Have you all had a day when you suddenly had a substantial breakthrough in learning to swim better? A day on which your swimming suddenly "clicked", so instead of trying hard to correct this or that detail of swimming better as you had been doing each day (how to kick, pull, breath, etc.), all of a sudden, you swam with all those details corrected, without effort, and without much thought about it. Months (and perhaps years) of thinking, practice, seem to be paying off altogether on that one day. I made some nice progress yesterday and today and feel great. My swim just suddenly became so much more relaxed and I was much more buoyant without effort. and breathing, which I had tried to improve, poses little problem now--and I wasn't even thinking about it. :D
I hope the progress will stay with me and I won't forget how to swim the way I did. :cool: I'm still a beginner. I will be really interested to hear you story. :)
The golden moment I experienced was during a 1000 free in a night duel meet. It caused me to drop from 10:27 best unshaven to 10:20 in that very race. (And 10:16 in the next one...) I dropped from 25 strokes per length to 17 because I figured out what my arms should feel like when I'm doing it better. That was the part that I made sure, starting at 6:30 the next morning, not to forget. These days, with more SDK's, I do about 13 strokes/length in freestyle, but really I'm only incrementing on what I learned in one moment 15 years ago.
I'll have on rare occasion "mini-breakthroughs," where a particular stroke feels effortless, or I come in on a faster interval than expected. Currently as I'm working on breaststroke I'll get one or two "good" strokes, where I feel as though I'm really moving through the water the way I'm supposed to, then it becomes a big effort again. But it's a good faith-building experience.
:bliss:
Former Member
This thread is not about swimming while drunk. :bolt:
Who says I was drunk? Maybe I was trying the new "Phelps Program!"
Have you all had a day when you suddenly had a substantial breakthrough in learning to swim better? A day on which your swimming suddenly "clicked", so instead of trying hard to correct this or that detail of swimming better as you had been doing each day (how to kick, pull, breath, etc.), all of a sudden, you swam with all those details corrected, without effort, and without much thought about it. Months (and perhaps years) of thinking, practice, seem to be paying off altogether on that one day. . . .
No.
Congratulations on getting it all together.
:)
not sure if this qualifies for the day my swimming suddenly "clicked" but I remember the day my mind finally let go and allowed my body to swim fast.
May 2008, I was going to swim 10x100m st 1:40 and just see if I could hold 1:25. as always I swam the first 100 much faster than planned 1:16, I said to myself what the hell, let's do it. swam the next eight 100's 1:15.5-1:16.7 with the last one 1:13.8. My coach was taking times and splits. I was swimming most of my splits at or around 38.
prior to that day I couldn't do more than 2 100's under 1:30
my second body/mind click came last month when we did 10x100 start 1:30 and I swam them att between 1:13-1:14.
My next mental block is 10x100 st 1:25. I know I can do it, I just have to get my body to back me up ;-)
Former Member
My swimming used to click, when I had an injured shoulder. :)
But seriously, I've had a few smaller breakthroughs over the past 4 years. The most significant of which came about when focusing on EVF. I'm hoping to experience a large breakthrough in my *** swims sometime soon.
Former Member
On the same day, both my free and back clicked :D Thinking back (and believe or not) it seems a great deal of thinking prior to that produced the result to a large degree.
I remember a day in practice well. My coaches had been trying to teach me to swim free with my elbow higher for about a year at that point. I was swimming like I'd hit the lane lines. But this particular practice, one of the coaches swam with us. I happened to catch a glimpse of the coach while we were both swimming and I saw his stroke and it suddenly clicked in my mind. I got it! :banana: I can still picture what I saw to this day and it's been 5 years now. My swimming suddenly started to improve and it was all due to that one day and that one sight of seeing that coach swim.
Former Member
A few moments come to mind.
First was during a transitional learn-to-swim-competitive class I took in 10th grade. I finally learned how to relax and breathe on freestyle and went from struggling to survive 25 yards to being able to swim easily for hundreds of yards, maybe thousands, all at once.
Second was a week before my college conference championships meet when I realized that you're supposed to accellerate your freestyle arm pull. I dropped about 7 seconds off my 200 Free despite the 11th hour changes. I wish I had been able to swim my other events to see how much I dropped in them but it was my last meet for 16 years.
:agree:
You've experienced a Golden Moment. I had one 15 years ago. None since then; they're rare. Don't forget what you've learned. Remember and practice every day what you've learned.
