Session 7 - Learning the up-sweep arm movement

Here is my plan and reflection from practice session seven.
Yay! I am finally getting the hang of the up-sweep arm movement for butterfly, defiantly not a skill that you learn over night!
This will be my final session on the up-sweep and next session I will be focusing on another aspect.
This session was planned with reference to Luebbers, M (2013).

Design of session:    

1.  Start with the hands at the entry position.

2.  Sweep them down and in under your chest, almost touching your thumbs and index fingers together as your hands reach mid-chest.

3.  Push them back toward your feet and apart, like you are trying to push the water from the middle of your chest over and down each leg.

4.  As hands and arms reach an almost full extension as they move past your waist, throw your hands up (out of water) and out to the side, throw hard enough that arms almost automatically swing over the surface of the water toward the entry position.

This session will follow Adam's closed-loop theory (Adams, 1971), which has 2 key neural components: a memory trace, which selects and initiates an appropriate response; and a perceptual trace, which acts as a record of the movement preformed over many practices. During and after an attempt of the movement, feedback and knowledge of results enables the performer to compare the movement with the perceptual trace. This approach will result in improvement of the skill, as I will be evaluating and comparing the movement pattern, then practising a certain aspect to result in improvement of this aspect. 

References informing design:

Luebbers, M. (2013). How to swim butterfly. Retrieved from http://www.swimming.about.com/od/breastandfly/qt/how-to-swim-butterfly.htm

Adams, J. (1971). Closed loop theory. Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/closed-loop-theory

    

Statistics/ detailed information collected: 

30 up-sweep butterfly movements were preformed.

3 lengths of butterfly without stopping were preformed (in total for the whole training session not in a row).

More sessions/practice is needed to get my kick and arms working in time with one another.

1 hour practice session.

Reflection: 

Yay!! I finally feel like I am making progress with the butterfly stroke, and can see light at the end of the tunnel. Today was the first time I could do the arms, breathing an kick all at the same time. I could do a whole length without stopping, just got to work on timing now and practice, practice, practice! Adam's closed-loop theory (Adams, 1971) was used really well in this session as it enabled me to build on my skills learnt from previous sessions. Then receive feedback and build on the skill as a whole to improve it. 

     

Session 6 - Learning the up-sweep arm movement

Here is my plan and reflection from practice session number 6!
This up-sweep arm movement is taking me sometime to learn, there will defiantly be another session to follow on this same movement. I am really struggling with getting my kick and arm movement correct at the same time and in time with each other.
This session was planned with reference to Luebbers, M (2013).

Design of session:  

1. Start with the hands at the entry position.

2. Sweep them down and in under your chest, almost touching your thumbs and index fingers together as your hands reach mid-chest.

3. Push them back toward your feet and apart, like you are trying to push the water from the middle of your chest over and down each leg.

4. As hands and arms reach an almost full extension as they move past your waist, throw your hands up (out of water) and out to the side, throw hard enough that arms almost automatically swing over the surface of the water toward the entry position.

This session will follow the Schema theory (Schmidt, 1975), which states that as we learn a new motor skill, we develop a rule that shows the relationship between movement outcomes and things such as out intended goal, the conditions of the performance setting, and the details of the motor programme created to control the movement. I will also focus on the four stages of competence theory (Burch, N . 1970), so I can see if I am progressing through the four stages.

References informing design:  

Luebbers, M.(2013). How to swim butterfly. Retrieved from http://www.swimming.about.com/od/breastandfly/qt/how-to-swim-butterfly.htm

Schmidt, R.(2013). Understanding how we learn motor skills. Retrieved from http://www.humankinetics.com

Burch, N.(1970). Four stages of competence. Retrieved from http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/four_stages_of_competence

    

Statistics/ detailed information collected:  

25 up-sweep butterfly movements were preformed. 

5 were the correct technique.

20 were the incorrect technique. Where I didn't move my arms/hands through the keyhole movement pattern correctly. Or I didn't pull my hands back through the water hard/ fast enough to make my arms sweep over and lift my head to breath.

45 minute practice session. 

Reflection:  

The Schema theory (Schmidt, 1975) really was vivid in this training session. As I still find doing the up-sweep butterfly arms really hard and I had alot of failures compared to success. It was really important to make a rule of the relationship between movement and the outcome goal. My rule was only to do two butterfly kicks to one stroke, and the arm movement needs to be slow, forceful and relaxed. Looking at the four stages of competence theory (Burch, N. 1970) I believe I am still at the second stage (conscious incompetence). I am going to do another session on this same movement.

