Just when you thought you have learnt everything...

Now...I thought I had learnt plenty about swimming in the last few months (with Ryan's 5 week correction classes and taking some coaching sessions) but it appears that I have picked up on even more (of my own) technique flaws and as a result, remediating it to be a better athlete.

Recently. I have worked on my core strength and as a result - I am able to hold my body better (and more evenly) in the water and hence, the subtle differences from head to toe, from my left to right are more evident.  

1) Uneven Sides - During the single arm drills we have been doing the past few weeks, I have noticed that I have a preferred side (my right). My strokes are more complete as I am pushing through the water better, using not only my arm muscles but also engaging my shoulder and back muscles too. I also found myself getting no where when doing left side single arm drills. This also evident with my strength training when I can do more reps on the right side compared ot the left. This is because prior to Tri Alliance, I would only breathe out of the left side and therefore I am reaching out further and pushing myself through the water more with the right arm. The next few weeks, I am going to try to do more strength work for my left side and engage my (left) muscles more too.

2) Sculling - After 3 years of being asked to do sculling drills and getting no where (literally in the water) - I have finally learnt how to scull properly. It came to me like a Christmas Miracle - I could actually feel the water with my fingers and was able to scull the water in a manner which propelled me forward. Since I learnt how to scull, I have noticed the feel the water with my fingers during my hand entry before the catch.

3) Hand Entry - Due to my uneven sides, my hand entry is more towards the centreline on my left which has been picked up by the coaches and I have started to improve on that as I am able to hold my body better in the water. Hand entry should be aligned with the width of your shoulders. The level of hand entry must also be balanced with the whole stretching out as far as possible to get maximum catch in the water.

I guess you will never stop improving if you are consistently training.