Lesson Three: Tapping Effortless Power From Your Kinetic Chain

The first two lessons have taught you balance and slippery body positions. In Lesson Three, you’ll learn to use rotation of your balanced and slippery core body to generate effortless power for propulsion. Lesson Three also introduces you to the first of our three Switch drill sequences. These will be the most dynamic and powerful movements you have yet practiced.

DRILL 5: UNDERSKATE

Why We Do It: You learned the most valuable form of balance in the Skating Position. That position becomes the basis for other ways of practicing balance that bring a different dynamic to your balance practice. This drill is also a rehearsal for Drill 6: UnderSwitch. Finally, it reinforces the key skills of staying on your side as you swim and of breathing by rolling a balanced, aligned, slippery body to the air.

Follow This Sequence

1. Begin as in Drill 4, moving patiently through all four positions or movements practiced previously, kicking silently and gently as you do: Balance on your back; then rotate slightly to Sweet Spot, showing an arm, then sneak your other arm to full extension; and finally arrive in the Skating Position.

2. After you look down, pause and check: Are you looking down with your head hidden and aligned? Is your extended hand below your head? Do you feel great balance—even a downhill gliding sensation?

3. If so, then sneak the trailing hand forward under water (wipe it across your belly and past your jaw) until you see the hand right under your nose. Check that you’re still on your side with your shoulders stacked, then slide the hand back to your side. Finish by rolling your needle shape past your Sweet Spot.

4. Take at least three yoga breaths, then repeat the sequence. You’ll probably fit in three cycles in each 25 yards. Switch sides on the next length.

THE UNDERSKATE POSITION ALSO ILLUSTRATES SWITCH-TIMING FOR ALL UNDERSWITCH DRILLS.

How to Practice: Your key focal points are the same as for Drill 4, but with added emphasis on remaining on your side as you bring your hand to your face and on slipping through the smallest hole in the water as you do it. Practice UnderSkate by itself, alternating sides. Or practice it in a series with Lesson Two drills: 50 yards each (25 right, 25 left) of Drills 2, 3, 4, and 5. Some athletes can master this drill after no more than ten minutes of practice. If you feel you’ve got it, move on. If not, spend as much time as you need because the skills learned in Under-Skate are key to every drill that follows.

DRILL 6: UNDERSWITCH

Why We Do It: This is the first drill to tap the power of the kinetic chain by teaching you how to link an armstroke to core-body rotation for effortless propulsion. It also simplifies the learning process for learning the front-quadrant stroke timing that keeps your body line long, by giving you a visual cue for when to make the switch.

Follow This Sequence

1. After the movements of UnderSkate seem natural (almost a “nobrainer”), move to the full drill. Start as in Drill 5, but when you see your hand under your nose, keep moving it forward to full extension as you roll (switch) past Sweet Spot on the other side.

2. Take at least three yoga breaths (relax, normalize your breathing, and get your bearings) as you check your balance and make sure that you are in Sweet Spot again. Then, swivel to the Skating Position (nose down and shoulders stacked) … pause … and repeat in the other direction.

3. The basic movements are simple, but the opportunities for refinement are many. Practice these focal points, one at a time:

• Be patient. Don’t switch until you see your hand under your nose.

• Switch by using the extended hand to “hold on to your place in the water,” as you roll past it.

• Finish the switch by rolling past your Sweet Spot.

• Another way to reinforce this is to switch as if you were planning to breathe with your belly button. After you see your hand, take your belly button to the air; your head just goes along for the ride.

• Stay connected as you switch: When you see your hand, move arm, head, and torso as a unit.

• Stay slippery: Switch through the smallest possible hole in the water.

• Focus on doing the drill as quietly as possible. This will help you do any drill more fluently and economically.

• Final step: Pause your kick at the moment you see your hand and switch. Resume gentle kicking once you’re back in Sweet Spot.

DRILL 7: DOUBLE UNDERSWITCH

Why We Do It: Switch drills teach powerful, coordinated, effortless movement of the core body. Multiswitch (two or more switches) drills introduce swimming rhythms (steady, rhythmic core-body rotation) to these movements but retain pauses in Sweet Spot, to allow time to regroup, evaluate your practice, and make fine adjustments.

Follow This Sequence

1. Start as in Drill 6 but you’ll do two switches before pausing in Sweet Spot again.

2. After you roll to the Skating Position, pause to check your balance. Lean in to feel the support of the water, then sneak your hand forward.

