My takeaway from week 2 is, it is mostly mental. About four years ago, I attempted to learn to swim, after my first session (only about 15 minutes long), I never returned to the pool. This attempt, I’ve had two sessions, both about one and a half hours long. One of the differences, is that this time I had a plan and did some research before entering the pool and mentally prepared myself.
This week, my colleague, a swim coach, who I spoke to last week, sent me an article and links to two websites. For my needs, I didn’t find the websites helpful. Their target audience is master swimmers. I am definitely not part of this audience. However, I did find Michael Popke’s article, Adults Struggle to Overcome Lifelong Fear of Swimming extremely informative and it validated several tips my colleague had previously provided me. Although, the article is written for swim coaches, it focused on teaching adults how to swim. Last week, one of my struggles was controlling my body. So, for this week, I’m going to focus on Popke’s advice, "You need to have complete control over your body in the weightless environment of the pool.”
I had my second swim lesson on 07/05/15. It was at the same place, with the same people. It worked the first time, so I figured I should keep it the same. My daughter and I briefly talked before about this week’s plan and decided to move forward with it. The end result: floating face down was more controlled, still struggled with body control when attempting to float face up, “swam” a short distance with arms fully extended before me by flutter kicking and no noodle (Yay!) and with the support of the noodle, practiced using my arms. Next steps: continue working on body control, more practice using arms and breathing techniques.
This week, my colleague, a swim coach, who I spoke to last week, sent me an article and links to two websites. For my needs, I didn’t find the websites helpful. Their target audience is master swimmers. I am definitely not part of this audience. However, I did find Michael Popke’s article, Adults Struggle to Overcome Lifelong Fear of Swimming extremely informative and it validated several tips my colleague had previously provided me. Although, the article is written for swim coaches, it focused on teaching adults how to swim. Last week, one of my struggles was controlling my body. So, for this week, I’m going to focus on Popke’s advice, "You need to have complete control over your body in the weightless environment of the pool.”
I had my second swim lesson on 07/05/15. It was at the same place, with the same people. It worked the first time, so I figured I should keep it the same. My daughter and I briefly talked before about this week’s plan and decided to move forward with it. The end result: floating face down was more controlled, still struggled with body control when attempting to float face up, “swam” a short distance with arms fully extended before me by flutter kicking and no noodle (Yay!) and with the support of the noodle, practiced using my arms. Next steps: continue working on body control, more practice using arms and breathing techniques.