Problem with AAUS swim requirement

[lowviz]

One other thought on a frogkick. Your heels should come up to your butt, then the kick starts. If you bring your legs up really wrong, your legs will act like brakes and totally kill your momentum.

Totally agree.

Funny thing is, for this kick you need to carefully drop your knees while keeping them reasonably close together before you load the kick. I got beat up in cave class for doing exactly that!

I've just now come to realize that there are TWO very distinct and quite dissimilar "frog kicks". One for divers and one for swimmers.

... A really good frogkick articulates your feet and ankles in ways that aren't very natural at first. Watch how to use the soles of your feet as your legs snap back together.

You obviously understand this. You sound like my instructors. They had me in a flotation belt and kickboard while they manipulated my legs to trace out the proper pattern.

I'm getting it now, but yes, it is very unnatural for me.

 

[dmaziuk]

I've just now come to realize that there are TWO very distinct and quite dissimilar "frog kicks". One for divers and one for swimmers.

In frog kick your feet work as a propeller. In swimmers' version that is combined with a long forward push: you bring heels all the way to your butt and turn the toes so they point to the sides. At the end of the push the toes are pointing down(*), your feet are doing a 90-degree turn. In divers' version you mostly turn the feet around the ankle and try to involve the knees and thighs as little as possible. Still doing the same 90-degree turn -- or at least trying to.

(*) -ish: back, really, as you stretch and point the toes.

 

[lowviz]

Serious progress!

... I would advise you to only look once and only once at most. ...

Well, now I know what you meant by that!

I've been burning up and down the lanes with a kickboard and my head forward to see where I'm going. *WRONG* Not any more, face in the water...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIeHiSYp6zs

I've been good about controlling my knees, but this vid really spells it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siR2XzdmRqM

So the current plan is to nail the breaststroke on the surface and then take it south later and under direct supervision. The "Y" really, really doesn't want me doing this on my own with a breath-hold.

Life is all about the next adventure...

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Life is all about the next adventure...

So - does that mean Sunfish Pond is off this year?

 

[lowviz]

Nope.

My answer is here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/pe...-boy-do-mans-job-post7556014.html#post7556014

That is Adventure #1 and will remain so until we come back smiling.

 

[tbone1004]

this is actually a requirement for our OW divers. It's not difficult, but it is all about mechanics and mental faculties. You are only under water for a few seconds, and it should only require a few strokes.

Typical problems
people take too big of a breath-been explained already
too many strokes-should be three max four arm pulls

wrong strokes-the legs are only to prevent backwards motion when the arms are returned to the front, not really for propulsion
the arms are brought straight down the body, not out and flapping about. Looks like this when done properly. 20 seconds under water, 3 arm pulls every 6 seconds.

[video=youtube;JbHlyjcOgDI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbHlyjcOgDI&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[dmaziuk]

I've been burning up and down the lanes with a kickboard and my head forward to see where I'm going. *WRONG* Not any more, face in the water...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIeHiSYp6zs

That wasn't allowed back when I learned... I think they let us fully submerge the head only a decade or so ago.

Take a look at some Rebecca Soni's videos. Note how she brings her hands together in front of her face and how the kick pushes her butt almost out of the water. It's hard to do with a kickboard, but what it does is let you "dive through" water resistance instead of pushing at it chest-forward.

Anyway, back to topic: two of the breath-hold exercises are

• practice it topside. Like when you're walking the same stretch, see if you can go progressively longer on a single breath.
• The other one is jumping jacks or jump rope: the goal is to do progresively more jumps per breath.

The idea is to separate your breathing from working your other muscles.

 

[lowviz]

... Note how she brings her hands together in front of her face and how the kick pushes her butt almost out of the water. ...

Yes, I'm just now figuring out how to integrate the "inverted heart" hand motion with the kick. Maybe more on this tomorrow.

I'll get a lot of unstructured pool time before the next class.

 

[dmaziuk]

Yes, I'm just now figuring out how to integrate the "inverted heart" hand motion with the kick. Maybe more on this tomorrow.

I'll get a lot of unstructured pool time before the next class.

The timing is bit weird if you do it "her way": you get a short inhale, the kick feels a bit delayed, and a longer exhale/glide. A longer hand pull will give you more balanced timing but then you lose the "wave". Of course it doesn't quite work that way underwater anyway...

 

[Rooster59]

Serious progress!

Yes, I'm just now figuring out how to integrate the "inverted heart" hand motion with the kick. Maybe more on this tomorrow.

I'll get a lot of unstructured pool time before the next class.

Super on the progress! Just remember the underwater hand power stroke is like a butterfly hand power stroke, all the way to your hips. The inverted heart is for topwater breaststroke. Nothing beats pool time. If the Y isn't keen on you going underwater, you might sneak by doing your lap with a topwater stroke and breathe, 1 or 2 underwater, topwater and breathe, etc.