3. Wait to see your hand before both switches. Keep your head “hidden” and look directly at the bottom through both switches.

4. Finish in Sweet Spot and breathe three times before rolling to nose-down again.

5. Start the next length on your other side: Look down … see your hand … Switch … glide a moment … see your hand … Switch … Breathe in your Sweet Spot.

6. Practice on both right and left sides until you feel yourself gliding effortlessly in balance … and until your Switch timing is consistent.

DRILL 8: TRIPLE UNDERSWITCH

Why We Do It: This drill will give you even more space to make yourself more Fishlike and learn the feel of a swimming rhythm.

Follow This Sequence

Just add one switch to the previous drill. Use the extra rhythm time to feel all of the following:

Let Go of Your Kick:
How to Make It Economical and Relaxed

Most adult swimmers kick too much, not because they want to but because they feel their legs sinking. This kicking is not only nonpropulsive and energy-wasting, it also wrecks your rhythm and any chance of achieving fluency. The ideal kick for most people is one that is nonovert and nearly effortless. Your drills are the perfect device for helping you replace an energy-wasting kick with an economical kick, called a two-beat kick (for two kicks in each stroke cycle).

The only overt kicking that should happen as you drill is a gentle kick in Sweet Spot to maintain momentum between drill cycles. But when your body rotation is providing momentum, let your legs take a rest. You can train them for this by using Switch drills to learn the timing of the two-beat kick. This kick does a wonderfully efficient job of helping the body roll from side to side, which generates ample power for propulsion. You can swim with this kick virtually all day without tiring.

The learning process is fairly simple. Whenever you do any of the Switch drills, stop kicking as you make the switch. Try to glide in balance without a kick for a few moments in Sweet Spot, then resume gentle, steady kicking. Keep kicking easily as you swivel to the nose-down position, but as your hand slices forward to initiate the switch, pause your kick again and let your body glide forward on the momentum from your weight shift and body rotation. After you rebalance in Sweet Spot, pick up the kick again.

It’s the same with the multiswitch drills. As in the single-switch drills, maintain a gentle kick while in Sweet Spot and when you swivel to the Skating Position, but once your hand slices in on the first switch, let your legs pause. They won’t actually remain motionless. Instead, one leg should beat down as each hand enters the water. As your right hand enters, your left leg kicks; as your left hand enters, your right leg kicks.

Don’t use too many brain cells trying to coordinate this. Instead, focus on letting the legs do what comes naturally when you just pause the steady kick you’d been using prior to the switch. Your arms and legs already are well acquainted with moving in a counterbalancing fashion. Running or walking, they do the same: Right arm and left leg swing forward together, then left arm and right leg.

• Keep your head hidden. Water should flow over the back of your head during all three switches.

• Keep your timing consistent. Switch at the exact moment you see your hand under your nose.

• Extend both hands fully, front and back, then glide just a moment before recovering for the next switch.

• During your glide, feel yourself just lying there supported by the water. That’s the feeling of great balance.

• Maintain a focus on piercing the water, particularly while sneaking your arm and switching.

• When all of that begins to feel somewhat natural, see if you can pause your kick during the three switches…. Pick it up again in Sweet Spot.

• Finally, reduce the glide between switches. Roll your body a bit less during the three switches, to increase rhythm.

Lesson Three Practice Plan

The movements and coordination were relatively simple in the first two lessons. Lesson Three involves more complex movements, though we’ve presented them in a way designed to ease your learning curve. More complexity brings more opportunity for confusion. Simplify by doing two things: (1) Allow more practice time for Lesson Three before advancing to Lesson Four; and (2) spend a bit more time on focused practice of each of the Lesson Three drills by themselves before combining them in the sequences suggested below.

Here are some suggested sequences (always warm up with at least ten minutes refresher practice of Drills 2, 3, and 4).

200-YARD REPEATS

• 50 yards each (25 right, 25 left) of Drills 2, 3, 4, and 5.

100-YARD REPEATS

• 25 UnderSkate on your right side, 25 UnderSwitch, 25 Under-Skate left, 25 UnderSwitch.

150-YARD REPEATS

• 50 UnderSkate (25 right, 25 left), 50 UnderSwitch, 50 Double UnderSwitch (25 balance on right, 25 on left).

• 25 UnderSkate right, 25 UnderSwitch, 25 Double Under-Switch right, 25 UnderSkate left, 25 UnderSwitch, 25 Double UnderSwitch left.

