Monday, December 04, 2006
Back to Basics
After spotting the full moon rise above Manhattan's canyons this morning, I should have been prepared for the unexpected. Coach Jim's practice was chock full of surprises. He started the workout with a set of sculling drills. The first in the series required us to lie on our backs in a feet-forward position and use only our hands to navigate the 25-meter pool.
He might has well have asked us (or rather, me) to paddle across the pool using a pair of plastic swizzle sticks. While the lane 2 and 3 swimmers were steadily cruising from point to point, I was going nowhere slapping and splashing water to and fro, fruitlessly attempting to make little whirlpools with my hands. Like the USS Intrepid, I felt stuck. In Baruch's equivalent of Dante's fifth circle of hell, I attempted to cross the Styx, barely inching my way to the backstroke flags.
David G. Thomas writes in the primer Swimming: Steps to Success,"Sculling is important because it is the first propulsive swimming movement you will learn. It is vital to those with very little buoyancy, because they would not be able be able to remain on the surface without it." Used by all swimmers at various times, he adds, sculling "greatly increases a swimmer's proficiency." After today's humbling exercise, I realize the need to focus on developing my basic skills if I truly want to make progress in this sport.
He might has well have asked us (or rather, me) to paddle across the pool using a pair of plastic swizzle sticks. While the lane 2 and 3 swimmers were steadily cruising from point to point, I was going nowhere slapping and splashing water to and fro, fruitlessly attempting to make little whirlpools with my hands. Like the USS Intrepid, I felt stuck. In Baruch's equivalent of Dante's fifth circle of hell, I attempted to cross the Styx, barely inching my way to the backstroke flags.
David G. Thomas writes in the primer Swimming: Steps to Success,"Sculling is important because it is the first propulsive swimming movement you will learn. It is vital to those with very little buoyancy, because they would not be able be able to remain on the surface without it." Used by all swimmers at various times, he adds, sculling "greatly increases a swimmer's proficiency." After today's humbling exercise, I realize the need to focus on developing my basic skills if I truly want to make progress in this sport.
