Dancing and Swimming?

disney fantasia dance of the hours 3 hippopotamus - YouTube Chris, this was me http://youtu.be/1hMjxnwig0o. Honestly, we did do a ballet to this song, complete with the deep squats and jump ups.

My 16 year old switched from dance to martial arts years ago. The body control and work ethic she had already learned made her very successful in that world. Reminds me of Bruce Lee who people know as an idol of martial arts. Many people don't know that he was also a competitive dancer who won a dance championship. At first it seems like an odd mix but I wouldn't be surprised if one helps the other.

I have observed an interesting trend. My daughter actually had her best swimming times in junior high and high school with only two swim practices per week and 5 dance practices per week. I think it actually had more to do with her emotional state because both practices were very intense. Our age group coach had observed this same trend in many high school girls.

Laura. There may be similarities between dance and swimming but I don't understand how there could be any relationship between the two. In one way, they are mutually exclusive. The amount of training time required to be a good swimmer or dancer eliminates the possibility of pursuing another serious activity. I was a good swimmer and competed on a top ten Division 1 team in college. I have a daughter who is a very good competitive dancer. While I was not a "great" dancer growing up, I was able to do both swimming and dancing. I would do homework on the way to either activity and didn't have much free time. I was a pretty good swimmer then, too. It can be done if you are motivated.

Hello everyone, I am writing a piece on the relationship between dancing and swimming for the next issue of SWIMMER. I would love to hear your thoughts and opnions on that relationship, if you think one exists. Me, I think swimmers and dancers share grace, excellent body awareness and pointed toes :-) And more, but now it's up to you! Thanks, Laura I can see some similarities in the smoothness and grace of both activities' movements. However it is interesting that the swimmer's body awareness does not translate to land activities. Just my observation - swimmers are strong and well conditioned, but do not seem to have a co-ordination advantage when trying other activities. I think the body awareness and control learned in dance gives dancers a huge advantage when trying other sports. A couple of specific examples: It was interesting watching my 14 year old, who is still dancing, learn to surf. Her balance and body awareness made it very easy to pick up right away. My 16 year old switched from dance to martial arts years ago. The body control and work ethic she had already learned made her very successful in that world.

Interesting comments so far. I would think that the major similarities would be above average kinesthetic awareness, balance, core strength, and general flexibility. As a child, I took dance lessons through the end of high school and caught on to swimming quickly (although failed miserably at sports requiring hand/eye coordination). While far from being a superstar at either, I was passable at both. I've actually thought that the closest land comparison to swimming are vinyasa yoga and Pilates (mat and reformer), which obviously have similarities to dance. The movements flow, and are graceful. They are great crosstraining activities for swimming and dance as well.

Many swimmers do not generate power properly in the long axis strokes. They may be good at longer distance swims (500 and up) but are relatively poor in the 50. I have found that this is due to the lack of engaging the core body rotation in the arm stroke. Some folks rotate the body too late (essentially after the stroke is done or nearly done) and some folks don't rotate at all. To generate maximum power, the body should rotate beginning right after the arm has a good hold on the water with early vertical forearm (EVF) and continue during the stroke. In order to do that, the leg on the stroking side must kick down (top of foot toward bottom of pool in free and bottom of foot toward bottom of pool in back) as soon as the arm is in EVF position. This down kick will push the hip of the down kicking leg up and rotate the body toward the side away from the stroking arm thus engaging the body rotation in the arm stroke and generating maximum power for maximum speed. The timing of this down kick within a six beat kick is the same rhythm as that in a waltz, namely 1,2,3, 1,2,3 where the "1" kick is the down kick on the arm stroking side. That's how it works but how do you learn this very complex movement? It is certainly not by thinking about all the words above. I have found that the best way to learn the correct timing of the body rotation in freestyle is to do the "catch up" drill being sure to breathe every stroke (on each side) very early in the arm stroke, that is, as soon as the arm has a good hold on the water with EVF. For back stroke, use hip fins and see and hear the fin make a "whopping" noise as it is forced into the water going away from the stroking arm. The hip fins can also be used with freestyle to learn (by kinesthetic feed back) how it "feels" to do the movement correctly. Once you learn this timing you can use it within the six beat kick for sprints (1,2,3,1,2,3) or use it for longer distances in a two beat kick with one down kick on with the right leg as the right arm gets a good hold on the water and starts its pull/push and one down kick with the left leg when the left arm has a good hold on the water (EVF) and begins its stroke.

