Thanks for these, Rob! And that speed reading drill will especially come in handy during this busy week!
Some drills for sighting and seeing I use in open water clinics and practices are:
Speed Reading - Basically it is training you to take a quick peek to see landmarks. In the drill I have the swimmers face me, then close their eyes and turn 180 degrees. Next, I have them do a reverse blink (quickly open then close their eyes)then with their eyes still closed I have them point to the lifeguard stand (or some other object). This is to get swimmers comfortable with sighting quickly within stroke tempo and letting the brain process what they saw when their heads are back in the water. Note - you can practice this drill anywhere.
Sharks and alligators - This drill helps the swimmers determine their most comfortable method of forward sighting. For alligator eyes sighting, while swimming, you raise your head from its neutral position so that just your eyes are out of the water looking forward, take your speed reading, then return your head to the neutral position. Shark eye sighting, is incorporated at the end of a breath, where instead of dropping your chin and rotating you head, you rotate your chin forward, eyes out of the water, and them drop your chin and head. It typically takes 4-8 50's of each drill with the swimmers sighting every 3 to 4 strokes for them to figure out which is most comfortable and which maintains their swimming tempo and technique.
Left and right - In this drill I have the swimmer sight every cycle while I'm at the opposite end of the pool with a kickboard in each hand. When I hold out right arm and kickboard the swimmers slide over to the left side of the lane and when I hold out my left arm the swimmers slide over to the right.
What I don't do for sighting drill is Tarzan swimming. A lot of swimmers already keep their heads too high and their hips too low. I want my swimmers to maintain good body position while sighting.
If you forward sight quickly and efficiently you can sight more often without slowing your swim.
Thanks for these, Rob! And that speed reading drill will especially come in handy during this busy week!
Some drills for sighting and seeing I use in open water clinics and practices are:
Speed Reading - Basically it is training you to take a quick peek to see landmarks. In the drill I have the swimmers face me, then close their eyes and turn 180 degrees. Next, I have them do a reverse blink (quickly open then close their eyes)then with their eyes still closed I have them point to the lifeguard stand (or some other object). This is to get swimmers comfortable with sighting quickly within stroke tempo and letting the brain process what they saw when their heads are back in the water. Note - you can practice this drill anywhere.
Sharks and alligators - This drill helps the swimmers determine their most comfortable method of forward sighting. For alligator eyes sighting, while swimming, you raise your head from its neutral position so that just your eyes are out of the water looking forward, take your speed reading, then return your head to the neutral position. Shark eye sighting, is incorporated at the end of a breath, where instead of dropping your chin and rotating you head, you rotate your chin forward, eyes out of the water, and them drop your chin and head. It typically takes 4-8 50's of each drill with the swimmers sighting every 3 to 4 strokes for them to figure out which is most comfortable and which maintains their swimming tempo and technique.
Left and right - In this drill I have the swimmer sight every cycle while I'm at the opposite end of the pool with a kickboard in each hand. When I hold out right arm and kickboard the swimmers slide over to the left side of the lane and when I hold out my left arm the swimmers slide over to the right.
What I don't do for sighting drill is Tarzan swimming. A lot of swimmers already keep their heads too high and their hips too low. I want my swimmers to maintain good body position while sighting.
If you forward sight quickly and efficiently you can sight more often without slowing your swim.
