Maho Open Water 2013 Day 3

So today we started at 7:00 AM with a full group swim. We covered roughly two miles. The water was a good temperature, the sun was rising...we saw a rainbow over one of the islands. On the way back I saw a turtle come up for air. I wanted to tell it to keep it's head down to breathe but I'm not sure the turtle would appreciate human swim humor. And maybe he was sighting. ;)
Almost all of us went to the camp restaurant for breakfast. It was a great chance to visit with new and old friends and I enjoyed it immensely. We were all ready for a good meal. Alan, in the meantime, continued work on his scuba certification. (Tonight we are both virtuously tired.)
After taking some photos of the beach I figured I could use some down time and headed back for lunch at the top of the hill in our Harmony Studio. Plus the down time gives your mind and body a little time to process.
The afternoon work and practice time was spent focusing on the 2 beat kick. And from that we worked into the X cross body connection and how that kick/rotation makes the arm enter--so you don't even stab and entry. The motion, your swim power train, makes the hand/arm/shoulder entry inevitable. But boy, the time and work it takes to get to the point of understanding it somewhat...well, I've had glimpses, but I feel like--I really do have a new level od understanding in my bones. Dave said he doesn't teach kids about pulling or pushing but gets them set up so that the propulsion just happens.
I felt a bit tired putting the extra umph into my stroke. Ah...but no hyper-extension of arms! Full length through knuckles...a feel, again.  I'm not used to it so maybe I'm overdoing the kick at the moment. Dave has lots of power and it looks fast and easy. But as he said, do you think Shinji (Takeuchi) learned an easy 2 beat kick without doing the over-emphasized version?
And we talked about elbow position and opening the arm-pit into the back muscles...again that power point of entry and hold/push and inevitable follow-through, vs. lifting out...watching someone illustrating over days makes it much clearer than my words. You hear Terry--you hear your TI instructor--you watch videos--you use focal points--you find feedback to judge what you are doing--you practice--you integrate--you think you have it...do you? What do you feel? What is tangible feedback? What are your goals? How do you continue to grow and improve? Just--the stuff that makes life and learning and sharing in others' life and learning so