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.
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.
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
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!
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)?
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.
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.
