking one to two of the practices below into your sessions.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Balance and Relaxation Practice

The goal of this practice is to increase body awareness and systematically relax the body. Some of the difficulty in the stroke and achieving a smooth rhythmic breath is that the body is still tense and thus sinking lower than it should. Part of swimming smoothly is to feel at rest and ease in the water. Consider dedicating a certain portion of your practice to meditation to both be aware and control your level of comfort and ease in the water.

The body sends feedback through many outlets.

1. Cardiovascular and Respiratory System
2. Air Exchange and Management
3. Muscle tension and use
4. Effort of actions
5. Distraction by environment

During this practice, notice what distracts you, what pulls your attention, what feels tense or uncomfortable. After noticing and acknowledging, then aim to bring focus back to the task at hand, allow the distraction to flow over you. Relax into the activity and see if you can achieve control and comfort.

Balance and Relaxation Drill Sequence

• Superman
• Superman to Skate
• Skate with 1 Stroke
• Skate with 2 Strokes
• Skate with 3 Strokes

Balance and Relaxation Focal Points

• Awareness of Heart Rate
• Ease of exhale or holding breath
• Relaxation of abdomen
• Relaxation of shoulders
• Release of Head and Neck
• Soft arms
• Leg muscles hold shape but no tension

Rhythmic Breathing, Stroke and Timing Practice

A successful Rhythmic Breath, without further impact to the stroke, requires all the components of the stroke to be in place. However, in order to build a Rhythmic Breath while actively learning and programming the stroke, we can examine a few key aspects of the stroke that proceed, follow and occur during the sneaky, Rhythmic Breath. These consist of the relaxed and straight body line, the timing of the Catch and the force sent forward on which the body will rest during the breath.

1. Head and Spine Alignment
2. Catch
3. Recovery Entry

Here are a few drills and focal points to take into your practice. Examine what makes sneaking in that breath makes it easier or harder. What feels successful and where is fails. All will provide you with the feedback to problem solve and find

Rhythmic Breathing, Stroke and Timing Practice Drill Sequence

• Superman to Skate
• Skate with Catch
• Skate with 2 Strokes w/ catch
• 2 Strokes with Breath, Focus on Catch
• Skate with Pause at Entry
• Skate with 2 Strokes w/ Entry Focus
• 2 Strokes with Breath, Focus on Entry
• 3 Strokes to Breath
• 3 Stroke to Breath, 1 Stroke.

Rhythmic Breathing, Stroke and Timing Focal Points

• Straight Spine
• Weightless head remains looking down
• Begin rotation to breath as you Set the Catch
• Head back in Neutral before Catch hand reaches in pocket
• High Entry Elbow
• Send Force Forward with Skate to aid with Rotation

Compact Kick Practice

Ideally, during TI, we use what is called a 2 Beat Kick. The purpose of the 2 Beat Kick is for counter balance and to help with the torso rotation during the stroke. It is not essential for propulsion. Should the back half of the body still sink after the body is aligned, relaxed and holding the proper shape, we utilize a small Compact kick. Once again, not for propulsion but for a simple lift to the legs.

There are four primary components to a clean Compact Kick that has a minimal impact on the stroke.

1. Straight Hips and Knees
2. Relaxed Foot
3. Remain Narrow in the Body
4. Keep Below the Surface

Remember that should it break the surface and or create white water (bubbles and foam), then it may have a negative impact on the overall stroke. Below are drills to use to slowly incorporate and examine the Compact Kick into the pre-existing stroke sequence we have built together.

Compact Kick Practice Drill Sequence

• Superman
• Superman Skate
• Skate
• Swing Skate
• Swing Switch
• 2 Strokes
• 2 Strokes and Breath
• 3 Strokes and Breath
• 3 Stroke, Breath, 1 Stroke

Compact Kick Focal Points

• Straight Hips and Knees
• Relaxed Foot
• Remain Narrow in the Body
• Keep Below the Surface
• Weightless Head
• Superman/Skate Arm Relaxed and at Target Depth

Rhythmic Breathing

Review previous lesson’s notes for drills and focal points of the Rhythmic Breath. I would recommend holding off on the breath practice specifically, until you have first practices balance, relaxation and the timing more precisely. Then you might see an improvement during dedicated practice to Rhythmic Breathing.

When you are there, remember the two key points to the Rhythmic Breath,

1. Quick Turn of the head
2. Quick Return of the head to neutral

2018/12/03 – Private Lessons 2 of 6

We have covered many Drills and Focal Points to develop the stroke. For the purpose of relaxation, consider sorting the body into three primary sections: Head-Spine, Shoulder-Arms, and Hips-Legs. As you work through relaxation, sort the body through these sections for easy recall. Start with one at a time, and then build to two at a time, then all three at the same time.