Session 5 - Learning the up-sweep movement

Here is my plan and reflection from session number 5!
This session I focused on learning the up-sweep movement of butterfly arms, with reference to Luebbers, M (2013).  Geez this is defiantly going to take some practice!

Design of session: 

1. Start with the hands at the entry position.

2. Sweep them down and in under your chest, almost touching your thumbs and index fingers together as your hands reach mid-chest.

3. Push them back toward your feet and apart, like you are trying to push the water from the middle of your chest over and down each leg.

4. As hand and arms reach an almost full extension as they move past your waist, throw your hands up (out of water) and out to the side, throw hard enough that arms almost automatically swing over the surface of water towards the entry position. 

This session will follow the four stages of competence theory (Burch, N. 1970), as this movement pattern of butterfly will take more than one session. Throughout the couple of sessions I will have on the up-sweep butterfly arm movement I will be able to move through the four different stages. This approach will encourage motivation as I will be able to see movement through the different stages, which also means improvement and I am getting closer and closer to mastering the skill! 

References informing design: 

Burch, N. (1970). Four stages of competence. Retrieved from http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/four_stages_of_competence

Luebbers, M. (2013). How to swim butterfly. Retrieved from http://www.swimming.about.com/od/breastandfly/qt/how-to-swim-butterfly.htm

      

Statistics/ detailed information collected:  

20 up-sweep butterfly arm movements were preformed.

4 were the correct technique.

16 were the incorrect technique. Where my arms didn't go all the way back, instead they came out of the water at the side of my body. Or I didn't get my arms out of the water enough to be able to enter the water again with correct technique. 

1 hour practice session.

Reflection: 

The four stages of competence theory (Burch, N. 1970) which this session was outlined by. I feel that I am at the second stage of this theory, which is the 'conscious incompetence' stage. This means that I recognise the value of the new skill but I do not know how to do the skill correctly yet. Making mistakes at this stage is vital to the learning process. Another session or two will be needed on this same movement, so I can learn the skill and move through the other two stages. Fitts and Posner (1967) have identified three stages of learning; cognitive stage, associative stage and autonomous stage. For this part of the butterfly stroke (up-sweep) I believe I am at the associative stage. 

Video of up-sweep butterfly movement: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sfXeBgDcpQ

  

   

Session 4 - Entry and catch of butterfly arms again!

Here is my plan and reflection from practice session four.

This session follows the same design as session three as I needed more work on this aspect! Think I am getting close to mastering the entry and catch of butterfly arms now, complicated I tell you. Again the design of this session is put together with reference to Dudley, D.(2007).

Design of session: 

1. Make sure hands enter the water with thumb and first finger first, in line with shoulders.

2. When hands enter water make sure elbows are slightly bent.

3. When hands have fully entered the water straighten elbows and your hands will then travel slightly outwards.

4. From entry position your arms will then extend forwards, downwards and a little outwards this is where the point of catch is found.

5. The catch should occur outside your shoulder width.

6. The movement will change to downwards as well as backwards.

7. The elbows are also kept in a high position at this point as the pull begins.

This session will follow a extrinsic feedback design (Franklin,W. 1996) in which the focus is to receive ongoing feedback throughout the session from an outside source. This approach will allow things to be picked up from the entry and catch which needs improved. Therefore resulting in gaining a better overall movement of the entry and catch of butterfly.

References informing design:    

Dudley,D. (2007). Swimming the butterfly step by step guide. Retrieved from http://www.swimming-techniques-learn.com/swimming-the-butterfly.html

Franklin,W. (1996). Coaching and feedback. Retrieved from http://www.diving.about.com/od/coaching/qt/feedback-1.htm

Statistics/ detailed information collected: 

30 entry and catch of butterfly arms movement were preformed. 

20 were the correct technique. 

10 were incorrect. Where I either was doing to many dolphin kicks for the catch movement of the arms, or both arms were not in time with each other.

1 hour practice session. 

Reflection: 

I feel having another session on the entry and catch of butterfly arms really helped. As I knew what the movement pattern already was, it was just about concentrating really hard on getting the kick movement and arm movement correct and working in with each other. Using an extrinsic feedback design (Franklin, W. 1996) was a real success in learning the movement. As this allowed someone other than myself to see what was happening and how it could be improved. As relying on feedback from yourself you don't often pick up many things that need improvement which others can see really easy.

