I swam 2250m at the Akdeniz University pool. The water was 30.5 C. Started at 8:45.

10x 50m gentle warm-up

7x this set:

  • 25m, 50m, 75m, 100m

The objective was to minimize SPL, and find a point that I could focus on and refine in each new set. Open-turns (to reduce exertion in hot water).

On #1 I held 15 SPL, #2 15 SPL, #3 14 SPL, #4 14 SPL, #5 14SPL , #6 13+ SPL, #7 13+ to 14 SPL.

 

COMMENTARY

I’ve been out of the pool for 5 days with a painful ear infection. I finally broke down and did antibiotics. It’s getting better now.

The pool was so warm I took the advice from  Grant Molyneux’s book “Effortless Exercise” to warm-up as long as I needed to let my body tell me when it was ready for more. Even in a ‘hot’ pool one has to warm-up, or rather, acclimate the body to the conditions.

15 SPL was what I naturally swam on the first set and it was appearing to be where I would stay. But then I tried a tweak on #3- I rolled to skate position at a slightly steeper angle, reaching a littler further forward, and making my body a little narrower (more like my sprint form), and I immediately cut -1 SPL off. It seems that although the latest trend in TI is to soften the angle of rotation to make for a much more relaxed (energy-saving) stroke, the steep angle, for me at least, always produces a longer SL. But I think this position may be less favorable to many because it requires more shoulder flexibility and it makes it a bit more difficult to get the catching arm into high-elbow position for the catch. The sequence of movements and the support required in the shoulder to do this without injury is something we can condition ourselves for but carefully. I have the advantage of not having to train aggressively for any particular race or event- I just have my personal goals and I know I will reach them in the right time- so I can take my time to perfect little things without feeling external pressure to move on to power-work until I know everything in my stroke is ready for it.

Today, as I was doing this set I did not feel like I was as consistently full in my catch as I could be. I can get the elbows up but sometimes the follow-through didn’t feel as solid as it could be. Fist-swimming is the great, simple, logical treatment for this ailment! These slower, carefully examined SL stroke sets are so effective at revealing weaknesses in technique.

© 2011, Mediterra International, LLC. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mediterra International, LLC and Mediterraswim.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Translate »

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

To receive the latest news and updates from Mediterra.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Discover more from Mediterra Swim & Run

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

[css] body .gform_wrapper ul li.gfield { padding-bottom:40px; }