OK, several days ago, one of you guys posted a link to a video called "Send it Forward". It was a breaststroke video that demonstrated a common mistake - going too low during the glide and then working hard to get back to the surface. The theme was Send It (momentum) Forward. I wanted to post this in that thread but couldn't find it. Anyway, I have a lot to say about that post - maybe I'm even going to ramble!:)
I tried over the past couple of days to focus on what the video talked about but I wasn't getting anywhere. Today, all of a sudden, it hit me. On the last two strokes of a length, I felt it. I realize that I have been going too deep with my hands/head during the glide of the breaststroke. I was using a lot of the effort of my pull to bring my head/shoulders/back up to the surface. The effectiveness of my pull was waaaay below what it could have been. Not to mention that I wasn't streamlined enough and was losing a lot of the "explosion" from my kick.
Anyway, I continued to work on it today and I feel like I have made one of those breakthroughs that Ande talks about. How do I know?
1. I could feel it. I felt more efficient and I could feel the difference in speed. I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes you just feel it when you get it right in swimming.
2. The clock never lies. I did 50 SCY a full five seconds faster than I have ever done before.:eek: (Although I must say that I'm disappointed that my stroke was lousy enough prior to today so there was that much room for improvement.:rolleyes: :( ) My 100 was about 7 seconds faster!
3. At "workout pace", I was a full stroke less per length than yesterday!
Anyway, I'm sorry if I sound like I'm gushing, but hey.... I am gushing! Between the adreneline high (I have been out of the pool for less than an hour) and the emotional high of a big improvement I am flying like a kite right now. I'm so happy I could cry! (OK, comments about a previous post can begin now.)
I wanted to share it here because my family (none of them swimmers) would not understand my excitement. That's what I love about this site..... great tips and people who understand! The tips are valuable to an "uncoached" swimmer like me. I want to have a big BBQ and invite everyone over. I just need a year to get the olympic sized pool built (indoor of course)! Or maybe I should have the BBQ now and supply a bunch of shovels....
Anyway, if you posted the link to that video, thanks for the help. And to all of you thanks for listening!
