Some training articles from Ed...

Good afternoon everyone,

Take a moment to check out some articles from USMS and SwimSwam:

"Don't Be Afraid to Try a Swim Meet" by Dustin Poe at USMS
"Five Fun Drills for Improving 'Feel for the Water'" by Terry Heggy at USMS
"6 Excuse-Busting Tips for Swimmers" by Olivier Poirier-Leroy at Swim Swam

Don't forget, there is a stroke clinic about freestyle on Saturday, January 17th!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year RTS!

We hope the holidays have been great for everyone!

Linda Kidd will be hosting another clinic on Saturday, January 17th (King Weekend) from 10-11am. Please contact her by email to RSVP. Her address is kiddswimming@yahoo.com. The goal of the clinic is to work on freestyle breathing techniques.

Keep on practicing! Lap swim time at the Rec. will be more crowded as folks get prepared for the triathlon, so please share lanes! Circle swimming is not a bad thing, and it doesn't hurt to share a lane with a partner or two.

Many folks have reported an inability to make our semi-monthly swim sessions (1st & 3rd Mondays, 530 PM), so I have checked with Brett (Pool Mgr) about our having a 3rd practice during the month (2nd or 4th Saturday, 0830-1000). If you are interested or would support another time we can train together, please send Ed a response with your preference.

 

See following for our schedule for the next 6 months:

Jan: 5 & 19

Feb: 2&16

Mar: 2&16

Apr: 6&20

May: 4&18

Jun: 1&15

 

We hope to have some additional meet dates in addition to Senior Games up soon!

Happy Thanksgiving and More!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Whether you stayed in town or traveled far from home, we hope it was a great time with family and friends. Now it's time to get back in the water to get rid of those extra calories courtesy of pumpkin pie and all of those other wonderfully delectable, yet oh so bad for you, foods we love to eat this time of year.
Our next practice is tomorrow, December 1, from 5:30-7pm. We will be in the lanes vacated by the East Burke team after their practice (lanes 1-5).
For those who missed out last time, Coach Kidd will be once again hosting a stroke clinic (recommended donation of $20 per person) to improve freestyle. It will be Saturday, December 13, from 10:00-11:00am. Please contact her ahead of time so she knows how many she will need to plan for.

That's all for now! See you all tomorrow!

Weekend Update!

First of all, keeping in mind that our nation celebrated Veteran's Day this past week, thank you to all of you who served or continue to serve our nation. As a nation, we can't say thank you enough, and everyday should be Veteran's Day, not just one day a year.

The RTS will practice on Monday, November 17 at 5:30. Come check out the new lines!

Some have expressed interest in participating in a swim meet without all the needed memberships, USA Swimming or USMS, so Ed has explored the possibility of an "All Swimmers" meet in late March or early April, 2015 @ Valdese, perhaps sharing the meet with Linda Kidd's Xcell club. This would offer the over-50 crowd a practice meet about 1 month prior to the Senior Games meet in Lenoir. PLEASE EMAIL ED with a simple YES or NO to your desire/willingness to participate by swimming or by volunteering to aid with the meet. The more participants we have, the lower the costs of the meet.

If you are interested in joining USMS, 2015 registration is open now. Check out the USMS link on the upper right of the page for more information. There are a lot of good perks that go along with the annual membership, and it is a good value.

Enjoy your Weekend!

LATE UPDATE: Stroke Clinic for Valdese Community

 Sorry for the late notification, but there will be a Stroke Clinic this Saturday (tomorrow!) for folks to work on freestyle. Coach Kidd will be running it.

SWIM CLINIC: SATURDAY, NOV 8, 1000-1100;

COACH LINDA KIDD FOCUS on FREE STYLE 

Suggested donation= $20 (fees support youth Xcell Swim club)

Advanced reservation preferred: kiddswimming@yahoo.com

In other news, check out the new lane lines! Thanks to everyone who helped make them possible! Next up, matching backstroke flags!

Next Practice on October 20

Good afternoon everyone!

Our next practice will be on Monday, October 20 at 5:30pm.

There is now a pace clock running next to lane 10 on the shallow end of the pool. You can use this to help time yourselves as you go through your workout. Remember, your workouts have suggested completion times for each set, and you can use the clock to help you keep track of how you are doing compared to those times.

Speaking of workouts, they are now in a folders case next to the bulletin boards across from the cash register and next to the pool door. Please feel free to use these workouts and return them when you are finished!

