Lesson Series Fall 2018

[Mat Hudson]

Hi Alex,

It was great to work with you in the pool again.

We addressed four main topics today…

1. A more flexible breathing pattern at slower tempos
2. Holding the torso as a solid unit – hips and shoulders connected and turning together
3. Limiting the torso rotation to a lower angle, channeling force forward more than downward
4. Keeping that lead arm extending on the breathing strokes

 

Breathing Pattern

I introduced you to the option to use a 2-3-2-3 stroke breathing pattern at lower tempos in order to give you a bit more frequency of breathing per length, while still keeping a balance of bi-lateral breathing.

When the brain feels short on respiration, its priorities change and lowers available bandwidth to focus on other parts of the stroke. So, when working on breathing, or trying to challenge your metabolic system on longer swims, you can use patterns that may stress your respiration. But when you want to focus more fully on certain features of the stroke, use a breathing pattern that gives you more air per length, use a snorkel, or use shorter lengths for your repeats.

 

Torso Rotation

We used the Torpedo drill to tune up your awareness of holding the hips and shoulders together to form a solid torso unit.

Then I had you use Superman Position, leaning slightly on to the right – just a slight rotation angle – while reaching forward with that arm. This is helping etch the ideal wide arm, low-angle Skate Position you should aim for on each stroke.

I had you also focus on opening the armpit toward the bottom of the pool, which urges a slight internal rotation of the shoulder (and an upward turn of the elbow) which further restrains rotation.

Activities

• standing rehearsal of Torpedo
• Torpedo with quarter turns
• Superman with Lean + Reach to each side
• Superman + 3 Strokes
• 6 strokes (no breathing)
• 1 lap with snorkel
• 1 length with breathing

The idea is to turn that solid torso in a smaller arc, and channeling the rotational force into that lead arm as it extends forward on its track. Only a small rotation is necessary, any more will divert force away from the direction of travel. The lower angle of the torso will allow more surface area presented downward for water pressure to support, letting your body slide along slightly closer to the surface. The will keep the head closer to the air for the next breath. The lower angle will allow mean you can turn from the opposite Skate to air on the other side more quickly. Several advantages with this!

 

Lead Arm On Breathing Strokes

And, you worked on keeping that lead arm extending on the breathing stroke, especially when breathing to the left side. I noted that you could even error on the side of pausing that stroke slightly to allow you to get the head back to face-down position before pulling that lead arm.

Activities

• 1/2 lengths with 2 breaths on the same side
• Full lengths with breathing on one side
• Full lengths with bi-lateral breathing

You are trying to get that breath inserted early, within the window of opportunity created by the ideal overlapped stroke pattern. So the head needs to turn a bit more aggressively, though not so fast as to disrupt the stroke in any way. As noted in the 3-Part Breathing Drill, the triggers we are working to resist and override are:

• pushing down with lead arm while turning the head toward air
• the quicker return of the head (to face-down position) making the recovery arm swing faster
• the lead arm pulling before the recovery arm has come all the way forward to proper overlapped entry position

By not merely holding the arm there in front, but giving it the task of continuing to extend, to reach forward during the breathing action, you may find that Skate Position (at a low rotation angle, of course!) more supportive, and find it easier to hold attention on this quality.

 

Video

Lastly, I shot some video of you, which we reviewed briefly on deck. I will send that to you in a few minutes…

[Alex Granzin]

Thanks Mat, great lesson, really looking forward to getting back in the pool to work on these points.

[Alex Granzin]

Thanks for the videos Mat, really helpful.  I can see that I need to work on opening the armpit on the left side, diving the arm less, or straightening it out after entry.  Looking at the videos during which I’m taking breaths I can see that I turn somewhat late and take a long time to return my head to neutral (keeping my head turned for that period of time seems to increase the likelihood that I’ll over rotate).  I’m not sure exactly how to work on that except breaking it down in the usual manner (rehearsal, with 4-6 strokes-then whole lengths.)  If you have any other ideas I’d appreciate anything you can offer regarding this issue. I’ve got company for two days and then I’ll settle in for some sustained work on these and the other issues you mentioned.

[Mat Hudson]

Some focal points you can experiment with:

• Trigger the turn of the head right with the start of the entry – as the fingers pierce the water
• Trigger the turn of the head just as you begin to set of the catch
• Think of turning the side of your chin/mouth to air rather than thinking of turning the whole head

Do 1/2 lengths or single lengths, with lots of rest at the wall, and then practice taking just the quickest small sip of air on each breath – it won’t likely be enough to feel like you’ve completely replenished, but you’d be doing this to see how much you could strip away extraneous or ill-timed actions to make the most efficient use of that minuscule moment touching the air.