Many swimmers do not generate power properly in the long axis strokes. They may be good at longer distance swims (500 and up) but are relatively poor in the 50. I have found that this is due to the lack of engaging the core body rotation in the arm stroke. Some folks rotate the body too late (essentially after the stroke is done or nearly done) and some folks don't rotate at all. To generate maximum power, the body should rotate beginning right after the arm has a good hold on the water with early vertical forearm (EVF) and continue during the stroke. In order to do that, the leg on the stroking side must kick down (top of foot toward bottom of pool in free and bottom of foot toward bottom of pool in back) as soon as the arm is in EVF position. This down kick will push the hip of the down kicking leg up and rotate the body toward the side away from the stroking arm thus engaging the body rotation in the arm stroke and generating maximum power for maximum speed. The timing of this down kick within a six beat kick is the same rhythm as that in a waltz, namely 1,2,3, 1,2,3 where the "1" kick is the down kick on the arm stroking side. That's how it works but how do you learn this very complex movement? It is certainly not by thinking about all the words above. I have found that the best way to learn the correct timing of the body rotation in freestyle is to do the "catch up" drill being sure to breathe every stroke (on each side) very early in the arm stroke, that is, as soon as the arm has a good hold on the water with EVF. For back stroke, use hip fins and see and hear the fin make a "whopping" noise as it is forced into the water going away from the stroking arm. The hip fins can also be used with freestyle to learn (by kinesthetic feed back) how it "feels" to do the movement correctly. Once you learn this timing you can use it within the six beat kick for sprints (1,2,3,1,2,3) or use it for longer distances in a two beat kick with one down kick on with the right leg as the right arm gets a good hold on the water and starts its pull/push and one down kick with the left leg when the left arm has a good hold on the water (EVF) and begins its stroke. --------------- the rest of the story is that you need to do the drills thousands of times over months/years to perfect technique; two recent books confirm this methodology (not just for swimming skills, but for any other skill) are Compound Success by Darren Hardy Amazon.com: The Compound Effect (9781593157135): Darren Hardy: Books which talks about small efforts consistently done over long periods of time and The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle Amazon.com: The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How. (9780553806847): Daniel Coyle: Books which talks about how skills (of all kinds) are taught in pockets of excellence for those skills around the world Bob Hopkins swimsmart@yahoo.com

Dancers force their toes to point. I prefer the relaxed ankle and calf. Let the foot and toes do what comes natural. On the downbeat the foot will tip in and flex to a natural pointing motion. On the up beat the foot should flex back into a not so pointy position. Every thing to do with dancing is forced not relaxed. Dancing is a forced grace, body postions are forced, body awareness is forced, pointed toes are forced. I might add in dancing arm positions are forced. The only thing dancing could contribute to swimming is conditioning. Dancing may be as good as working out with weights or doing a workout. Not all of dancing is forced. Contemporary dancing is more flowing and free moving. They also flex, instead of pointing, their feet while dancing.

Dancers force their toes to point. I prefer the relaxed ankle and calf. Let the foot and toes do what comes natural. On the downbeat the foot will tip in and flex to a natural pointing motion. On the up beat the foot should flex back into a not so pointy position. Every thing to do with dancing is forced not relaxed. Dancing is a forced grace, body postions are forced, body awareness is forced, pointed toes are forced. I might add in dancing arm positions are forced. The only thing dancing could contribute to swimming is conditioning. Dancing may be as good as working out with weights or doing a workout. Hello everyone, I am writing a piece on the relationship between dancing and swimming for the next issue of SWIMMER. I would love to hear your thoughts and opnions on that relationship, if you think one exists. Me, I think swimmers and dancers share grace, excellent body awareness and pointed toes :-) And more, but now it's up to you! Thanks, Laura