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OBJECTIVE
- To work through each of the head position micro-skills that make breathing easier
- To improve breathing on BOTH sides
- To bring micro-skills from your strong side to your weak side.
DISTANCE
2500 meters
DRILLS AND FOCAL POINTS
Drills:
- Drill 1 = Superman to Skate, with single transition to skate (then stop, stand, or use interrupted breathing to rest)
- Drill 2 = Swing-Switch, slow-motion, with pauses at hip and Mailslot (pauses give you time to think)
Focal Points:
- A = Weightless Head
- B = Laser Lead Head (keep crown of head pointing directly down the lane, underwater)
- C = Laser Lead Spine (‘shishkabob’ spine, or ‘torpedo’ spine, if you prefer), from crown of head down to your feet
- D = Chin Turns With Shoulder (like a string connects them together), then springs back immediately (as if the string were cut)
- E = Patient Front Arm (front arm does NOT move at all while turning to breathe until head returns looking down!)
- F = Split The Goggles (or ‘Split the Face’ with the surface of the water)
- G = Whale Hook (reach the chin and side of mouth to air)
TUNE-UP
800 meters total.
200m whole stroke, gently as possible, QUIET swimming with no splash, no waves, no bubbles
(Pay attention to head position and spine alignment. Make observations of what your body does.)6 rounds of 2x 50m with a new Focal Point on each round. Use Interrupted Breathing.*
* Interrupted Breathing = make a complete pause in the stroke at Skate Position, then rotate on spine onto backstroke skate position to breathe. Resume stroking only after your head has completely returned to eyes-down position.
MAIN SET 1
400 meters total.
Special Note: If you feel you have a smooth or strong breathing skill on one side, but not the other, start these sets on your strong side, and then use your strong side as a reference point for finding what skills are absent on your weak side. Compare the two, using Focal Points to show you what to examine.
4 Rounds 2x (25m Drill 1, 25m Whole Stroke)
- Round 1 – use Focal Point D
- Round 2 – use Focal Point E
- Round 3 – use Focal Point F
- Round 4 – use Focal Point G
On each round:
- 1x 25m Drill 1, breathe to LEFT, do only one switch from Superman to Skate
- 1x 25m Whole Stroke, Breathe only on LEFT every 2 or 4 strokes.
- 1x 25m Drill 1, breathe to RIGHT, do only one switch from Superman to Skate
- 1x 25m Whole Stroke, Breathe only on RIGHT every 2 or 4 strokes.
Instructions:
On these drills just practice the turn of the head in proper position, without breathing. Do single switch so that you can think carefully before the turn and watch carefully that you perform exactly as you planned to. Finish in Perfect Skate position.
Stop and stand (or use Interrupted Breathing) to breathe after one switch so there is no pressure on you to tilt the head out of proper position as you feel a demand for air.
Be loyal to head position more than making sure the mouth touches the air. The turn to breath, when connected to a normal, full, well-shaped Catch, will bring the head to the air just right, but in drill mode the body sets deeper in the water and so it may not easily touch the air in proper position. If you tilt your head up to read the air in drill mode that will defeat the whole purpose of the drill. It is better to skip breathing then stop than to wreck head position to breathe so you can keep going.
When the head is truly weightless and stays on its Laser Lead Line while turning to breathe, it may feel as if your head is tilting ‘down-hill’ a little. That’s because your ‘normal’ head position is actually tilted up and you have mistaken that for ‘flat’. Feeling like it is downhill may be a sign that your Laser Lead Head is actually staying down in the water where it should be. Keep in mind that you need your mouth to reach the air in order to breathe, not your eyeballs. Reach the chin a little higher, not your forehead.
MAIN SET 2
600 meters total.
4 Rounds of 2x (1x 25m Drill 2, 2x 25m Whole Stroke)
- Round 1 – use Focal Point D
- Round 2 – use Focal Point E
- Round 3 – use Focal Point F
- Round 4 – use Focal Point G
On each round:
- 1x 25m Drill 2, breathe to LEFT, do only ONE Swing Switch and finish in Perfect Skate
- 2x 25m Whole Stroke, Breathe only on LEFT every 2 or 4 strokes.
- 1x 25m Drill 2, breathe to RIGHT, do only ONE Swing Switch and finish in Perfect Skate
- 2x 25m Whole Stroke, Breathe only on RIGHT every 2 or 4 strokes.
(Use same instructions as Set 1)
MAIN SET 3
450 meters total.
- 1x 50m Whole Stroke, breathe on LEFT
- 1x 50m Whole Stroke, breathe on RIGHT
- 1x 75m Whole Stroke, breathe on LEFT
- 1x 75m Whole Stroke, breathe on RIGHT
- 1x 100m Whole Stroke, breathe on LEFT
- 1x 100m Whole Stroke, breathe on RIGHT
Instructions:
* Breathe every 2 or every 4 strokes, or switch between 2 and 4 strokes.
If you are still new in these skills choose one Focal Point (D, E, F, or G) to use during each repeat. If you are feeling more confident blend two Focal Points together (DE, DF, DG, EF, EG, FG).
If at any time during whole stroke you fail repeatedly at performing the task you may stop and do 25 of Drill 1 or Drill 2 in order to isolate the micro-skill and tune-up your attention on it.
MAIN SET 4
250 meters total.
- 1x 25m Whole Stroke, breathe every 3 strokes.
- 1x 50m Whole Stroke, breathe every 3 strokes.
- 1x 75m Whole Stroke, breathe every 3 strokes.
- 1x 100m Whole Stroke, breathe every 3 strokes.
(Use same instructions as Set 3)
Closing Note:
Having water invade the nose, ears, mouth is a normal, unavoidable part of swimming. The full set of breathing micro-skills, once you have them imprinted more deeply, will help minimize that amount of water that comes in the nose especially, but there will always be some at times. (Another practice will address inhale/exhale skills). The more you are focused on keeping all water out of the nose and mouth the less you will be able to put your head into proper position. I encourage you to accept the initial discomfort of it and more, to allow it to become so normal that you hardly notice it any more. Part of it is overcoming the land-mammal’s instinctive sense of danger to water covering the nose (in particular). Practice aquatic mammal attitude and the brain will learn to relax.
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