Open Water Sighting
As the weather warms up and races are starting to spread across the country, more and more athletes are turning to their local lakes to get some open water practice. One of the biggest problems people have is swimming in a straight line, which means open water sighting becomes a key priority.
Open Water Sighting
Keeping head movement to a minimum is really important when thinking about open water sighting. The more that the head moves around, the more likely that it is that the body will follow, and that swimming in a straight line will become less and less likely.
How To Do It
Open water sighting
Press down with your hand on entry, and push your chin forward – rather than trying to lift everything straight up. If you try to solely lift, then it puts a lot of pressure on your neck and lower back. Then on the way back down, go straight back into your normal strong body position.
How To Do It Really Well (The Fine Points)
Ensure that the head comes straight up, and goes straight back down. The less movement taken during open water sighting, the better. If you time your sighting with your breathing then you can make sure that you can get your mouth above the waterline. This way you can combine the two actions, and keep your head more steady.
This should help you go much further for each individual stroke, with less effort – and hopefully faster! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to get in touch; either by email, facebook or leave a comment on here! Remember, you can always get your swimming reviewed in the endless pool with our video swim analysis packages.
See what’s up next week for our #SwimTechTues tip!