Remember, right now the goal is to calm down and regain control of the nervous system.

There is a lot of content here. I’ve made three practice session for your to work through and possibly repeat as needed. You may find that you’d like more than a week to work on these skills. If you’d like push back one of your session for an extra week to practice, let me know.

Practice One –

Relaxation Drills:

• Deadman’s float
• Visualize
• Superman Standing Rehearsal
• Superman
• Superman to Skate Standing Rehearsal
• Superman to Skate
• Skate to Skate Standing Rehearsal
• Skate to Skate
• Skate with 2 strokes
• Skate with 3 strokes and pauses
• Skate with 3 strokes (no pauses)

Relaxation Focal Points:

Systematically sort the Focal Points with segments of the body as in the Body Parts Inventory, Head/Neck/Spine, Shoulders/Arms/Hands, Hips/Legs. See below for Focal Points you can specify for those primary areas.

• Weightless Head
• Straight Spine
• Relaxed Neck
• Soft fingers
• Relaxed Arm
• Forearm, soft and parallel to the ground
• Hips Straight
• Legs narrow behind the body
• Straight legs, but relaxed (relax the feet, release the calves, hold the thighs)

Practice Two –

This portion is meant to isolate and refine the key stroke elements that lead up to the rhythmic breath. Aim to maintain the same level of relaxation you achieved in the first practice.

Stroke to Breath Drills:

• Superman to Skate
• Skate with Catch
• Skate with 2 Strokes
• Skate with 2 Strokes and breath on Catch
• Skate with Pause at Entry
• Skate with 2 Strokes with Entry Focus
• 2 Strokes with Breath, Focus on Entry
• 3 Strokes to Breath
• 3 Strokes to Breath, 1 Stroke

Stroke to Breath Focal Points:

• Head and Spine in Straight Alignment
• Weightless Head remains looking down
• Set the Catch and turn early
• Pull with the Hip
• High Elbow at Entry
• Push with the Dot

Remember to make each stroke count, including the stroke prior to the breath.

Practice Three –

Once the body has relaxed and the stroke is tighter, revisit Rhythmic Breathing practice. Notice any changes or effects the latest practices have had on your form.

Rhythmic Breath Drills:

• Superman to Skate with ‘Nod’
• Superman to Skate with “Split the Face”
• Superman to Skate with “Hooked Fish”
• 3 Strokes to Skate
• 3 Stroke to Skate, 1 Stroke

When you have successfully captures a sip of air, challenge yourself with a sequence which involves a few initial strokes, a breath, followed by continual strokes. See suggestions below.

• 3 Stroke, 3 Part Breathing, 3 Strokes

Rhythmic Breathing Focal Points:

• Lead arm stays on track while head turns/returns
• Head stays weightless (neutral) on non-breathing strokes
• Head stays straight with spine (on ‘shishkabob’) as it turns
• Turn toward air as soon as possible, just at the start of the catch/entry
• Just touch the air long enough for a quick breath, then return right away
• Stretch the chin and lips towards air like a “hooked fish”

2018/12/30 – Session 4 of 6

Warmup Routine – Play and Relaxing the Nervous System

I would recommend incorporating some play into your warm-up routine that allows you to acclimate your nervous system to the aquatic environment. During these Drills and Focal Points, you are doing detailed work with your senses, muscles and brain. Having a routine before entering into a dedicated practice can wake up and prepare your nervous system for the various things you will be asking of it during that time. A routine might include some of the Drills above. It could be breathing exercises in the water or tuning-up with the Balance and Streamline drills. Find whatever works best for you to prepare your mind and body for the intricate work ahead. If you’d care for further ideas, I can provide more suggestions.

In case you’d like to explore the activities further, these are the few we covered:

• Beach Ball“Beach Ball” Float – Use both arms to hold bent legs to chest. May lift legs one at a time, or all together. Make the movement smooth. Feel the entire body bounce, then settle into the balance point.
• Beach Ball with Arm Movements – Holding the bent legs with one arm, use the other arm to scoop the water in one direction or another rotating the body to the left or right. Play with the movement.
• Toe-Touch Balance (“Jelly Fish”) – Reaching down to touch toes, feel the feet lift off the ground. Allow the body to lift with the buoyancy of the water. Enjoy the feeling while practicing exhalation.
• “Dead Man’s Float” – Front float without any support, shape or tension in the entire body. (If at a practicing at a pool with a lifeguard, notify lifeguard before doing “Dead Man’s Float”)
• Streamline push off from wall
• Streamline push off to glide down to pool floor
• Object Retrieval – Placed, weighted objects (i.e. rock, metal washer, glass pebble, etc.) on grading stairs at staggering depths or in shallow end at a depth greater than waist height. Carefully inhale, filling the lungs with air, then exhale bubbles before lowering head into water while retrieving the object.