Then you may experiment with this pattern for air exchange:

• Hold breath as your head turns back to face-down position, and on most of the first non-breathing stroke,
• Start compressing diaphragm to exhale on second stroke
• As you anticipate coming into the breathing stroke start compressing more aggressively
• Finish the tuck of your diaphragm right as your nose approaches the surface
• Your exhale should finish with a blast of water/air away from the nose and mouth as they break the surface
• Then immediately take a quick small sip of air and tuck the face back under

So, rather than having a steady or even exhale, it would be a gradient, starting at zero and gradually rising in intensity as the face turns and approaches the surface. You have to work on the art of controlling the total volume of the exhale so you are not too emptied on each exhale. Then you work on refining that last moment as your face is about to break the surface, so that you finish that exhale right as water has been thrust away from your nose and mouth so you can breath without a sense of threat of sucking water back in. Try to waste no surface time with exhaling or pausing to wait for water to slide away from the openings.

You may also try standing on your feet at the wall, bending over with a hand on the wall, so that you can lay your head sideways just above the surface, looking sideways, as we do in the breathing drills. Then open your mouth, starting breathing in/out and then slowly lower the side of your head into the water (like in the ‘split the face’ mode in breathing drills) until water starts to gently pour into the submerged side of your mouth while you continue to breath in/out.  You’ll find that you can, in fact, breath ok with water in the side of the mouth, slightly submerged. The brain knows to plug the nose. This little exercise, done many times, may also help your brain relax a a bit about having your mouth stay lower near the surface and having a little water dripping around the opening or even in the side of the mouth, as is the case when we are doing truly ‘sneaky’ breathing.

The less distance you need to turn that face before starting your sip, the sooner you’ll take in air, the sooner you can return to face-down. So anything that cuts away travel distance and unnecessary pauses or actions will free up micro-seconds for inhale, and when enough is cut away, you’ll feel like you have more than enough time to get the air you need, even on a ‘quick sip’.

 

[Alex Granzin]

Thanks Mat this is helpful.  I’m sure I’m going to need lots of short repeats and 25s to make some progress on this issue and I will definitely try applying the strategies you’ve recommended above.  I also think that increasing my turnover rate will help as I notice that my best breath always comes at push off when I’m moving a little faster through the water-much easier to find that trough and keep my head low and I also seem to get a quicker return, so I may practice repeated push offs just to really imprint that feeling of a good quick sip and quick return.  In the mean time I’ll also work on trying to get my stroke rate up just a bit using the TT-the video makes clear that a slow turnover combined with a slow breathing pattern=loss of momentum and awkward mechanics. Watching the videos  I did see some good things going on as well so that was encouraging.  Thanks again for all your help.

[Alex Granzin]

Short workout yesterday-lots of 25s  (after some stroke drill to work on opening the armpits and not diving the hand quite so much) with with a focus on taking an earlier turn to air, getting a quick sip and returning head to neutral before starting the pull.  I did right breathing on the way down and left breathing on the way back.  Next workout I’ll use the 2-3 alternating pattern.

 

I felt my head was able to stay lower taking a quick sip and I was able to get plenty of air breathing every two strokes. The skate arm is getting more patient, but lots more trials are needed.  I didn’t use the TT but tried to  up the turnover tempo just a bit.  I think getting down to 1.3 and maintaining an SPL of 18/19 would be a good intermediate goal.

[Alex Granzin]

Another workout with lots of 25s working on the focal points from the lesson-opening the armpit, changing the trajectory of the arm after entry (not continuing a straight downward drive), trying to speed up the process of grabbing a sip of air-earlier turn and quicker return, not starting the pull until the head is back to neutral.  Getting a quick sip with a quicker return definitely makes it easier to hold skate until the opposite arm enters and the head has returned to neutral although it still requires focus.  I feel like I’m riding closer to the surface and that there is a little resistance as I move through the water.

I did a little work with the TT-noticed that at 1.4 I feel like my momentum really starts to fade before the next pull begins-I bumped down to 1.3 and this felt more continuous and with 3 beeps form the wall I was hitting an SPL of 16 which is pretty good for me, but effortful.

Just out of curiosity I did a few laps with the pull buoy at the end of the workout and was feeling pretty balanced-with the quick sip and quicker return plus opening the armpit I didn’t feel like I was off balance or rolling over too far when breathing left-I used to feel almost like I was going to roll all the way over when breathing left so that’s a nice change.

 

[Mat Hudson]

Pool Session – Nov 28

My apology for the delay on your notes!

Breathing Work

First, we looked at the mechanical details, and it appeared that you could improve the connection of the head turn with the torso turn. The catch is blended with the torso rotation and the head turn is blended with the torso rotation. The torso starts to turn and opens up the opportunity for the head to turn, and then it needs to turn a bit more quickly than the torso is turning. It can’t delay.

