EZ Swimmin'
Gavin Lee
Slow easy swimming is the best way to practice technique. Recently, I have been working on hand entry. I’m aiming for a cleaner hand entry so that there will be less bubbles as I pull through the water. The less bubbles the more efficient the stroke.
My right hand entry is the one that I’ve been focusing on. I have an old habit of dropping the pinky side in first. To compensate, I’ve learned that I must make it feel completely opposite and aim for the feeling of dropping my thumb in first. By doing this, I will eventually train myself to enter correctly… which will be somewhere in-between.
Today I started easy with the Stability Snorkel. The use of a center mounted snorkel allows me to focus on technique without having to think about the timing, rhythm and rotation for the breath. This gives me the opportunity to work on hand entry exclusively, looking for the best way to enter with the least amount of bubbles. After I getting into a good rhythm, I remove the snorkel and add an additional skill… breathing.
Yes, breathing is a skill. When done correctly, we maintain good body position and balance, getting the most “bang for the buck”. In a previous post, Early Breath, I describe it in more detail.
I finished todays workout with easy swimming, concentrating on hand entry and the early breath. It seems to look better. All I need to do now is to keep practicing it slowly until it becomes second nature.