As the depth increases, feel how the water pushes back to lift the body of the ground. The water and the body are finding the buoyancy point. It may feel unstable until the sensation become more familiar. When the depth is great enough the arms cannot reach the object and the feet lift, additional techniques may be required. See Submersion technique instructions below.

Submersion Technique

We only want to sink if we intend to. In discomfort, the mind strongly resisting the feeling of pushing the body down beneath the water. But as you experienced in Balance Basics, when relaxed, the body wants to float. Whether standing, sitting, kneeling or crossing the legs, buoyancy tries to lift you body to its balance equilibrium. To sit on the ground of the pool, you may need to assist.

Think to “Go Down, Push Up, to Go Up, Push Down”

To Submerge

• Put hands down at sides. Submerge the head, then flap the arms like wings UP towards the surface of the water. Repeat quickly if additional depths is required.

To Rise

• Hand above the head but below the surface of the water, flap the arms down toward sides. Repeat as the body rises until the head breaches the surface.

Today we tried, “jump and sit” temporally increasing the body mass above the water with a jump then requiring gravity to press the body down past the natural buoyancy point. Push the legs out to set your bottom on the bottom of the pool. Then reach for object.

Other techniques are an option, such as swimming or diving down. For now let’s stick with the above until there is more comfortable with intentionally sinking.

Interrupted Breathing – Greater Balance and Comfort for Continual Swimming

Some of the content below might be a repeat or a review of what we’ve already covered. As eager as you are to use a Rhythmic Breath, so far the stroke is not ready for it to be incorporated without it disrupting the stroke for continually swimming. Therefore, I’m recommending reviewing and return to practice the Interrupted Breathing position. It is tough, but will ultimately allow you to work on your stroke and gain air without the impact of a Rhythmic Breath as a work in progress.

The intention behind this breathing position is to ‘interrupt’ the stroke but maintain long, balanced, streamline body that is immediately ready to resume swimming when you are. It is the position to rest that requires the least amount of effort to hold – lower heart rate, calmer breathing.

For this reason we teach it as a self-rescue or self-calming position for children, open-water swimmers and triathletes. Counter-intuitively, it works very well in rough water.

Interrupted breathing is suitable:

• when using during drills that have you pause in Skate Position
• when doing drills over a full length of the pool and stopping in the middle is disruptive to other swimmers
• when swimming whole stroke
• when in the middle of a race or rough water and you need to recover your breath and composure

Review Supine Position Notes for how to first warm-up and work on feeling relaxed in the Supine Position. Remember you have tools around you such as the lane line, the stairs, a ladder or rail to utilize as initial support without a coach there. When you feel more comfortable and relaxed in this position, then progress to shaping the body in the ideal back position for Interrupted Breathing.

If you’re up for the challenge, you could try transitioning from the Interrupted Breathing Position to Skate Position. Videos are linked below.

• Back Float to Interrupted Breathing(Sweet Spot)
• Interrupted Breathing (Sweet Spot)
• Interrupted Breathing (Sweet Spot) to Skate Position (Front Float)
• Skate Position (Front Float) to Interrupted Breathing (Sweet Spot)
• Skate Position to Interrupted Breathing to Skate Position, take one stroke
• Skate Position to Interrupted Breathing to Skate Position, take two strokes
• Repeat last, increase to 3 strokes until rotating to breath every 3 strokes, continually

Once again, note that when transitioning between front and back floats to keep the spine straight. Rotating with the torso (armpit to hip) instead of with the arms. Lead with the head, either holding your breath or exhaling from the nose, then follow with the torso. Some find thinking about lifting or dropping with the hip, to help lead the torso into the movement.

The Skate Position (Front Float) to Interrupted Breathing (Sweet Spot) transition is the trickiest to do comfortably. Avoid curling in on yourself into a fetal position once on the back. Instead, quickly straighten and arch backwards.

It may seem like a stretch now, but this will provide you with a more enjoyable, continuous swimming experience while refining the stroke technique.

Catch – Review and Personal Notes

Today, we noted the Catch was not following the ideal T.I. pattern. I suggest, reviewing the notes from previous sessions on the Catch and consider referencing the Freestyle Fundamentals Course for guided practice sessions focused on developing the Catch.

The Catch is one of the key pieces for the torso rotation and thus the Arm Switch Timing. It also aids the rotation to breath, whether that be Interrupted Breathing or Rhythmic Breathing.

