Happy New Year, everyone!
January is now upon us, so all the tasks we left to "circle back to in the New Year" are now sitting in bright red on our agendas. Hopefully, one of those is continuing to build your freestyle mastery. What better way to feel accomplished than to push yourself into a newfound skill? If you need a little recap, we ended the trunk-based motion of freestyle last week with our rotation video. This week, in conjunction with the dawn of 2023, we look to jump into the first step of freestyle arms: the catch!
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Learning how to anchor in freestyle can determine the efficacy of the rest of the power phase - that of freestyle which occurs underwater through the finish of the stroke. A strong, high-elbow catch is imperative so that we don't "chicken wing" and/or drop our elbows, thus losing much of our available power. And, too, now is not the time to lose our great body position from the streamline video, nor our rotation as linked in the intro. Please make sure to check up on these for a needed refresher. Just like grabbing the beach ball in this week's video, you want to focus on pushing the elbow outward toward the side walls when anchoring to create that high-elbow feel.
Fact of the week: Freestyle, as with much of swimming in general, is about angles. We've talked about this previously with our body position, as well as how we kick. In the catch that we've discussed this week, our focus on the high-elbow "power diamond" (or half diamond with freestyle) is to maximize our force output. With a high-elbow catch, we allow the entire arm to be involved in the power phase, whereas with a dropped elbow, only the tricep and hand grab water. As we move into the power phase and freestyle pull, let's look to maximize our potential! Welcome to 2023, where new challenges AND new achievements await! Keep up on YouTube for more!
How does my child move up? Come to every swim class, bring your progress report, earn those stickers, and ask your child's instructor or location's deck manager if you have questions.
How do I move up? Attend as many of your classes as possible, communicate with your instructor on your struggles, goals, and where you're at in our curriculum. We also have many adults who purchase a gym membership to 24 Hour Fitness or LA Fitness while they are taking lessons so they can practice 2-3 times between classes.
Anchor down and find your freestyle comfort! Glad your swimmer is learning to swim with us!
The Sigma Team