Crawl Stroke Refinement

I'm finally feeling better after two weeks of COVID and recovery. That was one tough virus for sure, it's nice to be feeling human again! Today I had my first swim lesson of a new session, and it was again really good! There were two new instructors (new to me), both of whom were really great. We started by swimming 4 lengths of the pool as a warm up, and then they divided us into two groups, and I was with the more advanced group! Then we spent the rest of the class doing drills, all of which I could spend a lot of time on, so I want to remember them.

First we worked with the kickboard and just kicked. I think I don't kick from my glutes enough, and I keep my legs a little too stiff in an effort to use the entire leg. Then, we used the pool bouys that go between your legs so you don't need to kick and can focus on just your arms. That's hard. Next, we did the drill where you are on one side, with your arm in front and your legs kicking. That's really hard, and then you swim back with the other arm in front. It works on kicking and body position. 

After that, we catch up hands, several times. The instructor said that my left hand was dipping and not reaching forward, which was surprising to me since I've been focused on my right hand so much. I guess the left hand needs some love too! It's in, forward and then stroke - really reaching to get more distance forward. Then we did the same thing but focused on exit from the water and making sure to do the full stroke. After, we used the pool bouys again and focused on not crossing our bodies with our arms so we could get more power.

Then he had us practice back stroke kicking, and I really didn't get much power and was super slow. Then, we did the same drill where you are on one side, with your arm in front and your legs kicking, but on your back. He said that by working on back stroke you improve front stroke - I feel like you could do that by working on front stroke, but he seemed to know what he was talking about, so I guess I will practice it.

We finished with a couple laps just to pull it all together. Of course, you can't work on everything at once, but I would like to do these drills some when I practice. And, I think continuing to focus on the entry into the water and stretching forward is a good exercise for me, as well as getting the full stroke and making sure to get all the way back.

Tomorrow I have to go back to work in person. Sigh, not excited about that. But, it's good to feel better again.