Until you have put in a cumulative total of several hours practice in Lesson Three drills, rest for at least three yoga breaths after each length. Similarly, take three yoga breaths in your Sweet Spot between cycles of each drill.

2-й год 31-я неделя Тренировка-4 В-2 1/4

Давление 146/89, пульс 65, вес 99.4 кг (Минимальное давление, пульс и вес: 123/72, 53, 97.3) 

Отличный сон

Разминка

 

1. Прыжки со скакалкой

ВТ/ 20; 24; 22; 20; 20 = 106

Амплитуда: 3 см

Время выполнения: 1.25 мин

Работа: =99.4*106*0.03 = 316.09 (Рекордная работа: 310.75)

Интенсивность: =316.09/1.25 = 252.87 (Рекордная интенсивность: 346.07)

 

 

2. Single-Leg Kick/Deadlift
ВТ/ 2; 4; 3; 2; 2 = 11

Амплитуда: 44 см

Время выполнения:  3.75 мин

Работа: =99.4*0.35*0.44*2*11 = 336.77  (Рекордная работа: 367.75)

Интенсивность: =336.77/3.75 = 89.81  (Рекордная интенсивность: 223.09)

 

 

3. Длинный цикл одной рукой:

16кг/ 3, 32кг/ 3; 4; 3; 3; 3 = 10
Амплитуда: 205 см
Время выполнения: 6.0 мин
Работа: =(16*3+32*10)*2*2.05 = 1508.8  (Рекордная работа: 2164.8)

Интенсивность: =1508.8/6.0 = 251.47 (Рекордная интенсивность: 393.6)

  

4. Махи гирей одной рукой

32кг/ 5; 6; 5; 5; 5 = 16

Амплитуда: 40 см

Время выполнения: 3.5 мин
Работа: =32*16*2*0.40 = 409.6  (Рекордная работа: 2150.4)
Интенсивность: =409.6/3.5 = 117.03  (Рекордная интенсивность: 430.08)

 

5. Подъем на ступеньку с мышечным забросом гири на грудь  

16кг/5; 8; 7; 5 = 20

Амплитуда: 50 см - высота ступеньки, 44 см - подъем гири в исходное положение, 105 см - амплитуда мускульного взятия гири на грудь

Время выполнения:  7.0 мин

Работа: =(99.4+16)*(2*20*0.5+3*0.44)+16*20*2*1.05 =  3132.33   (Рекордная работа: 4565.52)

Интенсивность: =3132.33/7.0 = 447.48  (Рекордная интенсивность: 545.46)

 

 

6. Подъем на грудь и жим 1 гири 1 рукой на попа

16кг/ 3; 5; 4; 3; 3 = 18

Амплитуда: 205 см

Время выполнения:  7.25 мин

Работа: =16*18*2*2.05 = 1180.8  (Рекордная работа: 1115.2)

Интенсивность: =1180.8/7.25 = 162.87  (Рекордная интенсивность: 262.4)

 

7. Работа на шею 

16кг х 5; 20кг/ 7; 9; 8; 7; 7 = 31

Амплитуда: 35 см

Время выполнения:  6.0 мин

Работа: =(16*5+20*31)*0.35 = 245.0  (Рекордная работа: 420.0)

Интенсивность: =245.0/6.0 = 40.83  (Рекордная интенсивность: 102.67)

 

 

8. Подъем согнутых ног сидя на лавочке 

ВТ/ 5; 7; 6; 5; 5 = 28

Амплитуда: 35 см

Время выполнения:  3.75 мин

Работа: =99.4*0.25*0.35*28 =  243.53  (Рекордная работа: 237.20)

Интенсивность: =243.53/3.75 = 64.94  (Рекордная интенсивность: 119.59)

 

9. Straight Bridge
ВТ/ 3; 3; 3; 3; 3 = 15
Амплитуда: 40 см
Время выполнения: 2.25 мин
Работа: =99.4*0.35*15*0.4 = 208.74  (Рекордная работа: 271.35)
Интенсивность: =208.74/2.25 = 92.77 (Рекордная интенсивность: 237.60)

 

  

Общая работа на тренировке: =316.09+336.77+1508.8+409.6+3132.33+1180.8+245.0+243.53+208.74 = 7581.66  (Рекордная работа: 18984.41)

 Аэробная статистика тренировки:

