Discover your life aquatic

Key points:

• Check sessions notes after each session: http://seahiker.com/content/sensational-freestyle-vancouver-aquatic-centre-4-week-program-april-2010
• Practice between pool sessions!
• Use them to help guide your practice by exploring what we covered in greater detail or working on things you feel you need more experience with.
• If you can't get to a pool between Tuesday and Thursday sessions, look to practice dry land drills at a minimum.
• You are looking to supply your coaches with more information on how you feel with the exercises and drills, sensations, questions and any obstacles, or successes you've experienced. Feel free to email or phone us to discuss!

Dryland

1. Review recovery, entry, and extension for common tendencies and obstacles. Importance on fluid and consistent motion and arrival in fundamental glide posture.

2. Increase fluid motions through "drive into glide" and sending your energy forward. Unify your body motions to maximize your drive forward.

3. Timing breath and supportive air exchange.

Pool Focus

1. Switches review and increasing flow (20 minutes)

Run through these key technique focuses one at a time (3-4 mini-laps per focus) first as switches with a nice long pause for adjusting and evaluating, then decreasing time spent in glide (pause) between switches. Find a balance of flow and control as you work on the primary focus:

• returning to glide position
• keeping your head still and nose pointed down to the pool bottom
• equal degree of rotation on both sides (where do you feel the least tension in your body and best streamline?)
• for the recovery, ensure that your elbow leads the hand and forearm forward as far as is comfortable before your hand enters the water and you initiate the switch
• enter the water smoothly; your hand engaging the writs and fingers with the minimal tension required to keep a straight form
• finish the switch with your lead arm relaxed and deep enough to balance your head-to-hip alignment; let finger tips hang down if not straight out
• breathing in glide: take a breath during the pause in glide, alllowing sufficient time to rebalance if your breath throws you off balance. Then take another switch.

2. Exploration of sending energy forward.

Explore visualizing and attempting to experience the rotation sending energy out through your arm entering the water versus the focus on powering the water backwards with a pull and push action from your stroking arm.

• Exaggerate both options
• Keep timing patient (wait until you reach "aim" position before you rotate into glide)
• After experimenting with both ends of the spectrum (stroke and forward energy), look to find the best of both worlds with a relaxed and comfortable movement into glide on each switch.
• Attempt to unify the rotation, extension, and "move to glide"/stroke so they work together similar to dryland practice.
• Return to checking in on basic postures and motions. 

3. Supportive Air Exchange

Focus Points:

• Play with different exchange amounts, both inhale and exhale.
• Emphasize exhale to ensure reduction in CO2, which gives the sensations of breathlessness, anxiety, need for air, discomfort.
• Complete the exhale, ideally, as soon as mouth reaches air.