#57: Test your swim alignment in the pool, eyes closed

I have never been good at sighting. And I certainly have always had an asymmetrical swim stroke due to years of bad habits I couldn’t shake.

So years ago, when I was first learning to swim the crawl, my swim coach at the time had me do a simple test to see if I had a left or right bias.

He had me try to swim a lap with my eyes closed. I couldn’t even make it halfway down the pool without hitting the side. We did this a few times and realized I had a pretty severe right-bias.

And even though I knew I couldn’t fix this before my upcoming race, simply having that knowledge was useful. Being aware of my natural tendency to arc to the right meant that I could look out for that drift during my race.

So even if you’re a great swimmer, I suggest doing this little test. It may be revealing.

Just don’t do it alone or you may hit the wall.

Or, you can try this legal hack – use the OnCourse goggles that will show your red, yellow, or green LEDs depending if you are on the course or not.

Check out this video for a quick intro: