Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Time seemingly dilates when I'm doing breaststroke!

Breaststroke for me was the easiest stroke to learn and it is the hardest one for me to perfect. At all times during the stroke one faces a preponderance of resistance whether you're pulling your legs inward to produce a kick or thrusting your arms forward into a glide, it is simply a constant negotiation with 100's-of-pounds worth of liquid in front of you.

To clarify, in freestyle you develop your momentum and you simply maintain it. Same with butterfly and back but breaststroke becomes an exercise in creating new momentum with every kick and every pull. The trick is what can you accomplish during the glide if you are strong enough to produce a powerful glide.

When I am sprinting a 50 breast and I am in the throes of kicking and then lunging forward, I am convinced that it's taking me 2-minutes to get across the pool but when the clock says something like 36.00-or-so when I touch the wall, I am astonished that I wasn't a 1/2 hour slower because that is how long it feels.

I have a new pull and I think I can produce a time in lower 30's now come SCY season. At least I hope so.

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1 comment:

Glenn said...

I'm with you on the 50. So much going on and I have such a hard time figuring it out. The drill this week is really about that quick pull... and making sure I'm not focusing on pushing out but rather, pulling myself forward. Give it a shot, or tell me if it's along the same lines of what you're thinking.