Balance is Profound!
Balance is the most crucial element of efficient swimming. In freestyle swimming, balance has two components:
1) Fore-aft balance (head-to-toe).
2) Rotational balance (side-to-side).
Fore-aft balance is continuous and constant. Regardless of where you are in the stroke or breath cycle, your body is (ideally) horizontal in the water so that only your head and shoulders comprise the leading surface. As you move forward, the rest of your body remains in the shadow of this leading surface – creating a streamlined hydrodynamic body.
Rotational balance is dynamic. By rotating from side to side, you shift your body’s weight forward in the water. You use gravity as the primary force for propulsion.
When you feel balanced in the water, you can swim as slow as you want! That may sound ludicrous to a competitive swimmer. However, the novice expends tremendous energy moving around in the water – disturbing the water – as he/she strives to feel balanced. Without balance, every other element of swimming is formidable: Breathing is a scary proposition; streamlining is inconceivable and propulsion is a struggle of sheer will and determination to survive to the other side.
A swimmer who is comfortably balanced can relax and choose a speed and a breathing rhythm that are sustainable for a chosen distance. This ability to choose any speed empowers the athlete with endurance. This is one of the most empowering and exhilarating experiences in swimming.
On land or in the water, the most efficient way to move forward is to transform the vertical pull of gravity into horizontal movement. In physics, this 90-degree transformation of energy is known as precession. Precession is what enables a moon to orbit around a planet.
Want to run a marathon? No problem! Just keeping falling forward for 42 kilometers - without tipping over! (This is a function of maintaining a tilted head-to-toe balance. The more you tilt forward – from your ankles, not your hips - the faster you can go.) Running can be experienced as a series of short “orbits”. If you keep your touch-and-go-landings (footstrikes) very brief, you stay in the air, with minimal friction. To effectively transform the pull of gravity by 90 degrees (into horizontal movement) you must maintain both consistent and dynamic balance. (We could compare/contrast the functions of fore-aft and rotational balance in running versus swimming at length, but not now.)
In swimming – indeed in every area of life - without balance, it is nearly impossible to relax and feel at ease or to navigate and move with any predictability. Recall a time when you slipped and fell. As you lost your balance, you probably experienced a moment of panic and responded by tensing your body. This feeling of panic and tension is just as true when we lose emotional or mental balance as it is when we lose physical balance.
Balance is essential to every human being’s sense of well-being. It is the foundation of security and comfort.
In our day-to-day lives, each of us expends 90% of our neurological energy just to maintain balance – to maintain a harmonious relationship with gravity. Despite this tremendous investment, once we get past the toddler stage of walking, and the training wheel stage of bicycling, we devote very little of our focused awareness to studying our relationship with gravity. That is, until we commit to a mindful practice like efficient swimming or running, yoga, T’ai Chi, gymnastics or dance. Such practices can lead to a lifelong refinement of our relationship with gravity. The possibilities are infinite! To view a video of extraordinary balance on a bicycle click here.
Your relationship with gravity is the most enduring and consistent physical relationship in your life. It begins at the moment of your conception and continues until your death. It permeates every molecule, every atom of your being. Buckminster Fuller called gravity “the physical manifestation of love”. (Perhaps there is some revealing truth to the expression “falling in love”.) Gravity is truly our source of orientation.
In a recent blog, Terry Laughlin asked, “Who is your Master?” With great certainty, I responded, “My Master is Gravity. She has been with me, informing me, orienting me, since my conception.”
A conscious study and enduring practice of orientation with gravity (like efficient swimming, running or T’ai Chi) is a study of proprioception. With clear and pure intent, the benefits of such a study are profound for your well-being - far beyond improving your athletic performance. A strong and abiding sense of physical balance strengthens mental, emotional and spiritual balance as well. This is truly a path with promise! As my friend John Savino says, “Swim long and prosper!”
Shane Eversfield is a Total Immersion Master Coach, author of “Zendurance, A Spiritual Fitness Guide for Endurance Athletes”, and producer of the DVD “T’ai Chi for Athletes”. He is also a contributing editor to Hammer Nutrition Endurance News. Contact him here or on Facebook.
