Confirmation on swimming stroke - 7/18

Today I was able to get to the real pool and test out the ideas I had for mechanics earlier in the week that would hopefully result in a lower stroke per length count.

Last weekend, using my normal freestyle stroke, I was pretty consistently around 23-24 strokes per length. With some adjustments to my mechanics, I was able to get to 19-20 strokes per length today. In fact, when I was really trying, I believe I actually got down to 16 or so a couple times - but in those cases I was using my shoulders for extra propulsion. It was not an effort that I could sustain for any length of time. However, it is good to know where my boundaries are.

There was actually quite a bit that I had to keep in mind, which sometimes made it hard to keep track of strokes. I'd be swimming along and realize that I wasn't balanced properly, or that my roll was especially sloppy on one side, or that once in a while I'd start my pull a little early.

In other words, while I've had a peek into the type of form I need to work on, the motions and timing are not second nature yet. That is my focus for the near future - to become more accustomed to all that these new mechanics introduce.

As happy as I was with having confirmation that I'm now at least on the right track, it definately took some effort. The stamina I had with my old stroke has not transferred, so I often did 50 yds or 100 yds and then took a minute or so break. However, the idea with Total Immersion is that form is most important - endurance and speed will come in time.

So, here is a list of things that I need to work on in order to tighten up this new form:
1) More consistent roll. I found that I often rolled better onto my left side than onto my right (due to breathing).
2) Bilateral breathing. I didn't touch this at all today, but I need to get working on it sooner rather than later.
3) Head position to swim downhill and achieve better floating balance. I tend to look ahead a bit more than I should. This keeps the spine from being straight, and ends up dipping my hips and ultimately my legs into the water. That is not balanced, and that is bad because it creates a lot of drag. By submerging my head, I definately noticed that my legs were more prone to being more horizontal.
4) Kick. I should try and achieve a two beat kick, where my left foot kicks when my right arm goes into the water, and vice versa.