My latest swimming vid, advice

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

Former Member — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:07:52 GMT

I agree with what others have said. Everything pretty much looks great but I think you could improve your kick by improving flexibility and allocating a little more more power/energy.

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

Former Member — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:39:40 GMT

Improving flexibility is a slow process and there is more than hope for you. There are a few exercises that you can do to improve your ankle flexibility. Go to youtube and use as many tips as you can find. I think most of the ideas will help you. I have a couple examples on youtube. Good luck to you !!! Coach T. More intense stretching? Funny I'm a very flexible guy outside my ankles. Can almost palm the floor bending down with locked knees, not far from the splits, etc. But man my ankle flexibility stinks. Is there hope?

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

taruky — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:01:54 GMT

I agree, those ankles look like they're hindering you a lot. More intense stretching? Funny I'm a very flexible guy outside my ankles. Can almost palm the floor bending down with locked knees, not far from the splits, etc. But man my ankle flexibility stinks. Is there hope?

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

swimshark — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 06:32:37 GMT

More intense stretching? Funny I'm a very flexible guy outside my ankles. Can almost palm the floor bending down with locked knees, not far from the splits, etc. But man my ankle flexibility stinks. Is there hope? I would think using the long fins and getting that up and down motion in your head and then taking off the fins and remembering the up and down flow that the ankles should do.

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

Former Member — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 15:18:59 GMT

I agree, those ankles look like they're hindering you a lot. Stiff ankles ?

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

swimshark — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:10:24 GMT

Thanks guys. I am really in a quagmire right now. I think I have mentioned how my coach is trying to get me to swim freestyle in a very different way than what I have read, seen in videos, or or been taught by other here. I have generally tried to fudge my way through by making a token effort to do a little of what he says so as not to offend him. My hope was that he would just let it go and work with what I am comfortable doing. I like his workouts and his help on other strokes has been really useful. He is also a guy who was a heck of a swimmer in his day, has decades of experience, and has coached many a great swimmer, including Tracy Caulkin. So I am a peon comparatively. But here is what he wants me to do (I've drawn and attached an illustration). He essentially wants me to press deep into the water and pull with my forearm horizontal while tying to touch my opposite hip. I don't know a lot, but I do know that modern swimmers do not do this for the most part, with a few exceptions. I think Alain Barnard might do something similar. I also am pretty sure from trying that today that my shoulder will blow if I do a lot of that. I tried to gently tell him that it didn't feel right and maybe there is some compromise or some part of that I can incorporate into my current stroke. I also pointed out that the wider pull (not crossing the midline and higher elbow) works for a lot of olympians so maybe there is more than one way to skin the cat. He felt that maybe they were taught that way but he didn't agree with it and they might be faster doing it his way. I think he was a little offended that I didn't trust his judgement on this. I really don't know what to do, it has gotten to the point where I'm hoping he doesn't pay attention to me when I swim freestyle. I'm well aware that I have a lot more work to do to become a better competitive swimmer, I have no delusions about that. But am I wrong in thinking I should keep working on the more modern high elbow catch and pull (no crossing the middle)? Your coach also tried to get me to do the same stroke. It lasted about 2 weeks before my shoulder was so painful that I told him I had to change it back. I understand that he knows more about swimming than we do but we know more about how our bodies will react with changes. Tell him your shoulders just won't last with the change in stroke. I think what you have now works for you and you are improving a lot!

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

taruky — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:35:25 GMT

did the coach draw that picture? Or is that your interpretation? Because that just looks wrong on so many levels. "He essentially wants me to press deep into the water and pull with my forearm horizontal while tying to touch my opposite hip." The first two pieces - press the water, pull with the forearm, I've heard tons. As for the hip, what I get out of that is he wants you to rotate more throughout your stroke so that when you finish you aren't as flat in the water (ie. it's not about bringing your hand to your opposite hip (crossing over the middle line), but bringing your opposite hip to your hand). When I watched your video, you did seem a little flat. Maybe that's what he's getting at? Because when you finish the stroke on the left (hand nearing the hips), you should already be stretching out on your right (pushing your right hip down) which sort of feels like bringing your right hip and your left hand together - although they don't actually touch! Whether that's better than what you are doing - I'm a big believer in people doing what works for them. Some people find swimming flatter faster and easier on the shoulders, some people don't. I drew the picture but is exactly what he told me and actually what he drew for me on his board. He was also clear about crossing the midline.

