I love the way that different people experience things differently in the water. You can obviously feel the difference your head position makes! The great thing about this ‘experiment’ is that your experience will speak for itself rather than having to trust an ‘expert’.

You articulate it really well, Greg and I’m looking forward to hearing an update on your progress.

I’d also love to hear what other people feel when they try it.

That said, doing the TI drills has helped me master balance in the water. For us sinkers it is a skill that can be learned but it doesn’t come naturally to us like it does to some people.

Four sessions of TI drills has given me more confidence in the water that years of swimming lessons. Zooming up and down the pool, lap after lap of effortless drills is so enjoyable and relaxing that I could literally do it for hours. After my third session I climbed out of the pool and my muscles were aching a bit and I was breathing quite deeply. I had enjoyed myself so much and felt so relaxed that I didn’t even know that I had been working so hard!

So, what happens when I look forward as compared to looking down when I swim? My legs sink of course! It feels like I am literally swimming up hill, I start to pull harder to get my legs up and because I am working harder I breathe harder. I can exhaust myself in 25 metres to the point I have to stop. With my head down, my legs come up and I can swim with relaxed arms. I don’t feel like I am swimming uphill, I feel like I am swimming through the water. I haven’t mastered the stroke yet so I don’t know how far I can swim yet. I should know in a couple of weeks.

I particularly like the part where he is reflecting on his learnings and the the failure of his initial aggressive attempt. He asks the question:

“What kind of mindset do I require to successfully complete a task?”

There is no need to swim at 5000m altitude in glacial melt water to apply this wisdom. Your ‘task’ may be swimming a single length, completing an Ironman or crossing the English Channel.

What kind of mindset will serve you best?

A very inspiring individual!

Thought you might like to hear about his latest achievement – swimming at Mt Everest!

http://www.ted.com/talks/lewis_pugh_s_mind_shifting_mt_everest_swim.html

Best
Maggie

It’s a basic survival instinct that is inbuilt in all of us.

The other scenario is ‘hunting’ of the end of the pool. Keep it in your sights like prey and hunt it down with all your might. Again it’s a natural instinct to reach safety and stop working hard.

It feels strange and unnerving for most of us to allow the head to natural hang down in a neutral anatomical position while we are swimming.

Having coached Outside the Box, our open water swimming course, earlier in the year, I gained a huge amount of respect for all of our swimmers as they trusted their instincts and hung those heads. With no lines to follow they needed to rely on feeling their balance and position in the water only sighting occasionally to confirm they were on track.

Letting our head hang and allowing our bodies to lay in the water in the more natural human spine alignment is a crucial part of learning to let go and relax.

After all, when are we at our most relaxed?? At night, in complete darkness, with our eye closed, asleep, and laying down with spine and head neutral.

Although I finished at the rear of the field and nearly missed two cut-offs, and can safely say I enjoyed the swim and it was only the bike leg that really made life difficult once the cramps came. To keep composure and remember all the support everyone had provided meant too much to pack it in, so I was just so happy to hit the finish line – even though I got in trouble for making the kids wait up too late.

Cheers

Luke