Endless pool #3

This morning felt to be a step forwards once I'd settled in after the usual frantic 'warm-up. The focus was on increasing my forearm catch, largely through control of my elbow. After some practice I was aware of increased pressure on my palm. With a paddle, it seemed to be pressed into my hand and not needing stabilisation with my thumb. Without paddles I tried to reproduce that feeling of power on the water, sometimes I could see a 'power stroke' that accelerated me towards the mirror briefly.

Trying to press through my hand

It helped to visualise leading with my hand with my elbows up, rather than the reaching over a beach ball. However, the video shows that I'm still leading with my elbow, although my forearm is in an improved position which will at least be generating more power.

I also needed to be reminded to keep my head steady in the centre, rotating my body around it on the reach. It's helpful to look yourself in the eyes in the mirror! A good reach felt more powerful and seems to encourage a longer stroke before recovery. Reaching forwards with a steady head may be helpful in avoiding crossover too.

My left arm drifts across my midline

In this photograph, crossover is obvious, the video shows that initial entry is inline with my shoulder but then my arm slips. Here there isn't much body rotation, when I was able to do a more forward reach with rotation the crossover was often avoided.