Session 3 - Entry and catch of butterfly arms

Here is my plan and reflection from practice session 3.

The first movement to learn of the butterfly arms is the entry and catch. The butterfly arms is what takes a lot of time to learn how to do correctly. As it is very complex little movements which have to be done all at a specific time to make the butterfly stroke a success. The design of my session is put together with reference to Dudley, D. (2007).  

Design of session: 

1. Make sure hands enter the water with thumb and first finger first, in line with shoulders.

2. When hands enter the water make sure elbows are slightly bent.

3. When hands have fully entered the water straighten elbows and your hands will then travel slightly outwards.

4. From entry position your arms will extend forwards, downwards and a little outwards this is where the point of the catch is found.

5. The catch should occur outside your shoulder width.

6. The movement will change to downwards as well as backwards. 

7. The elbows are also kept in a high position at this point as the pull begins.

This session will follow a sequential learning design (Sun, R and Giles, L. 2001) in which the focus is to learn the movement in steps, which they occur in when the whole movement is preformed. This approach will lead to learning the whole butterfly arm movement a lot easier as the movement as a whole is very complex. 

References informing design:  

Dudley, D. (2007). Swimming the butterfly step by step guide. Retrieved from http://www.swimming-techniques-learn.com/swimming-the-butterfly.html

Sun, R and Giles L. (2001). Sequence learning: From recognition and prediction to sequential decision making. pp 243- 285. Sport biomechanics. 

Statistics/ detailed information collected:

- 30 entry and catch of butterfly arms were preformed.

- 7 were the correct technique.

- 23 were incorrect. Where I either did not do the keyhole movement pattern for the catch correctly, or I was doing far to many dolphin kicks for the timespan of the entry and catch movement. 

- Another session is needed with the same session design to be able to make the movement become more automatic and smooth not slow and jerky movements.

- 1 hour practice session.

Reflection: 

Dudley, D. (2007) didn't mention anything about the timing of the dolphin kick while learning the entry and catch of butterfly arms. In my session a swimming coach came up to me and told me I should only be doing 2 dolphin kicks for the entry and catch movement of the arms. He told me to focus on doing the dolphin kick with freestyle arms, this allowing me to concentrate on only doing 2 dolphin kick movements per a stroke. This would then allow me to develop the strong hip movement which is needed in the butterfly stroke, also when I started learning all the arm movements my timing and movement would be correct with the dolphin kick, making it a lot easier to just concentrate on the arm movement.

Video of entry and catch of butterfly arms: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luuaVtrglrA&feature=youtu.be

    

    

   

Session 2 - Learning the dolphin kick and body undulation

Here is my plan and reflection from practice session 2:)

Learning the dolphin kick and body undulation is one of the easier steps to learning the butterfly stroke, but it is one of the main components to master as it has a huge effect on the success of the stroke. The design of my session is put together with reference to Keller, C. (2013).

Design of the session:

1. Lie flat on your stomach in the water, head in line with the body and the face looking down.

2. The legs and feet are kept together, the toes point away from the body towards the pool end.

3. Press chest down in the water, then release it.

4. As release the chest, press the hips down synchronously, then release them.

5. As you release the hips, you start again to press chest down, and so on.

6. When the hips go down, the legs should simply follow along, with knees slightly bent.

7. When hips go up, the legs again follow along, the knees extend and at this moment you can add some force and execute the kick.

This session will follow a blocked repetition design (Schmidt, R.A.1991) in which the focus is to repeat the body undulation and dolphin kick drill as many times as possible. This approach will lead to rapid improvement at the time of the session, but may not be the best outcome for long term improvement in the skill. 

References informing design:  

Keller, C.(2013). Learn the dolphin kick and body undulation in the butterfly stroke. Retrieved from http://www.enjoy-swimming.com/dolphin-kick.html

Schmidt, R.,A.(1991). Organizing and scheduling practice. Motor learning and performance: from principles to practice. Chapter 9. Human Kinetics.

Statistics/ detailed information collected: 

30 body undulation/ dolphin kick were done.

25 were the correct technique. 

5 were the incorrect technique, were I was moving my arms as well and not streamlining .

Correct timing of adding the force to the kick needs more practice.

