swim squad 230610

Dear Team Sapphire!

Glad to see people improving, and also glad to always be able to surprise you with something you can't do (very well) as and when some of us think we've master it all already! haha.. am glad to have ARVIND to join the group.

He's one of the few guys who is lightning fast, but still damn damn damn humble, and after the dinner, we (those that were there) found him to be extremely knowledgable! Guys, if you got questions, SHOOT HIM! :D
Otherwise, i'm sure we're all very happy to have you on board! Lets chat more over dinner again soon (endless knowledge to share!).

Before we go to the next dinner time, here's the training focal point tonite for those who were not there to read, and for those who were there to revise!

Training:
500 (alt 50s of fist swim/normal)
500 (mod with 1,3,5,7,9 pull(s)/breathe)
3x100 (50 right only, 50 left only)
2x100 (3 pulls/breathe, alt right and left breathing)

Basically, tonight's kind of a chill night. As you can see the training is all on breathing properly on both sides. And also able to feel confident taking a few strokes without taking in breathes. Why is that impt?

1) Waves don't come in one direction only.
If you can only breathe on your right, and the wave is hitting you from the right then siao liao lor...

2) More often than not when you're doing a left-turn-based swim, it helps just SO much to be able to see the shore when you're breathing. And breathing on your right, you'd see the endless sea... Unless you like that feeling. :D

3) When swimming in choppy situations, it'll be very beneficial to have confidence that you can do a few more than 3 strokes without taking a breathe to sprint out of that choppy situation before continuing to take in breathes.
E.G: Race starts/super big waves (rain/other places than in sg).

All the above are REAL race situations that you can be facing. So it is better that you can get that left side breathing nailed sooner than later.

--------------------------------------------

Tips on breathing on left hand side.
1) Learn from your right hand side.
- Really. Do your right hand side in slow motion, then pick up every single point in time when any part moves.
- Check when did body start turning when you initiate the pull. Pull first, or rotation first?
- When did your head turn? At which point in time Specifically?

2) Breathe EARLIER in the pull. Once you get into the catch, your face should be out of water and taking in breathe (or finish your breathe liao even better).

3) Finish your inhalation, then you finish your push.

4) Do NOT lift your head. Rotate your face from face down to face side/diagonally up (towards the ceiling)

5) When you breathe on your side, there should a one beat kick that stabilize your body on the side. When you do 1 side only swim (all right/all left for 50m), it is advisable to do 3 beat kicks/pull.

Work on the above, then come back and nag at me if improvements doesn't come.

-----------------------------------

For Ernest, Calvin, TeckBeng and Ken, Thank you for your time for coming down to practice earlier. I've pointed out some of the most common mistakes that I've seen you guys done for a long time (not ken perhaps).

Calvin's hands are still way too high on the surface, thats why the sinking hips when doing one side swim.

Ernest got the momentum going on the right but the left side still very controlled. Try to let loose a little whilst remembering to glide and even more importantly, press the chest down.

Teckbeng, as spoken, do the speedwork I taught you.. feedback and we'll see.

Ken, remember to slow down your non breathing side's catch phase a little in the pull to prevent dropped elbow.

All of you, remember to keep the hands deeper and stretching. Pressing the chest down is a must, driving the hips down on each side is a very very critical phase to swimming fast.

For Sam, please try to breathe earlier.. And, its time to swim a little faster!!! Try to feel the burn in the arms and lats a little bit... i'm sure once you get out of comfort zone, you should be easily doing 1:55 for your 100s.

For Arvind and Marianne , I hope to see you guys kick a little more (3 beat kick per pull) when we're doing repetition sets of 100 or even 200s! If you don't put it into practice and get past that "weird" phase, it'll never come to you at all!

For Bryan, Brenda and Hong Jun, I see that your stamina has improved SO MUCH ALREADY! goodness gracious.. give yourself a pat on the shoulder.. Since your strokes is learnt purely from scratch, don't have to worry about it deteoriating. Plus, we still have the normal lesson for me to help you out. I'm very sure you'll do very very well for the swim leg in the mini sprint!

Also, next time dinner time, can you all sit with us please??? don't be paiseh la!!!! I only found out when we were leaving! goodness.. Swimming that time also don't swim sooo far away can? Can't even see if you're back already!

Bryan, please don't try to push past injuries/blisters... its just Not worth it.. trust me, i've been there done that.. and end up i had to rest for weeks... then all stamina drop and back to square one... not worth it at all...

Aaron, Can you please DON'T STAND UP AND WALK...?? :Ppp its not water aerobic la!!!! Your swim improved heaps since last sunday i met you! The left side is a very very common problem.. you just hve to bury your head and grind out the rotation from the hips!

Last but not least, Vincent, Great swim, great stroke rate. The only complain I have for you is when you're gliding, the arm that just finished pulling isn't relax leh.. Its like damn tensed up when its on your body side! Can you try to do more relaxation practice? Like imagine you're Jelly soft? The reason is if you're so tensed up when gliding, then it isn't a rest phase liao right? :)

That's all from the nagging old man for now.

Hope you guys enjoyed!

Cheers
KK~