Thanks to Doug and Linda for their help with workouts and supporting RTS!

A Friendly Message from Ed to the RTs!

Dear team,

We had a good group for our 1st Oct workout, and those there decided on a name for our group. A number of names were considered, but the consensus settled on:

REFUSE TO SINK, the RTs or RTS however one wishes to say it. I think the name reflects all of us who refuse to give up on exercise and water sports as we age, no matter how old or young we are now.

 

Remember, Linda has some laminated workouts at the pool desk; I'm still working on a folder holder for the wall outside the pool. For those Morganton swimmers, I will soon send you a copy which you can print and take to the other pools, or take with you on trips/vacation. Also, remember that Linda offers a stroke clinic every Friday morning for those interested. I am hoping that she will also soon offer a Sat morning clinic (fees charged for that one).

 

NEXT PRACTICE: OCT 20 @ 530pm.

Attached PDF about gym workouts & injury prevention. Below is Article from USMS online magazine. hope these help all.

 

See you on deck,

Ed

The Three H's of Backstroke

Your hips, hands, and head make or break your backstroke

James Poe | October 3, 2014

In high school, I ran track and field, and my coach once told my team that in running, there were three H’s to remember: hips, hands, and knees (insert chuckle). However, in swimming backstroke, there really are three H’s to remember.

Hips

Have you ever heard your coach mention that you need to use your core when you swim backstroke, or that you have a disconnect? This can be a confusing concept to learn.

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When your arms and your legs are moving independently of each other, there is a disconnect. You can get across the pool this way, but you lose a lot of efficiency. What your coach would like to see is you using your core to help you pull and kick, because when you get everything working together, you’ll find a much stronger pull and other pieces fall into place.

“How do I achieve this?” you ask. Hips! An easy way to think about this is to focus on the timing of your hip rotation. If your shoulders rotate before your hips do, you will have a disconnect. But when you focus on rotating your hips first, you’ll find your shoulders don’t actually follow, but they move at the same time. Just remember the words of the wise Shakira, “Your Hips Don’t Lie.” Lead with the hips, and your arms and legs will be working together! (Rotating your hips does not mean moving them side-to-side, which is a common misconception. Keep your torso tall. Read Step 3 “Head” to avoid swinging your hips like a snake in the water.)

Hands

It’s amazing how many people just move their hands through the water without thinking about how or why they’re doing it. Swimming is simply defined as anchoring your hand in the water, and pulling yourself past it (similar to pulling on the lane line, but nobody does that, right?). If the palms of your hands aren’t facing your feet, chances are you’re not anchoring your hand well, and are sacrificing how far you can pull yourself through the water.

When you enter your hand above your head to catch the water (the beginning of your arm pull) you need to think, “Is my palm facing the lane rope or my feet?” If your palm is facing the lane rope, you will be directing water towards the lane rope, which won’t get you very far. If you point your palm towards your feet, you have taken your first step to an efficient pull.

The next step is pulling. A lot of people get the first step down but as they pull, their hand doesn’t change, and they end up losing the water they caught because now their fingers are pointing toward their feet. They have made their wrist too rigid.

To avoid this, stand in front of a mirror and brag about “your three nephews.” Your first nephew is the tallest “He is this tall” (arm extended above head and palm facing floor). Your second nephew is only this tall (arm level with shoulder, elbow pointing backward, palm facing floor). And your third nephew is this tall (arm extended straight down at side, palm facing floor). This is a good example of how you can have a strong wrist, while adapting to where you are in your stroke.

Head

The third step is the hardest for new swimmers. A good head position will lead to a good body position. A bad head position, such as swimming with your chin tucked, can cause your hips to drop and throw off your whole body position. (If you can see your feet, you’re tucking your chin.) Swim backstroke lying flat on your back with head and neck extended—this is known as “swimming tall.”

Did you ever stand back to back with a sibling or friend and see who was taller? Can you remember how you stretched your body and neck to get every last inch? (This is after one of you was called out for standing on your tippy toes.) That’s how you need to feel when you swim backstroke. A flat bodyline will reduce drag and help you with Step 1, hip rotation.

Once you’re able to put all three of these steps together, you’ll be swimming backstroke more efficiently and you’ll take some of the stress off your shoulders.

About the Author—James Poe

Dustin Poe is the head Masters coach for First Colony Masters Swimming, in Sugar Land, Texas. He's been coaching USAS with First Colony Swim Team for three years, and this is his first year coaching Masters. He currently serves on the USMS Coaches Committee