Hello,
I recently took up swimming (October) @ age 43 and have never done much else than splash around in a pool.
I trained myself using Total Immersion (I have been looking at the forums here and I suspsect I just threw a hand grenade into this thread :) )
As with other skills I have learned, I feel one has to develop their own form and style - so I am not following TI by the book....
Anyway, this is the first time I have seen myself swimming and I see some errors:
a. rolling too far to breath or simply turning my head to breathe
b. head position
c. legs uselessly kicking around..
video of me swimming:
link.
any pointers on how to
a. work my kick into my stroke better.
b. work on body roll.
Anyway, I have to say I LOVE swimming. to me its like mediation, excercise, pilates, dance, and flying all in one.
I wish i had discovered it sooner, but better late then never.
Anyway, I welcome your feedback.
There is definitely something "extra" about the "feel for water" that separates a lot of great swimmers from good swimmers. I would hazard to guess that most swimmers at the elite level have some sensitivity somehow that enables them a better feel.
That is VERY true, feel is something that you either have or lack. It can be tweaked somewhat but I believe it is an attribute you are born with. I liken it to the incredible hand-eye coordination that baseball players have or the amazing balance gymnasts have...you get it from your genes.
I think it's also interesting that you can read many profiles of elite swimmers who make reference to their klutziness on land (Phelps being one of them). I swam with some fairly elite guys in my time and very few of them were also good "land athletes." As an example of this, in college when the men's swim & dive team played frisbee football on Fridays, a key success factor in winning was maximizing the number of DIVERS on your team ... as they actually possessed a much better "feel for the land" than the majority of swimmers.
BAHAHAHAHAHA, that is so true! In college, our team (both men's and women's) would go off-campus to play Beer Ball. A few of us could hit, run, and catch but it was rather comical to watch. Add a lot of (cheap) beer to the mix and...well, you get the picture.
I will admit though, a few of us could do well with the keg toss after we drank it dry...
Very true though about swimmers being klutzy on land. I have the scars from mountain biking and rollerblading to prove it!
There is definitely something "extra" about the "feel for water" that separates a lot of great swimmers from good swimmers. I would hazard to guess that most swimmers at the elite level have some sensitivity somehow that enables them a better feel.
That is VERY true, feel is something that you either have or lack. It can be tweaked somewhat but I believe it is an attribute you are born with. I liken it to the incredible hand-eye coordination that baseball players have or the amazing balance gymnasts have...you get it from your genes.
I think it's also interesting that you can read many profiles of elite swimmers who make reference to their klutziness on land (Phelps being one of them). I swam with some fairly elite guys in my time and very few of them were also good "land athletes." As an example of this, in college when the men's swim & dive team played frisbee football on Fridays, a key success factor in winning was maximizing the number of DIVERS on your team ... as they actually possessed a much better "feel for the land" than the majority of swimmers.
BAHAHAHAHAHA, that is so true! In college, our team (both men's and women's) would go off-campus to play Beer Ball. A few of us could hit, run, and catch but it was rather comical to watch. Add a lot of (cheap) beer to the mix and...well, you get the picture.
I will admit though, a few of us could do well with the keg toss after we drank it dry...
Very true though about swimmers being klutzy on land. I have the scars from mountain biking and rollerblading to prove it!
