I had my swim lesson last week and realized my number one weakness, my "pull." That's the part of the stroke where you grab water with your hand and arm and pull it past you. There are so many factors impacted by fluid dynamics that make it easy for an inadequate pull to impede the most efficient and effective ability to move forward. I now have a simple drill that breaks the pull down into three parts. The first is dropping the hand straight down, perpendicular to the elbow; the second is pulling the arm back; the third is following through.
As a type A triathlete, I tend to spend too much time focused on my pace. It's tempting to put the three parts of the stroke together in order to see how fast I can swim. Unfortunately, I need to avoid that at the present time. Clearly, pausing between each part of the stroke will slow me down, hence, speed does not matter at this point in time. What matters is practicing each element over and over until it becomes second nature. Then, and only then, will it be time to put all three elements together.
I have to avoid my common tendency to see how I'm improving and how fast I'm swimming. Discipline and practice is the order of the day. Practice makes perfect.
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