Freestyle Fundamental Online Course

Included in your Private Lesson Series is access to the Freestyle Fundamentals Course on the Dojo. This course provides you with outlines practice plans for the content we have covered together. You may follow it in sequence or start at a point that you are currently working on. Either way, it is a supportive tool to guide you time in the water. Since Freestyle is still a new and fresh skill to you nervous system, I would note that spending time on the earlier content such as Balance and Streamline can still be beneficial for reinforcing the sensations and comfort you are aiming to achieve and maintaining while actively using the propulsion elements of the stroke. Consider revisiting these topics.

2019/01/27 – Session 3 of 6

I have you a brief introduction – too brief I am afraid – and I regret that I don’t have photos and tutorial videos on these other strokes, since demand for learning these has been so low, but you are prompting use to put these on our next video shoot day. I’ll do my best to describe the skills and drills in writing until then.

Sections of the Breaststroke

We may divide the breaststroke into these main sections:

• The streamline body position
• The pull to breathe
• The kick and extension back into streamline

The streamline position is the base position for the whole stroke, where you will experience the most forward motion. You want to develop a strong urge to stay in that position, pull to break from it very briefly to take a breath and then kick to slide back into a quickly as possible.

Streamline

The streamline body is the ultimate moment of the stroke where you experience that most forward motion.

The spine is aligned, from tip of head to the tail. Eyes are looking straight down and the crown of the head is aimed straight ahead, down the lane in the direction of travel. The two arms are extended straight in front of the shoulder (unlike Superman Position where they are angled downward slightly), palms facing downward. Toes are pointed (comfortably) behind. The body is stretched out so that this tautness can conduct the wave of force forward, through the body into the leading edges.

The Pull and Breath

We’ll work on the full scoop/pull with forearms and elbows later. For now, practice the arm motion with small sculling (mini-strokes).

When you run out of air, stand to breath. We will walk through the causal breaststroke breathing, keeping in mind the desired end stroke will be to keep the head up for a leisure stroke.

Kick Back into Streamline

Then practice the leg kick, both in standing rehearsal and in prone streamline position, with no arm action.

The scull temporarily lifts the body, but gravity wants to scull it right back down, and you will go back in with it. As the hands return to streamline position, the head quickly tucks in, ears between the shoulders, and you kick at the same time. The kick presses back against the water in such a way that you can drive your head and arms forward into streamline, and into forward motion.

The whole aim is to slide the head and arms into streamline and receive the wave of force from the kick at the right moment so that the body slides forward more than the feet slide backward. Receive the wave into your lengthening body and ride it forward in streamline position.

The kick requires that foot and legs to be shaped in such a way as to push backward on the water. The feet need to be in strong dorsal flexion, so that the bottoms of the feet are facing rearward as much as possible at the moment you press. This means the feet need to be below the surface about 6 inches to achieve that angle. If you pull the heels too close to your hips, the bottom of the feet will be too close to the surface and facing the surface – if you kick from that position your foot will catch air and slice through the water rather than press against it. So, keep the feet a bit deeper where you can feel better water resistance.

When you pull (or cock) the knees, let the knees spread a bit, as if you were doing an air squat in the gym. This position will be a bit easier on the knees when you go to press back (to kick).

The kick legs angles outward slightly at the beginning, then the feet come back together. Don’t drive the legs out to the side widely. In the first part, you are feeling your feet press back against the water (as if you were jumping off the ground when standing up). In the second part, it may feel like you are squeezing water between the inner surface of your lower legs, as they pull back together into streamline.

Drills:

We worked through a series of drills to examine each part:

• Streamline (just push off the wall)
• Standing rehearsal of Mini-Pull (sculling)
• Streamline plus Mini-Pull (with just the forearms)
• Standing rehearsal of Kick
• Hold the wall and practice kicking
• Streamline plus Kick

Then we put the three parts together, follow this mantra to follow in slow motion:

• Streamline, Kick
• Glide in streamline for a couple second before pulling
• (from streamline) pull

Streamline Focal Points:

• Pause for Streamline Glide
• Engage Lower Abdomen (Tippy-toes’)
• Eyes directed down, chin tucked
• Hands at target depth
• Press chest forward as the kick concludes into glide

Sculling Focal Points:

• Press down and out with forearms
• Keep elbows straight but soft
• Soft return of hands to Streamline

Kick Focal Points:

• Dorsal Flex foot on the “up and outward” motion
• Soft point to foot on the “together” motion and glide
• Low angle hip bend when knees are bent

You may like to pull up some slow-motion videos on YouTube to see examples of this full sequence…

• Streamline
• Scoop (catch)
• Poke head above to breathe
• Pull knees, then keep legs poised to kick
• Dive head between shoulders
• Kick body in to full streamline extension