Use the pull of the catch arm, the turn of the torso to lengthen the neck, like a corkscrew drives your spine forward. The catch action provides thrust and take some of that rotational thrust into the neck, sliding it at the surface more deliberately.

And as the mouth breaks the surface, think of tilting the chin up toward the air a bit more (pivoting the head on C1) which feels like tilting the forehead downward. The lower the head in the water, the less gravity is going to press down, actually (counter-intuitively) giving you a sense of more time to spare with mouth at the surface.

Then we examined the air management. It was suspected that you have been blowing out a lot of air immediately upon submerging the face after each breathing stroke. That could be putting your body into a deficit too soon in the non-breathing stroke cycle. Trying holding breath for the first non-breathing stroke – keeping lungs full for a moment – then start a gradually increasing rate of exhale, regulating the total amount, anticipating the moment your face will break the surface again.

As the mouth and nose are about to break the surface – start just a moment before – send a blast of air out the nose and mouth to clear water away from those airways as they touch the air – just like the dolphins do. Your brain needs to feel that those airways are clear so it feels secure letting you take an immediate inhale, with mouth much closer to the surface. You may be waiting longer than necessary, rolling the face farther to the air, before taking an inhale, which is using up precious surface time, and giving gravity more time to push down, which the brain detects and further escalates the underlying anxiety.

So, you may work on setting up a whole new pattern of exhale and preparation for inhale, from the very first moment you submerge the face to the moment it emerges again for the next inhale.

 

The catch work we did next ties into that thrust you need to feel in the neck as you turn toward the air…

 

Blending Catch And Torso

We studied how it is not enough to merely have the catch (pull) and torso rotate at the same time, but they need to be connected inside, to time them just right and transfer loading to the torso muscles deliberately.

You have done well with making a full extension on the Skate side, where the lead arm has the elastic muscle and fascia system on that side now primed to pull back, adding more energy to your catch. But this must all be connected and timed with the torso rotation in order for the torso muscles to take up most of the load of the catch, offering you a must stronger, longer lasting stroke.

There are three parts to this choreography which you need to train, two at a time:

1. Gather With the Forearm
2. Torso Begins To Rotate
3. Shoulder Holds (Catch Shape) and Slides

What you are aiming for is the forearm to gather as the torso starts to rotate, but the shoulder hesitates a moment before pulling back. At first the hand and the hip are moving together. Then a micro-second later the shoulder starts to pull back which enables it to transfer the force into the bigger back muscles. If the shoulder pulls first, then it loads the shoulder muscles and little force can be transferred to the back muscles.

But you can’t easily train all three of these steps at the same time. So practice it in these pairs:

• Gather then Rotate
• Rotate then Pull Shoulder

Activities

• Superman To Skate (with rubber donut in lead hand)
• Superman To Skate (with coach offering resistance to catch arm)
• Whole Strokes (no breathing)

Focal Points for Gather

• Gather with forearm (don’t pull shoulder arm yet)
• Gather as far in front as you can
• Feel how shoulder muscles activate for this position (potential weak spot)
• Gather, hold shape with shoulder, then rotate

Focal Points for Torso Rotation

• Elastic band from hip to wrist
• Torso turns then shoulder pulls, blends in
• Feel side of torso pull shoulder, especially lats

 

[Alex Granzin]

Thanks Mat, it’s helpful to have these notes-no worries on timing I’ve been busy helping my daughter prepare for their move from Colorado.  I’ll be back in the pool today and begin work on these focal points.  See you soon.

[Alex Granzin]

In building workouts around both of the main targets cited above I have largely done 25/50 yard repeats with a specific focal point in mind.  I have found it much easier to concentrate on the focal point when breathing every two strokes so I right left on the first leg and left on the return leg.  I find that my attention wanders when I go to every three breaths or an alternating pattern/lap.  Breathing left although still less coordinated is feeling better all the time and even though it feels more awkward my lap times breathing left or right are almost identical.  I’ve been warming up with a 500 following the breathing pattern I mentioned-right on the first leg/left on the way back.  This feels really good and although I may be kidding myself I feel like I could swim, for hours like this and although times are still slow I keeping getting a little faster as time goes by.    I’ve also added about 300-400 yards of work with the snorkel to work on the torso rotation, good catch and pull and a relaxed kick.  Workouts are feeling great and I’m looking forward to my next lesson.

[Mat Hudson]

You sound like you are making good progress, physically and mentally. I am absorbing your excitement!

Continue to be patient with the process of building these new patterns with breathing and then the body will become more confident and be ready for more loading. Eventually, we’ll add more intensity to the training which will build specific strength around these new patterns and this will improve your pace over distance.

[Alex Granzin]

Thanks Mat and let me thank you again, swimming is such a joy for me right now, I look forward to it every day.  I could probably train harder if I swam less but right now I’m indulging myself.  I’m really grateful for all your help.

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