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

Former Member — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:25:38 GMT

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

Former Member — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:20:27 GMT

did the coach draw that picture? Or is that your interpretation? Because that just looks wrong on so many levels. "He essentially wants me to press deep into the water and pull with my forearm horizontal while tying to touch my opposite hip." The first two pieces - press the water, pull with the forearm, I've heard tons. As for the hip, what I get out of that is that he wants you to rotate more throughout your stroke so that when you finish you aren't as flat in the water (ie. it's not about bringing your hand to your opposite hip (crossing over the middle line), but bringing your opposite hip to your hand). When I watched your video, you did seem flat. Maybe that's what he's getting at? Because when you finish the stroke on the left, you should already be stretching out on your right, which mean that your left hand and your right hip are both underwater and near each other. Whether that's better than what you are doing - I'm a big believer in people doing what works for them. Some people find swimming flat faster and easier on the shoulders, some people don't.

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

__steve__ — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 03:59:14 GMT

I'm not a coach, barely a swimmer, but after I compare your position to the worlds greatest (as seen attached), the only difference besides speed and reach is in pull and kick. Hell, your even more streamlined I included a image of another swimmer presenting perhaps what your coach might be implying.

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

taruky — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 04:27:51 GMT

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

__steve__ — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:03:29 GMT

You're path of swimming is through a small tube. I wish I could do that.

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

Former Member — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:59:45 GMT

Great Progress!!! I don't know a lot, but to me the later video looks right and the earlier one looks wrong.

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

swimshark — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:26:53 GMT

Here is my latest attempt to swim freestyle correctly, lol. I've really been doing a lot of experimenting lately with my catch and pull. One thing I am sure of is that my hips are higher than they used to be. I can tell because I don't see my thighs as much. Credit to Swimshark on that one as her advice to contract my abs, etc. really helped my balance. Swimming Nov 15 2011 - YouTube I'm glad I could help. We should try to get together again in a month or so. Watching you helps me, too. Your hips look higher. Keep it up!

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

taruky — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:35:12 GMT

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

knelson — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:18:08 GMT

For sure the number one thing that will help you improve at this point is improving your kick. Work on a six-beat and this will improve your body position.

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

taruky — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:56:21 GMT

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm happy to hear that the form looks better, gives me the motivation and patience to keep plugging away at it. I'll post a sprinting video soon.

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

Former Member — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:25:25 GMT

Marvellous progress - huge enviousness:cheerleader:

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

swimshark — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 07:52:28 GMT

From one who has seen you in person over the last year or so, I ca say your improvement is huge. I even commented to Cy about that in Sept while on deck. You should be proud of the improvements. Now to get you to a meet :bolt:

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

Former Member — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:18:09 GMT

Taruky: compare your horizontal position with, say, Lindsey Benko. Her hips and legs are pretty much horizontal in the water. Yours: not bad but up a little higher could make a huge difference. Mike

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

jaadams1 — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:20:41 GMT

It almost looks like two completely different swimmers from the January video to the October video. Just in stroke technique alone, a big improvement.

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

taruky — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:17:11 GMT

By the way, would you guys mind looking at my last vid from January and tell me if I'm heading in the right direction? Because my swimming fitness is better I don't know if my time improvements are due to better technique or not. Thanks. Tarik swimming Jan 23 2011 - YouTube

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

taruky — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:56:31 GMT

Taruky: compare your horizontal position with, say, Lindsey Benko. Her hips and legs are pretty much horizontal in the water. Yours: not bad but up a little higher could make a huge difference. Mike Yup, spot on. I've been trying to improve on that for a while but I think I concentrate so much on my catch and pull that I forget. If I had a better kick that body position might be to my advantage, but since my kick is relatively weak I'm better off more horizontal.

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

taruky — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 09:19:25 GMT

Looks like typical TI freestyle. My observation is that your hands (especially right one) go a bit too deep before you make the catch - that makes your pull shorter (I have the same problem because of lack in shoulder flexibility). Obviously if you compete this technique is good for 200+ distances only - not for sprinting. No I definitely don't sprint like that. That's my longer distance stroke and in a 200 I would put more umph into it. On longer distances I have been trying to time my catch initiation with my recovery hand getting to my ear. That's a recent adjustment I made actually based on KPN who recommends a pause before the catch. I'll post a sprint video soon where I definitely catch earlier. My catch depth is probably the influence of my coach. I will try to get the right arm higher, I've been working on that. Yeah I need to improve the ankle flexibility no doubt.

RE: My latest swimming vid, advice

Debugger — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 08:53:04 GMT