Physique Swimming: Lesson 7

We worked with Fru again today. She's a great teacher - I think she's one of the head teachers in the program just based on the way she talks to the other instructors.

We started of with ... bubbles. As always. My bubbles are a lot more controlled now when I'm swimming. I'm doing a better job pacing myself.

We worked on...

• Streamline with a kick board. I kept my arms tucked behind my ears and my head facing the floor of the pool. We did it all the way to the deep end and then back.
• Gliding in streamline position. I think she noticed that our streamlines still needed work so she just had us glide without the kicking. As far as kicking is concerned, she says she wants me to kick wider and slower. I kept running out of breath - I think I was tensing up too much again. It always happens when I don't relax. 
• Streamline into a back float. We would start off in streamline, then we would rotate our bodies slowly until we're floating on our backs. Then repeat. The purpose of this was get us accustomed to rotating our bodies underwater. 
• Sidekicks with kick board. Rather than rotating all the way, we would start off streamline, kick, kick, kick, then put one arm on our side and then rotate our head onto our arms while continuing to kick sideways. We kept doing this with both arms. 
• I stiffen the arm that's on the side way too much. She told me to just let it go and don't tense it. 
• I rotate too much sometimes end up overstretching my neck. It should be comfortable - your head should be resting on your arm. 
• Back float kicking off the wall. We held on to the side of the pool and then lifted our feet and put them against the wall while leaning our heads back into the water. Then we gently let go and extended our legs and opened our arms to the side. 
• My legs kept sinking and she told me to 1. Open them wide and 2. Squeeze my but so I don't bend (huh? tried this but didn't work). 

My biggest problem is the sidekick. I think I'll keep working on it with the board. The moment I lose the board, I feel like it's impossible for me to turn my head and still keep it above water. I'll look up some sidekick drills tomorrow. Pretty tired right now.