Monday, September 26, 2016

Caltech Swimming Class Journal

160926: Syllabus Rundown
Swimming suits needed:
swimoutlet.com
brief, jammer etc

160928: Water Safety
To float on water:
lay back onto water, relaxed
put head horizontal, facing the sky
Never look at the foot because that will make the head sink

To get off the floating state
move arms in the water closer to the body and push water upward
the body will get straight up

160930: move the legs
1. when floating on the back, do this practice:
put arms next to the body, head supported by a partner, whip the water with legs
always imagine the legs as whips. i.e. always move from the upper part of legs

2. use the kickboard
with back up, use two hands (2X4 fingers) to grab the front end of the board
use the legs to whip water
     make sure the toes are balley 'ed straight
     the highest point should be above water
     high frequency, small amplitude

3. kick the wall
put dominant hand and the corresponding foot on the side of wall, the other hand on kickboard
Kick against the wall and move the hand on the wall up and onto the kickboard

161003: breathing
Back facing up
legs whiping: could bend knees to make sure laps are also moving
arms: upper arms and shoulders are stable, move forearms in the front  < - -> and -> <-
hands: scoop water in and out
When moving arms out, you could take a breath by moving head gentle up and breathe in
When head in water, breathe out bubbles gently like playing a flute.

161005:breathing
Use kick boards to practice breathing
blow more bubbles in water

161010: backstroke
Practice 1: lay down in water with hands on the side, feet move like bicycling.
the highest point of the feet should be above water

Practice 2: lay down and move feet like Practice 1. Use palms to move back and forth. <- /  \-> and     \-> <- /   Use palms to push water towards feet and body towards head.

Practice 3: lay down and move fee like Practice 1. put arms next to body, then move them along your body toward the shoulders, extend them to the right and left, and push water towards the feet till they reach your body. In this whole process the hands should be always below water.

161012:breaststroke
Legs:
put feet balley flat and move towards the chest, then extend bend feet to 90 degree to suddenly push water back and apart. The two legs shouldn't be close to the body when moving towards the chest.
Breath:
breath in air after the sudden push

Backstroke practice again:
When starting backstroke, slowly lay down to water and immediately start using arms to push water to avoid drowning at the first place

161017: backstroke kicking practice
put arms next to the body, the legs shouldn't be cycling but whiping using the force on hips. i.e., the knees shouldn't bend too much.

161019:backstroke and breaststroke
backstroke: this time, lift your straight arm up out of the water and get into water to push water towards the feet. One arm at a time.
When lifting, palms face inside. But when scooping water, palm facing outside.
Don't forget to move legs.

breaststroke: pay attention to the snap finish of feet

161021:backstroke
When starting backstroke, establish the kicks first.
The trick to keep floating: keep back straight and let the back of the neck press the water

161024:backstroke and breaststroke 
backstroke: when putting down shoulders, remember to use neck to horizontally lift head up a little bit so that the face is above water.
breast stroke arm practice: put palms together like a buddhist, stick forward, open palms to push water backward, stop at the shoulder level and close the palms to finish the cycle; feet flutter kick

161026: free style
Flutter kick. Arms rotate and push water back

161028 and 161030: free style

It's important to keep the leading arm steady
Before taking down the leading arm, the other arm should have already been coming up.
When pulling down the arm, the body should be on its side

Practice swimming on the sides:
     swimming on the side:
           the leading arm is always straight.
           it's very important to lay down the head to the leading arm so that we are able to get above the water when breathing in water, similar to Backstroke's principle.

When pulling out head to breath in air, we could breathe out the air/water from nose then breathe in air through mouth

161102: full backstroke and freestyle:
backstroke: make sure the body is on the water surface. Kicking should be stablized and use minimal knees bending
Try swimming a full 25 meters. When reaching the other end, grab the balloon.
freestyle: make sure the arms are always on opposite positions
when breathing in, swim on the side

161107: kick on the wall
practice kicking on the back and side and stomach, practice full backstroke
practice full free style (I can only breathe on my left side), every other stroke.
    two arms always in opposite position
    when breathing in, turn the head to look left-back-down, instead of just looking left and lifting it too much above water.

kicking on the wall:
     1. use dominant hand to grab on the wall, two feet on the wall
     2. dominant hand join the other hand, ventral on dorsal
     3. kick against the wall
     4. turn the body to stomach-down position

swim to the wall, grab up and kick and swim back.

161109: more about freestyle
opposite positions for two arms
Swim all the way to the other end!
     breathe to the left side
Breathe more to better estimate lung storage
while in deep water and grabbing on the floating plastic, use legs to whip to balance

161114:continue working on freestyle
When breathing in, put head down onto the leading arm; look to the side of the pool instead of the feet.
Don't try to lift head up away from the leading arm.

161116:endurance training and backstroke
swim full 25 a couple times, with focus on body flipping training
Think of the arms as wings instead of wheels. push water towards the feet.
train kicking with boards for 25

161118: freestyle and breaststroke
freestyle: practice flipping body by using pull buoy
             focus on sidebreath training
breastroke: different from backstroke and freestyle where bodyline should be straight, breaststroke and butterfly requires the body to swing front and back.
                 The feet are doing what hands would do in backstroke swim: bend through knees to lift feet, extend to the side and use the ventral/bottom of the feet to push water towards the posterior direction FROM the side, like wings instead of wheels or hand fan.
                 the two knees shouldn't be far from each other
                While lifting the feet and extend to the sides, use arms to push water back and down and breathe
                after arms' movement, do the sudden pushing of feet, and then bodyline becomes straight to glide without moving

161121: breaststroke
don't bend knees forward but lift legs backward while using the arms.

161128: freestyle and water safety
Freestyle: basic practice for scooping
Water safety:
1. treading water: feet flutter kick, arms scooping down water. Relax.
                             An easier way is to use feet to take turns to do breaststroke kick.
2. Flipping body: practice swim with freestyle, when swim on the side, flip to backstroke.
                            And practice flipping from backstroke to freestyle

161130: backstroke practice
practice grabbing water and pushing by doing chicken-soldier drill
Swim 100 yards by backstroke
Kickboard flutter kicking for 100 yards
Relaxing, going gentle and swinging like a fish really helps improve efficiency

161202: Swimming test
float on water for 3 min (on back)
backstroke 50 yards

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