One of the lifeguards at the pool told me today that he noticed that my right elbow clears the water higher than my left elbow. I have been aware of this for a while but haven't done anything about it.
In fact, I am all right-body. I breathe only to the right. My right arm is more developed than my left arm. My right arm pulls effortlessly past the hip whereas my left tails off near the waist. My right leg kicks with a strong THUMP THUMP and my left with a whimper.
What exercises should I be doing in the pool to correct this imbalance?
What exercises should I be doing out of the pool?
sincerely Syd
PS. I borrowed the term 'ugly' side from another thread. It was coined by someone else (sorry, can't remember who) and used to refer to the weak side.
Syd,
Like you I was a right-only breather a while ago. I got a lot of flack from coaches about not bi-lateral breathing. Like Donna suggestion, I would swim whole practices breathing on the left. After a week of swimming like crap, it started to finally click. Now, I breathe with better technique on my left, though I do still feel like I get more quality air on the right side.
One thing I found hardest was keeping my head down and not lifting it when breathing on my left... practice the one-eye drill, where you keep one eye in the pool and one eye out. That will help with the head position a bit.
The other Jeff has a great suggestion with the snorkel as well. I bought one last spring and it is great for balancing out your stroke.
If you have a video camera, have someone tape you for a few laps. It is tough to fix a problem that you can't see, so watching yourself may help.
Syd,
Like you I was a right-only breather a while ago. I got a lot of flack from coaches about not bi-lateral breathing. Like Donna suggestion, I would swim whole practices breathing on the left. After a week of swimming like crap, it started to finally click. Now, I breathe with better technique on my left, though I do still feel like I get more quality air on the right side.
One thing I found hardest was keeping my head down and not lifting it when breathing on my left... practice the one-eye drill, where you keep one eye in the pool and one eye out. That will help with the head position a bit.
The other Jeff has a great suggestion with the snorkel as well. I bought one last spring and it is great for balancing out your stroke.
If you have a video camera, have someone tape you for a few laps. It is tough to fix a problem that you can't see, so watching yourself may help.