1 hour practice session.

Reflection:  

Keller, C. (2013) mentioned that as the knees extend you should add force and execute the kick. I found this very hard to do in this practice session as I was concentrating on getting the correct technique of the body undulation and dolphin kick, not focusing on adding force and power to the kick. I feel that once I am confident and have mastered the dolphin kick it will be a lot easier to add power to the kick.

The blocked repetition design mentioned by Schmidt (1991) was really well implemented into this session. As it allowed me to just focus on the one aspect of the butterfly stroke which lead to great progress in mastering this aspect of the skill.

Video of dolphin kick and body undulation, practice session two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXPJnwCstno&feature=youtu.be

      

Practice session 1 - diving

Here is my plan and reflection from practice session 1:)

As in a race scenario diving is a key component, for my first practice session I decided to focus on my dive! The design of the session is put together with reference to Mansur, R. (2009). 

Design of session: 

1.Head tucked in as close to knees as possible, hips as high as possible, lift them up and try not to push back.

2. Curl toes over the edge of the block and bend your knees, arms should be in a 'hands on' position. Stretch your arms down point fingers to the floor and put your palms on the front of the starting block.

3. Push off with as much power as possible. Press hard with the palms of hands and throw arms forward. Look up slightly as you push away to get your body to follow your head.

4. As soon as feet leave starting block, tuck your head in, push hips up, streamline body so that you go into water head first. 

5. As approach the water, imagine you are trying to slide through a hole without making any splash! As you go in, let hands and head lift slightly. Hold ' hands on' streamlined position until close to the surface.

This session will follow a stages of learning design (Fitts and Posner, 1967). The focus is to go through the three different stages (cognitive or verbal, associative, and autonomous) until each stage is mastered and the skill becomes automatic. 

References informing design:   

Mansur,R.(2009).How to power off the blocks in swimming. Retrieved from http://www.swimming.wonderhowto.com/how-to/power-off-blocks-swimming-257913/

Fitts and Posner.(1967).Learning process when acquiring motor skills. Retrieved from http://www.humankinetics.com

Statistics/ detailed information collected: 

30 dives were done.

20 dives were incorrect with legs bending and not streamlining.

10 dives were the correct technique.

Amount of 'splash' made when entering the water needs to be minimised, legs should follow through the same 'hole' the head enters the water through. 

1 hour practice session.

Reflection: 

Although Mansur, R (2009) mentioned that your hands shall be in the 'hands on' position, I found it much easier starting with my hands split on either side of my legs and starting from a sprint stance position. The stages of learning design (Fitts and Posner, 1967) which this session was followed by, was a really valuable learning tool in going through the three different stages. But with the time frame of the session the skill could not be mastered and become automatic.

Video of diving practice session 1!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NCD423ees8&feature=youtu.be

   

Introduction

Outline of the butterfly stroke in swimming:

The activity I have chosen for Motion Analysis and Skill Acquisition is.........

The butterfly stroke in swimming:  

My experience with the butterfly stroke in swimming is near zero. My sister was a competitive swimmer and represented her province to a top level, with one of her stronger strokes being butterfly. My desire to learn this new skill is related to the fact that I love swimming and being in the water. I have always wanted to be able to do the butterfly stroke since I saw my sister competing and saw how superior it looked to all the other strokes. My goal for this activity is to be able to do both the butterfly kick and arm movement confidentially, and also be able to do this stroke for a 50 meter race!   

Below is an initial outline of the skills required for the butterfly stroke, describing phases and skills involved. This is a dynamic description which will change as I progress through learning this skill.

Plan:

Complete at least one swim stroke practice session per week:

1. Blogging what I planned

2.What was actually done

3.Stats, data and video

4. Reflection on the outcomes of each session

Breakdown of phases and skills:

Phases                                                Skills/considerations

1.Diving from the starting blocks                        *Stance

                                                                         *Push off from the blocks

                                                                         *Follow through the dive

                                                                         *Glide of the dive

2.Body undulation                                             *Body position

                                                                         *Hip movement pattern

                                                                         *Timing

3.Dolphin kick                                                   *Kick technique

                                                                         *Leg position

                                                                         *Leg movement pattern

4.Arm catch                                                      *Arm movement technique

                                                                         *Body kinematics

                                                                         *Recovery position 

5.Breathing                                                        *Breathing timing

                                                                         *When to breathe