When I hopped into my lane Jackie told me there would be two others joining us today. Hmmmm not sure how I feel about that. In the end only one other turned up. A (I'm guessing) 30 something female. It was her first class but she was comfortable putting her face in the water and had done some kickboarding so she was brought upto where I am upto pretty quickly. But, back to me. :)
The lesson started off with 2 laps of kicking boarding. I must have been powering down because Jackie asked if I had been practising - answer: yes. Next lap I practised breathing to the side while on the kick board. I was able to do this a few times in a row. Then we discussed adding in the arms while still on the kick board.
The instructions went something like this:
- because you are right handed we will only breathe to the right side
- when your right arm reaches your right ear have your head turned to the right side and breathe in
- get your face in the water by the time your right hand comes back to the kick board
- do a cycle with your left hand while your face is in the water
- bring your head up and turn it to the side when your right hand leaves the kick board
- and begin again
- oh and don't forget to kick!
Ok I thought, I'm just going to have to try this my own way, which I did. I have no idea what this looked like on the outside (pretty sloppy I a suspect but there will be time to refine technique later :) ) however I managed to do about 4 cycles of this and get half way down the pool before I stopped. While there was a bit of water coming into my mouth and nose during this process it didn't feel too bad. I had a tendency to look up and to the side when I came up for air so I need to practise just looking to the side. And yes I need to remember to kick!
When the lesson ended Jackie said we could use the lane a little longer if we wanted to. I practised the side breathing incorporating the arms some more but was getting out of breath quickly so called it a day. I really think an increase in overall fitness and lung capacity is going to help.
Now that I have experienced a "non-private" lesson I am still of the opinion that one on one at this stage is best - 2 in a class would be second best but I can't imagine what it would be like with more than 2 to a class! The lane seemed crowded with the 3 of us in there, there was a couple of near collisons between the other learner and I and there was waiting time at the end of each lap so there was a good distance between the person kicking ahead and behind - this was so we didn't kick in each others faces as much as anything. There was of course down time and waiting time and less personal attention and one person will always be sped up or slowed down. For example in this case, although the other learner could kick board she couldn't yet do a full lap so she was stopping more regularly both with and without the arms. Had she been in a one on one class I suspect she would have strengthened her kicking skills before moving on to other things.
At this stage I also think that having other people in the class puts everybody at risk of comparing abilities and progress - not good at all! and something I tried really hard not to do because I think it could affect one's enthusiasm and confidence.
The other tiny step of progress today was I opened my goggled eyes under water! Twas cooool. :)
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