Floating Foundations
Learning to swim is all in the basics. The less you do in water, the easier it is to change your reaction to it, especially at the learning st...
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Clock Sucker!
Calling time on chasing the red needle... Last Saturday I had a terrible swim. I hadn't tested myself against the clock for a while. ...
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Three Strokes and You’re Out
Enjoying small achievements and an afternoon nap... When we get a new skill for the first time, we may be greedy to repeat the experience. Be...
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Knowing Your S**t Or Knowing You’re S**t
How Self Aware Are You? For my birthday today, I got a mug with this on: GRAMMAR: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KNOWING YOUR SHIT AND KNOWIN...
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Being vertical, for a change
If we're not too busy getting from one end of the pool to the other, it's good to practise staying vertical and in the same place. Since w...
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Posture And Alignment Or Awareness And Prevention?
Ian isn't interested in 'strengthening the core'. People who don't know very much about the Alexander Technique tend to think it's all about pos...
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When Movements Muddy The Water – And Gliding Makes It Clear
Some people are too hungry to improve their strokes so they can swim lengths for fitness, or do a triathlon. Not Mary and Brendan, who came from...
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Fish Fingers? Get Your Hands On A Dog And Improve Your Stroke
F.M. Alexander said that if we chase tension round the body, it ends up in our hands and wrists. This is true in swimming. In the Alexander ...
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To the Wall – What’s Your Approach?
Because the wall in a swimming pool becomes a destination, it's symbolic for people learning to swim. How we approach the wall says a lot about our...
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Sing When You’re Winning – and always in the first lesson
When learners first attempt to breathe out into water, nervous tension gets in the way. But relaxation and enjoyment are more easily experienced th...
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