Arm recovery/stroke question

jazz hands i think you may be right about me pulling all the way through, im going to try to post the video of my 50 LCM freestyle within the next two days . thanks for all the help thus far though Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a sprinter, though I can fake it at times. I prefer mid-D events. So take whatever I say with a grain of salt. I agree with Jazz, I am not certain that "pulling all the way through" is conducive to top speed. My impression, possibly incorrect, is that most top sprinters are more focused on the front quadrant, where there is more power, than a good finish. They might sacrifice some DPS, hand exiting a little earlier, in order to get a higher stroke rate. If it's your quest (for what it's worth, I think it's a legitimate one), then one good way of increasing the rate is first to at least be aware of it. Two ways... Either you use a wetronome device which will give you your target stroke rate. You set it to 90SPM, it beeps 90 times per minute. http://www.wetronome.com/ The other way is to use some computer which will compute both stroke lengths and rate for you. In this case, the guizmo won't beep at all. Instead, it allows you to actually see what your rate was after a set. www.finisinc.com/.../swimsense.html I would suggest the Tempo Trainer before either of the above devices. One possible thing to try: -- get used to using the Tempo Trainer at a variety of stroke rates. Set for a variety of SRs and repeat until you are certain you have a good feel for the technique needed to achieve a given SR. -- do some experimenting. What SR results in the fastest times in sprint 25s? How sensitive is the time to SR? You maybe can find your "sweet spot" in this manner. Then condition yourself to be able to hold that SR over longer distances. Possibly as you get stronger or develop more lactate tolerance, your sweet spot might shift over time to a faster turnover. Good luck.

jazz hands i think you may be right about me pulling all the way through, im going to try to post the video of my 50 LCM freestyle within the next two days . thanks for all the help thus far though Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a sprinter, though I can fake it at times. I prefer mid-D events. So take whatever I say with a grain of salt. I agree with Jazz, I am not certain that "pulling all the way through" is conducive to top speed. My impression, possibly incorrect, is that most top sprinters are more focused on the front quadrant, where there is more power, than a good finish. They might sacrifice some DPS, hand exiting a little earlier, in order to get a higher stroke rate. If it's your quest (for what it's worth, I think it's a legitimate one), then one good way of increasing the rate is first to at least be aware of it. Two ways... Either you use a wetronome device which will give you your target stroke rate. You set it to 90SPM, it beeps 90 times per minute. http://www.wetronome.com/ The other way is to use some computer which will compute both stroke lengths and rate for you. In this case, the guizmo won't beep at all. Instead, it allows you to actually see what your rate was after a set. www.finisinc.com/.../swimsense.html I would suggest the Tempo Trainer before either of the above devices. One possible thing to try: -- get used to using the Tempo Trainer at a variety of stroke rates. Set for a variety of SRs and repeat until you are certain you have a good feel for the technique needed to achieve a given SR. -- do some experimenting. What SR results in the fastest times in sprint 25s? How sensitive is the time to SR? You maybe can find your "sweet spot" in this manner. Then condition yourself to be able to hold that SR over longer distances. Possibly as you get stronger or develop more lactate tolerance, your sweet spot might shift over time to a faster turnover. Good luck.