I was just reading Charles Sterling’s blog about him trying underwater hockey, and it reminded me that I wanted to post about the joys of taking the sport back up. After not playing the game for ~3 years I’ve started playing again. The major problems with this I lost fitness, but I can remember what I used to be able of doing. So you’re on the bottom of the pool, trying to swim around somebody (who you later find out is turning 60 in December) and decide to turn on the turbo leg, but they cramp instead.
My legs have never been my best asset in the swimming pool, when I swim most of the propulsion is from the arms, but when your playing hockey with great big flippers on, it’s all about legs. So I’ve got quite use to having my legs cramp when at the bottom of a pool. The best solution is to “not panic”, and then followed by given in to death. Once you relax to the fact your going to die, I often find your legs relax enough that your can float to the surface to breath, thus actually avoiding the pre accepted fate. Then you need to get out of the pool and stretch.
In the case of a few weeks ago I was on the side of the pool lying on my back. Both my calf’s where in the cramped but not stinging state, but each time I tried sit up, they would explode in pain. It took about ten minutes before could get up to stretch. But besides that I love underwater hockey.