Общее время тренировки: 01:18:26 (Рекордное время тренировки: 02:44:24)
Средний пульс за тренировку: 124 (Рекордный средний пульс: 143)
Максимальный пульс за тренировку: 171 (Рекордный максимальный пульс: 186)
Килокалорий за тренировку: 807 (Рекордная затрата килокалорий на тренировке: 1668)
Процент жира из потраченных килокалорий на тренировке: 24
Время нахождения в зоне 3: 00:10:19 (Рекордное время нахождения в зоне 3: 00:52:03)
Время нахождения в зоне 2: 00:20:26 (Рекордное время нахождения в зоне 2: 01:21:38)
Время нахождения в зоне 1: 00:42:26 (Рекордное время нахождения в зоне 1: 01:57:24)
Плотность тренировки: 97.20 (Рекордная плотность: 216.84)

Результат тренировки: Улучшение жиросжигания и общей выносливости

По результатам этой тренировки установлены следующие личные рекорды:

 

- Работа в Прыжки со скакалкой: 316.09

- Работа в Подъем на грудь и жим 1 гири 1 рукой на попа: 1180.8

- Работа в Подъем согнутых ног сидя на лавочке: 243.53

 

Итого 3 ЛС

Tuck Float

Lesson Two: Becoming Weightless and Slippery

After using head-lead drills in Lesson One to become effortlessly horizontal—and to free your arms from helping with balance—we can now extend a “weightless arm” to make your “vessel” more slippery. As I explained in chapter 3, when your body line becomes longer, drag is reduced, allowing you to swim faster without working harder. This lesson will give you a balanced vessel that is longer and more slippery.

THREE SIMPLE SECRETS TO SUCCESS

1. As you extend your body line from your outstretched hand to your toes, it’s important to keep that line as long, straight, and sleek as possible, but don’t overstretch to the point of tension.Lengthen from the back of your body, not from the front, to stay aligned.

2. Any time you feel uncomfortable or unbalanced—or feel the need to use your arm for support (not uncommon when doing Lesson Two for the first time)—return your extended arm to your side and rebalance in Head-Lead Sweet Spot.

3. Just as we encourage students to master Lesson One without fins, we also encourage them to feel free to use fins to increase their ease in Lesson Two. If you are balanced but still have to kick too hard, fins can help reduce fatigue and save energy for refinement. Developing a stronger kick is unimportant; a more economical movement style is all-important.

DRILL 3: HAND-LEAD SWEET SPOT—LENGTHEN YOUR “VESSEL”

Why We Do It: To experience how balance feels with an arm extended and to imprint your most slippery body position. Hand-Lead Sweet Spot is also the position in which you’ll start and finish every drill. Finally, it’s one of the two best positions for practicing flutter kick. (Skating Position—Drill 4—is the other.)

Follow This Sequence

1. Start as in Drill 1, balanced on your back, kicking gently. Is the water at the corners of your goggles? Do you feel effortlessly supported? (Take all the time you need to feel this.) Then roll just enough to show one arm. Do you still feel comfortable? Do you have a long, clean head-spine line? Is your top arm dry from shoulder to knuckles? If not, return to your back and start over. If yes, then …

2. “Sneak” your lower arm to full extension. Your hand should be an inch or two below the surface. Your palm can be up, down, or sideways. Your arm should feel as if it’s just floating forward.

3. Next, make yourself needlelike. Once your arm is extended and weightless, check the gap between the back of your head and your shoulder. Narrow the gap if possible, but avoid strain or discomfort. Finally, make sure your head is aligned with your spine, that water is at the corners of both goggles, and that your top arm lies easily on your side with a dry strip of skin from shoulder to knuckles.

4. Practice until you could glide blissfully in this position on either side indefinitely. Take the time to make your “vanilla” side feel as good as your “chocolate” side; patience here will pay big dividends later.

How To Practice: Once you feel “bliss” on either side, practice 1-length repeats (resting for three or more yoga breaths between) for seven to ten minutes, alternating sides. Choose one of these focal points for each length:

1. Create a long, clean line from your extended fingertips to your toes. As you extend your arm, focus on lengthening from the back of your body, not the front.

2. Slip through the smallest possible hole in the water. Make sure your head slips through the same “hole” that your body is traveling through.

3. Glide silently and effortlessly. Kick gently, keeping your legs long, supple, and within the “shadow” of your body. (Use fins if this is impossible.)

4. If at any time you lose balance or comfort, put your arm back to your side and start over. 

DRILL 4: BALANCE IN THE SKATING POSITION 

Why We Do It: This is your first opportunity to experience balance as it should feel when

you begin swimming. This is also the first movement in all the Switch drills that follow. Last,

but not least, this is the first drill in which you practice the proper technique for breathing,

developing good habits now that you can maintain right through to whole-stroke. Here you’ll

learn to breathe by rolling your body to where the air is—rather than lifting or turning your

head. The act of rolling your body to breathe imprints the critical habit (when drilling) of

finishing every rolling movement in Sweet Spot.

Follow This Sequence

1. Start as in Drill 3, kicking gently. Balance on your back and hide your head, then roll gently to show one arm, and finally extend the other arm. Allow each position to feel great before you move to the next.

2. After “sneaking” your arm up, pause to check: Is the water still at the corners of both goggles? Do you feel like a long, balanced needle slipping through a small hole? Then . . .

3. Swivel your head and look directly at the bottom, rolling to your side as you do. After you look down, pause and check: Are you looking directly down? Are you balanced on your side with your shoulder pointing directly up? Is your extended hand below your head? (Put it deeper than you think you should!) Do you feel great balance—even a downhill gliding sensation?

4. Stay for a comfortable interval, then roll all the way back to where you started. When teaching, we always instruct our students to roll past their Sweet Spot in order to breathe comfortably. If you feel unbalanced or uncomfortable after you roll up to breathe, you haven’t rolled far enough.

5. Regroup in Sweet Spot for at least three yoga breaths before rolling nose-down again; avoid feeling breathless or rushed.

Lesson Two Practice Plan

Let’s review what you’ve learned so far: Balance and head-spine alignment. How to make yourself more slippery. How balance should feel when you begin swimming. How to breathe while rolling your needle shape to where the air is. These insights will all be of extraordinary value in making you a more Fishlike swimmer, so you should make extensive use of Lesson Two drills in refining your stroke, even after it has become quite efficient. Take time now to patiently polish all the fine points.

As with Lesson One, there’s a simple 100-yard sequence for practicing Lesson Two skills: 50 yards in the nose-up position (25 on your right side, 25 on your left) plus 50 yards in the Skating Position (25 right, 25 left). Rest for three or more “yoga” breaths after each length and practice for seven to ten minutes. Choose a focal point for each length. For the nose-up position, choose from among those mentioned for Drill 3. For the Skating Position, choose from among the following:

1. Head Position. Aligned with your spine at all times. Water at the corners of your goggles while looking up. Nose pointed directly at the bottom while looking down with your head positioned so water can easily flow over the back. Head tucked against the extended arm as you roll from one position to the other.

2. Balance. Particularly when nose-down, focus on feeling completely supported by the water, almost as if you’re sliding downhill. To get this, make sure your head is hidden, that your hand is below your head, and that you lean on your lungs.

3. Really balanced. You’ll know you’ve reached this state when you can glide effortlessly—almost lazily—watching pool tiles slide by underneath you.

4. Slippery. We call this the Skating Position because the sensation should be of using the extended side of your body—from fingertips to toes—as if it were a skate blade. Being able to balance right on your side—shoulder pointed straight up—is the most slippery position you can achieve in the water. Enhance this by slipping your body through the smallest possible space in the water, to minimize form drag on body surfaces.

5. Breathing. Maintain your needle shape as you swivel and roll nose-down to the Skating Position—and particularly as you roll “too far” when you swivel back to Sweet Spot to breathe.

Lesson One: Finding Balance and Your “Sweet Spot”

This is the “ridiculously simple” part of martial-arts swimming, at least for some athletes. You may even be tempted to skip this lesson. Don’t! If you have human DNA—even if you’ve already swum in the Olympics—you can still improve your balance, and as it improves you’ll use less energy at any speed.

If, on the other hand, every stroke you’ve ever taken has been a frustrating struggle, if you’re toast after two laps, if you always feel as if your toenails are in danger of scraping the pool bottom, Lesson One can give you an unprecedented feeling of basically being able to just lie there, kicking gently, while tension and discomfort melt away. Once you have that, you’ll immediately swim with far more ease, and the rest of the lessons will go much more smoothly.

HEAD FIRST?

In watching underwater video of thousands of “human swimmers” over the years, what I notice first is how completely their arms and legs are occupied with trying not to sink. They may think what they’re doing is “stroking,” but virtually none of their energy is producing propulsion. Instead, most of it goes into fighting that sinking feeling. Until you learn to balance effortlessly without your arms helping, it is simply impossible to drill or stroke efficiently. Thus, your first step is to get the water to support you without help from your arms. In “head-lead” drills, because you’re unable to use your arms for support, you’ll learn to balance your body entirely through proper head position and weight distribution.

FOUR SIMPLE SECRETS TO SUCCESS

1. As you practice, imagine being towed by a line attached to the top of your head. Keep your head-spine line long and straight.

2. Practice ease. Move as quietly and economically as you can, trying not to disturb the water. Strive for an almost Zen-like sensation of stillness.

3. Kick silently and gently with a long, straight, supple leg. Keep your feet inside your body’s wake, or “shadow.” If you feel slow, don’t kick harder; instead, try to reduce resistance by improving your balance and alignment.

4. Most important, when practicing Lesson One for the first time, use a shallow pool section, where you can stand up at any time. When doing head-lead drills, especially if you have a weak kick, even 25 yards can be tiring. Until you can do just five or ten yards effortlessly, don’t go farther. (Backyard and motel pools are often perfect for Lesson One practice!) If you feel tired or are working too hard, don’t push on. Instead, stand up, take a few deep breaths, and relax before resuming.

DRILL 1: BASIC BALANCE ON YOUR BACK

Why We Do It: This is the easiest way to relax and enjoy the support of the water. You don’t have to worry about breathing, so you can just lie there and experience balance. Effortlessness and stability are the key sensations of balance; learn them here then maintain in other positions.

Follow This Sequence (Kicking Gently at Each Step)

1. Hide your head. Your face should be parallel to the surface, with water wetting the top of your forehead, the bottom of your chin, and the corners of your goggles. Tuck your chin slightly to keep your head aligned. If other swimmers splash waves in your face, you can minimize this distraction by wearing nose-clips. Spend five to ten minutes simply getting your head position right or have a partner check the illustration and help. Patiently practice until it feels more natural and you’re comfortable with the water that close. In every subsequent drill, hide your head before doing anything else.

2. Make a “hull shape” with your back. It’s harder to balance with your shoulders back and your chest thrust forward. Round your shoulders slightly and shape your back like the hull of a boat. Keep your shoulders in this neutral position for all balance drills.

3. Press your “buoy.” You achieve balance by “lying on your lungs,” which are the most buoyant part of your body. Keeping your head hidden and your torso hull-shaped, lean on your upper back until your hips feel light. When you’re balanced, you’ll show a “dry patch of thigh” on each kick. But don’t let your kick become splashy; your knees and toes should just ruffle the surface. In subsequent drills, “lie on your lungs” in the same way.

4. Just lie there. The true test of balance is being able to do nothingwith your arms. If you need to brace yourself or scull with them, you aren’t balanced. When you are really supported by the water, you can use your arms just to help shape yourself into a torpedo. 

5. Time to practice. Limit repeats to 25 yards or less. As soon as you begin losing your sense of ease and relaxation, rest until you regain it.

Special Help for “Sinkers”

Athletes who are lean, densely muscled, or long-legged (and particularly those with two or more of these traits) commonly find that no amount of position adjusting allows them to achieve real comfort in the nose-up balance drills (Drills 1 through 3). These drills are important in teaching the recovery position you’ll use between cycles of the “switch” drills in Lessons Three, Four, and Five, but you’ll learn the sense of balance you’ll use while swimming the whole stroke in nose-down positions in Drill 4 and beyond.

Rather than struggle to float those “heavy” legs, I recommend that you ask a friend or swim partner to help you as you learn balance drills initially. In the Total Immersion “buddy system,” your partner can tow gently from your head or shoulders in Drills 1 and 2, and from your extended hand in Drill 3. As your partner tows, put your focus entirely on relaxing; using a gentle, compact kick; slipping through the smallest “hole” in the water; and memorizing the sense of easy support you gain.

After providing some momentum, your partner can release you and continue walking backward in front, ready to resume towing if he or she sees you begin to struggle. Your partner’s “draft” should make it a bit easier for you to continue independently. You focus on feeling—and kicking—the same as when you were being towed. Repeat tow-and-release several times, trying to sustain independent momentum, for just a bit longer each time. (The “buddy system” for learning balance and other skills is illustrated in detail in the Freestyle Made Easy DVD/video described in the appendix.) 

In general, “sinkers” struggle more with the first three drills, so my advice is not to endure frustration while trying endlessly to master them. Do them expeditiously and with a degree of patience to learn as much as a reasonable effort with allow, then move on to Drill 4, Skating. This is the step where sinkers begin to understand how balance should feel. You can also use fins for solo practice, as detailed in the box at the end of this lesson.

Focus mainly on the sense of stillness produced when you can just lie there, kicking gently, and let the water do the work. Imagine being so stable that you could carry a champagne glass on your forehead. This feeling is a hallmark of balance! Keep it as you progress to other balance drills.

DRILL 2: FIND YOUR “SWEET SPOT”

Why We Do It: You’ll swim mainly on your side and start and finish every drill on your side, but “side balance” is almost never exactly on the side. The Sweet Spot is where you’ll find true equilibrium and balance and is influenced by your body type. If you’re lean or densely muscled, side balance will probably be almost on your back. Finding your Sweet Spot is critical because you’ll start and finish every drill here. When you master Sweet Spot, you’ll drill with ease and fluency; if you don’t take time to master it, you’ll struggle instead.

Follow This Sequence

1. Start as in Drill 1, palms at your side and kicking gently. Remain on your back until you check your head position and feel effortlessly balanced.

2. Without moving your head, roll just enough for the knuckles of one hand to barely clear the water. Your goal is to find a position where one arm is dry from shoulder to knuckles and you’re just as comfortable as you were on your back. If you feel any discomfort,

return to your back and try again with less rotation.

3. Check that your head is still positioned as in Drill 1, with the water at the corners of your goggles.

4. Watch for signs of discomfort: lifting the head, craning the neck, arching the back, helping with the lower arm. If you feel any tension, return to your back and start over with less rotation.

5. Once you feel at home in Sweet Spot, focus on staying tall and slipping through a small hole in the water, then on making stillness, quiet, and effortlessness feel natural.

6. Repeat on your other side. You may feel more comfortable on one side than the other. I call this having a “chocolate” (better balance) and “vanilla” side. Balance improvements on your vanilla side will usually bring greater dividends. Alternate one length or minute on one side with a similar distance or time on the other side.

7. When you begin to feel comfortable on each side, begin practicing Active Balance. Kick easily on one side for three yoga breaths, then roll gently to show the other arm for three breaths. The two key skills in Active Balance are: (1) maintain constant equilibrium as you roll, and (2) use effortless weight shifts to initiate body roll. Roll without using your arms, without kicking harder, and without disturbing the water. Keep your head in a steady position, with water at the corners of your goggles as you roll from side to side, as if carrying a champagne glass on your forehead.

Your most important task here is to learn the right way—patiently and mindfully—to practice all skill drills. Give yourself unlimited time to acquire effortless ease. You are not on a schedule to advance to Lesson Two. If you cultivate these attitudes and habits in Lesson One, your skills will be stronger and sounder at each subsequent stage:

Kicking, Fins, Drilling, and Swimming: The Whole Story

Why do I go backward when kicking and drilling? Inflexible ankles are the most common cause and the “adult-onset” swimmer is the classic case. We all lose flexibility as we age (unless you follow a dedicated stretching or yoga program), and if you didn’t start swimming young you may spend twenty to forty years gradually losing ankle flexibility. Years of running usually accelerates the stiffening. If you started swimming young and continued, that’s usually sufficient to maintain ankle flexibility.

The second cause is simple lack of coordination. The correct flutter-kicking action is counterintuitive. Your other kicking experiences (soccer balls, tires, your kid brother) teach you to kick with about 90 degrees of knee flexion. But an efficient flutter kick uses only about 30 degrees; the kick happens mostly from the hip flexor and quadriceps. Kids learn it fairly spontaneously; the adult-onset swimmer often has to consciously unlearn the other kicking habits in order to learn the right way.

How do I fix it? Four ways have proven to work best:

VERTICAL KICKING. This won’t do much for flexibility but it is effective for learning coordination. Float vertically with arms folded across your chest, mouth just above the water, as shown in the illustration. If you feel yourself sinking, tuck a pull buoy under each armpit, or hug a kickboard to your chest. Focus on keeping a long line from hip to toes as you kick. Your leg should be long and supple, never rigid. Using the muscles at the top of your thigh, move your whole leg like a pendulum. (A good exercise for the true beginner is simply to sit on the edge of the pool with your legs dangling in the water and try to move the water solidly back and forth with an almost-straight leg. Try to use ankle flexion and extension to move the water forward and back. Try “stirring” the water with one foot to develop a bit more awareness of how to feel the water with your feet.) Practice vertical kicking for several periods of fifteen or more seconds, resting for a similar amount of time. Then kick with the same feeling in the side position below. 

TOWING. The TI “buddy system” of tow-and-release described on page 113 can also be helpful in correcting inefficient habits. The least effective (but most instinctive) response to a nonpropulsive kick is to kick harder. While being towed by a partner, it’s much easier to focus on kicking gently; maintaining a long, supple line from hip to toes; and keeping your feet inside your torso’s “shadow.” After release, keep your kick as it was while being towed. Towing and Vertical Kicking are illustrated in the Freestyle Made Easy DVD/video. 

SIDE KICKING. This can help you with both coordination and flexibility and is one more benefit to practicing TI drills. Each drill in our sequence starts and finishes in Sweet Spot. Any time you’re kicking on your side, you’re a lot more likely to use the 30-degree flexion kick. Kicking on your stomach—as with a kickboard—makes it far more likely that you’ll do the bicycling kick, because gravity encourages it. On your side, because your knees don’t flex in the direction gravity is working, you’re far less likely to “bicycle.” 

STRETCHING. This won’t do anything for coordination. It may improve the range of motion in your ankles moderately. It won’t suddenly turn you into a fast, easy kicker. 

Will fins help? The primary benefit of fins is that the blade will flex easily, compensating for the ankle that won’t. In order for the kick to be propulsive,  something has to flex, in order to move the water, similar to the pitched blades of a propellor. When your ankle refuses, it’s only natural for your knee to substitute. That only makes the problem worse. First, because a right-angle knee causes your lower leg to protrude from your slipstream— turning the leg into another source of drag. That’s why you don’t move forward. Second, it triggers the pawing action of a runner’s kick. That causes you to go backward. With fins on your feet—and your body on its side—pretty soon you’re helping both flexibility and coordination.

Should I use fins in drills? The Sweet Spot pause in every TI drill helps your ease and coordination. Good. But if you have a poor kick, each time you return to Sweet Spot, your body may stop moving. Bad. If your body comes to halt after each cycle, you end up lurching down the pool, spending energy trying to overcome inertia rather than efficiently conserving momentum. So a reasonable kick is essential to efficient drill practice. And because the main point of drills is to teach you ease and economy, it really is an enormous benefit if using fins allows you to practice ease as you drill.

But I recommend that you try to complete Lesson One without fins. That helps to ensure that you’re using the fins mainly to help conserve momentum, not to mask your balance problem. And if you do use fins while practicing drills, let them do the work. Keep your legs long and supple and relaxed. Kick as gently as possible, so the fins don’t overwhelm the core-generated movement you’re trying to learn.

Should I use fins while swimming? Unless your goal is to swim short distances fast, I advocate a non-overt kick—i.e., one you’re hardly aware of. If your drills teach you balance, it should be much easier to just let your legs follow your core body. I don’t encourage swimmers to use fins very often while swimming. It tends to encourage you to overkick, and you can easily lose your feel for balance, fluency, and for swimming with a seamless whole-body harmony. So … do use fins if they contribute dramatically to your ease while drilling. But don’t be reluctant to try some drilling without them. And take the fins off when you start swimming.

• Practice each drill with no set time limit or number of repetitions in mind.

• Stay with it until it becomes effortless.

• Then continue a bit longer until you are “bored” (you can do it without mental effort).

• Only then should you progress to the next drill or skill.

Make a commitment to avoid “practicing struggle” at any stage. Any time you feel yourself losing control, stop and rest, regroup at the prior drill or skill, or do both. If you don’t, you’ll simply end up imprinting struggle in your muscle memory and your body will naturally revert to inefficient patterns whenever you get a bit tired.

A comprehensive series for Lesson One practice is 25 yards on your back, 25 on your right side, 25 on your left side, and 25 of Active Balance. Rest for three to five yoga breaths after each 25. As your Sweet Spot balance improves, you can do Drill 1 less often, focusing your practice on side balance and active balance. As you progress to other drills, a five- to ten-minute tune-in with your Sweet Spot before tackling more advanced drills will always be beneficial.