And I love it. In fact I think I am addicted. If I walk away from any training session having learned something new about my stroke I have this wonderful sense of achievement and complete satisfaction. My brain just got its fix.
I love being in the circle of conscious incompetence to unconscious competence. Finding any small improvement opportunity in my stroke and working towards change is extremely satisfying. This morning I swam a mile freestyle, deliberately fluctuating between a 6 beat kick and a 2 beat kick. I found this subtle timing flaw in the 6 beat kick – my right foot was too slow at times. The rhythm was off. As I swam I could feel a slight increase in tension on the top of my right foot. It was causing the right leg to get stuck and not able to completely align. Conscious incompetence. Check. Once I softened the foot, I could feel a more hydrodynamic body line and the rhythm was fluid and steady. Conscious competence. Check. Then I cycled back into conscious incompetence – where else did this flaw impact my stroke and if I still had the tension in the foot, where could I feel it elsewhere in the stroke? It definitely impacted my extension through the right obliques and hip flexor and I could feel a slight vertical shift in body position. Releasing the right foot tension, I could then fix the alignment and remove the vertical shift – conscious competence.
As I was enjoying this cycle, I switched into backstroke, curious to see if I held the same foot tension in the 6 beat kick. Well what do you know…conscious incompetence. Release the tension, better alignment and more fluid rotational transitions. Conscious competence.
I didn’t want to get off this carousel…..
Coach Dinah
This month I have enjoyed seeing Annabelle make huge progress. Not just in movement quality, but importantly seeing the shift from swimming apprehension to swimming love. She has been in the pool on her own to practice just 6 times and here at the Discovery Aquatics studio for 3 lessons. I have complete confidence she will crush her 70.3 swim in the fall. Here is a brief video showing her progress so far and a little background info following. I am looking forward to expanding her love for swimming to the open water. Just as soon as it warms up a little!
What is your age?
39
What is your swimming background?
I grew up with breaststroke, and felt pretty comfortable with that stroke. I have never learned freestyle. And never had swimming lessons growing up.
Why did you want to learn to swim?
I wanted to learn freestyle because it is the fastest stroke, and I wanted to participate in a local triathlon.
What has surprised you the most about the process of learning freestyle?
That once I overcame my fear of breathing in freestyle, I finally felt comfortable in the water.
What has been the easiest and hardest aspect of swimming?
Hardest aspect is coordination and learning to breathe. Dinah has been so patient in working with me, and is such a positive force! She is helping me overcome these challenges every time we meet.
The easiest is it has become my place of escape and relaxation. When immersed in water, I can switch off from the rest of the world. I feel weightless and liberated. It’s just me and the water. I leave the pool feeling great!
What would you say as words of advice to a beginner swimmer?
Don’t worry about your pace or how many laps you can swim, and don’t compare yourself to others. Focus on your form, and speed and endurance will come. Keep at it and you will see improvement. I have spent hours in the pool, swimming wall to wall, struggling for air, resting and catching my breath, then trying again. But with every workout, I am getting better. Practice makes perfection! And Believe! Convince your brain that you love to swim, that you love to go to the pool! Much swimming success is attributed to your mental strength! Train your mind into loving it, and you will! It worked for me! I still have a long way to go in my freestyle. But I went from rolling my eyes and dreading the pool, to “I can’t wait to go swimming again; I LOVE IT!”
Love the love
Coach Dinah
February 18, 2016 8:40 am | 
