Swim happy

Steady, albeit slow (but not as slow as anticipated!) progress continues. I spent a lot of time yesterday thinking about my kick, as well as trying sculling. I don't think I did it right, but I've watched some more videos and I'll try again tomorrow. I also tried doing what I would describe as a long pull (I am sure there is a technical term), as in pull, glide with the opposite arm straight out, switch, etc. Still holding at 1500m a session, but in fairness I am only doing the one stroke. Also, I swear no matter when I go, there is a class taking up half the pool. 🤔

Steady, albeit slow (but not as slow as anticipated!) progress continues. I spent a lot of time yesterday thinking about my kick, as well as trying sculling. I don't think I did it right, but I've watched some more videos and I'll try again tomorrow. I also tried doing what I would describe as a long pull (I am sure there is a technical term), as in pull, glide with the opposite arm straight out, switch, etc. Still holding at 1500m a session, but in fairness I am only doing the one stroke. Also, I swear no matter when I go, there is a class taking up half the pool. 樂 When I tried sculling, I ended up doing a really bad version of breaststroke. :) I enjoy your updates, swimbadger. (I'm happy that I squeezed another half second out of my 100m PR tonight, ie 1min21.0sec. It's strange....I have made significant gains in 25m/50m/100m recently, but my 200m/400m PRs are a few weeks old. WTF is going on? ) :)

When I tried sculling, I ended up doing a really bad version of breaststroke. :) I enjoy your updates, swimbadger. Today I looked rather more like I was doing a strange version of The Robot, or some kind of mime stuck in an invisible underwater box.

Glass shark-cage robot scull drill. Try videoing it for review :laugh2: I am going to try this (with a snorkel) tomorrow morning. Picture a Michael Jackson "Thriller" zombie, but after you knocked it into a lake.

Today I looked rather more like I was doing a strange version of The Robot, or some kind of mime stuck in an invisible underwater box.Glass shark-cage robot scull drill. Try videoing it for review :laugh2: I am going to try this (with a snorkel) tomorrow morning.

Glass shark-cage robot scull drill. Try videoing it for review :laugh2: I am going to try this (with a snorkel) tomorrow morning. 12187 An extremely accurate rendering of me sculling.

The sculling example in the diagram describes perfect body position. I never tried anything with a pull buoy though, always use fins. When I tried (today) using fins, my back half sank unless I both seriously engaged my core *and* kicked tiny kicks. With the pull buoy, the core is doing things but the legs are just gripping the buoy and being legs. Today, I actually timed my warmup (500), expected to be ashamed and/or disgruntled, particularly when a glance at 100m showed 2:30something. I tried a new thing: instead of exhaling while looking straight down, I exhale slightly to the left, so what happens is that as I turn my head back to inhale, the left arm is coming over, and vice versa with the inhalation. (I don't know how to describe it and am not near MS Paint at the moment). I got into a nice rhythm and was pleasantly surprised to arrive at 12:31.84 for 500m. It's similar to the long pull/torpedo pulling I was doing with the snorkel, but, faster arms? Anyway, it was a lot faster than I expected and that makes me happy.

The sculling example in the diagram describes perfect body position. I never tried anything with a pull buoy though, always use fins.

Woo hoo! I love hearing about progress and new discoveries! Nice job, Badger!

Woo hoo! I love hearing about progress and new discoveries! Nice job, Badger! Upon careful review (ie I took a long walk), I have a clearer explanation: it's like when you torque during backstroke, but right-side up (upside down?). I accompany this explanation with yet another extremely accurate depiction. 12190 Yet I have no idea if this is correct, and I also haven't coordinated it enough yet for it to benefit sprinting short distances. (ie it still takes me at least 23 seconds to go 25m)