Practice Set for Recovery Swing
Skills To Build
- Hold stretched, straight, stable Skate Position
- Wide recovery arm swing
- Elbow leads, moves forward continuously
- Momentum builds parallel to surface
- High Elbow at Entry
- Continuous, fluid motion, from Exit to Entry to Skate
- Recovery Arm ‘lifts’ off the torso for a moment, almost weightless
You want to feel your Skate side of the body stretched, straight and stable, while your swing the recovery arm fluidly, without a sense of being rushed to do it because of instability. The more that you use the muscles in your torso to stabilize, the less you need your legs to move around to stabilize.
Focal Points
- In addition to all the focal points for Skate…
- Elbow swings wide
- Hand swings wider (arm draped over a beach ball)
- Relaxed, ‘ragdoll’ forearm and hand and fingers
- Drag the knuckles
- Elbow leads (the hand, until last moment)
- Fingernails keep contact with surface
- Elbow climbs to High Elbow Entry position
-
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, Swing Skate for 6 seconds (time of comfortable breath hold)
- 4 rounds of ‘4 to 6x Swing Switch with pauses’
- 4 rounds of ‘4 to 6x Swing Switch without pauses’
- 4 rounds of gradually faster swing, gradually bring forearm out of the water
- 4 rounds of ‘6 to 8x whole strokes’ holding the same focal point (no breathing)
- 2 rounds of ‘4x whole strokes, Interrupted Breathing, 4x whole strokes’
Practice Set for Entry and Extension
Skills
- to maintain recovery swing skills and…
- Have the entry arm be pulled in by gravity
- Have the entry arm slide in without a splash, no waves
- Have Lead Arm hold extended position until Entry
- Slide into your best Skate Position
Focal Points
- High Elbow Entry position
- Ski Jump shaped path to Skate
- Entry Arm lines up in front of shoulder, pointing straight ahead
- Extending Arm extends in front of shoulder, straight ahead
- Mail slot (fingers, wrist, elbow and shoulder slide through the same hole)
- Slide into long, straight, stable Skate Position
- Low rotation angle at Skate
- Fingers remain soft from entry to extension
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, Slot To Skate
- 4 to 6x, for each side, Swing Skate to Superman for 6 seconds (time of comfortable breath hold)
- 4 rounds of ‘4 to 6x Swing Switch with pauses’
- 4 rounds of ‘4 to 6x Swing Switch without pauses’
- 4 rounds of gradually faster swing, gradually bring forearm out of the water
- 4 rounds of ‘6 to 8x whole strokes’ holding the same focal point (no breathing)
- 2 rounds of ‘4x whole strokes, Interrupted Breathing, 4x whole strokes’