Trying to get into swimming. As a kid my parents didn't have the means so I've always struggled with it. I've had 2 weeks of pretty consistent practice. Trying to get better at the front crawl for now because that's the stroke that seems most rewarding to me.
I can usually approach exercises with some pretty intuitive attention to my form and a few simple rules-of-thumb ("move the weight on the shortest path," "use the shortest lever arm") but swimming is weird because ...
moving through water involves lots of counter-intuitive dynamics. Like at some level I figure that I'm gliding inside a buoyant zone just below the water, and my "propulsion" is made by reaching out and grabbing water in front of me and then shoving it below and behind me. But there's lots of little complications from this that I don't yet have a vocabulary to appreciate.
@cosmiccitizen Also learn to turn. There's water going up your nose. Reverse the pressure because you took a breath recently.
@tootkoTootarov Thank you very much. I'm ashamed to say I'm stymied by the meaning of "finding mu by feathering." I apologize for the loss of mystique I have just incurred.
My sense is that you're talking about finding traction ("mu," as in friction) through lil' subtleties in my gesture ("feathering")
@cosmiccitizen That's it. The technique a coach teaches you gets you closer to perfect than you were, but swimming is not all about the energy you expend, and it isn't all about how you manage the energy, but it is about both of those factors and others 😀
@cosmiccitizen Reach as far as you can in front of you and stick your thumb in the water with the rest of your hand following like a knife. It's really finding mu by feathering after that and techniques are prescriptive. And then do it again. Turn your mouth above the surface of the water now and again to take a breath. Don't wear baggy swim shorts.