Superman + stroke

Hi,
Can anyone help me. I can do the superman without stroke nicely. But once I introduce the stroke, I go haywire. I've bouht the self-coaching modules and have watched the video over and over again.

What can go wrong when I introduce the stroke?

Thank you.

[IngeA]

These videos are meant for beginners as well as for advanced swimmers. These drill to whole stroke exercises work well for many, especially for swimmers who already can swim freestyle and want to improve their technique.
So at the moment, I would just skip the whole stroke and begin with the next drill. You will see, even doing only the drills will take you gradually to whole stroke.

Best regards

Inge

[CoachTeresa]

Inge makes a great point. If you have never stroked before, than it can be difficult to go directly from Superman to Superman + strokes. Try Practicing the Elbow swing rehearsals and then to go Superman + skate. After practicing those drills numerous times, try Superman + strokes again.

[WFEGb]

Hello nazri729,

what you might try as addition to the good hints from Inge and Teresa:

When you did your SGs and earned a good feeling of relaxation, weightless head, balance and optimal streamline just try to swim a single stroke, being aware how long (up to which movement) you can hold this great SG-feeling. Stand up and reset immediately when you lose it. Next try to get a bit further. When reached a whole stroke still feeling the goodies of SG, try with the other side, if... then two whole strokes... and so on. If it doesn't work today go on as Teresa said and try tomorrow again including the new learned elbow swing...

Joy, success and best regards,
Werner

Originally Posted by IngeA

These videos are meant for beginners as well as for advanced swimmers. These drill to whole stroke exercises work well for many, especially for swimmers who already can swim freestyle and want to improve their technique.
So at the moment, I would just skip the whole stroke and begin with the next drill. You will see, even doing only the drills will take you gradually to whole stroke.

Best regards

Inge

Thank you so much for the reply. Appreciate it. Will concentrate more on the drills first.

Originally Posted by CoachTeresa

Inge makes a great point. If you have never stroked before, than it can be difficult to go directly from Superman to Superman + strokes. Try Practicing the Elbow swing rehearsals and then to go Superman + skate. After practicing those drills numerous times, try Superman + strokes again.

Hi Coach Teresa,

Thankiu so much for the reply. Really appreciate the advise.

Originally Posted by WFEGb

Hello nazri729,

what you might try as addition to the good hints from Inge and Teresa:

When you did your SGs and earned a good feeling of relaxation, weightless head, balance and optimal streamline just try to swim a single stroke, being aware how long (up to which movement) you can hold this great SG-feeling. Stand up and reset immediately when you lose it. Next try to get a bit further. When reached a whole stroke still feeling the goodies of SG, try with the other side, if... then two whole strokes... and so on. If it doesn't work today go on as Teresa said and try tomorrow again including the new learned elbow swing...

Joy, success and best regards,
Werner

Hi Werner,

Thankiu so much for the reply. Appreciate it. Will work on it.

[sclim]

These have been excellent advice, from at least 2 real coaches! I'm just a struggling swimmer myself. However, I have to add that for a complete beginner with no prior exposure, after successfully doing a Superman Glide on your own, I would think it is understandable that adding the stroke throws everything off. Even one single stroke has the potential to throw you off balance if you have no prior concept of balance, although, of course, when you finally get it for the first time, it will be one stroke at a time.

However, from my own recollection of how bewildering everything was at the beginning, perhaps the idea of trying for SG + a single stroke => Skate might be too mysterious on your own if it is without having any idea of what Skate feels like.

So I would suggest trying to get into Skate position the same way you did Superman Glide, i.e. from a standing position in the shallow end. You will have practiced the skate position standing up a few times, so you push off gently with your feet off the bottom and launch yourself on the diagonal body angle, with the right arm angled downward ahead, your left arm held close to your left side, and the left hand stuck to your hip and thigh as though it was in your pants pocket. Initially you will tend to have your legs sink, but don't try to kick at first to correct this (it's one more confusing added skill at this point), just try to briefly glide, balancing in correct skate position, first on one side, then after rest, on the other side.

Once you get the idea of what a brief glide in skate position feels like, then it makes sense to start again in Superman Glide, then pull ONE stroke, rolling the trunk, to get to the one side skate position, and briefly glide in skate. First one way, then stand up, rest, start again SG to the other side skate position. All in the shallow end.

Originally Posted by sclim

These have been excellent advice, from at least 2 real coaches! I'm just a struggling swimmer myself. However, I have to add that for a complete beginner with no prior exposure, after successfully doing a Superman Glide on your own, I would think it is understandable that adding the stroke throws everything off. Even one single stroke has the potential to throw you off balance if you have no prior concept of balance, although, of course, when you finally get it for the first time, it will be one stroke at a time.

However, from my own recollection of how bewildering everything was at the beginning, perhaps the idea of trying for SG + a single stroke => Skate might be too mysterious on your own if it is without having any idea of what Skate feels like.

So I would suggest trying to get into Skate position the same way you did Superman Glide, i.e. from a standing position in the shallow end. You will have practiced the skate position standing up a few times, so you push off gently with your feet off the bottom and launch yourself on the diagonal body angle, with the right arm angled downward ahead, your left arm held close to your left side, and the left hand stuck to your hip and thigh as though it was in your pants pocket. Initially you will tend to have your legs sink, but don't try to kick at first to correct this (it's one more confusing added skill at this point), just try to briefly glide, balancing in correct skate position, first on one side, then after rest, on the other side.

Once you get the idea of what a brief glide in skate position feels like, then it makes sense to start again in Superman Glide, then pull ONE stroke, rolling the trunk, to get to the one side skate position, and briefly glide in skate. First one way, then stand up, rest, start again SG to the other side skate position. All in the shallow end.

Hi SCLim,

Thankiu for sharing your experience. Appreciate it. Will give it a try.