I was swimming laps yesterday and I overheard the swim coach tell the high school swim team that they should be swimming flat with no rotation of the hips. He told them that at no point they should not be kicking on their sides and that swimming flat decreases drag.
I've had one other person tell me the same thing when I first started swimming and I ended up with severe shoulder (rotator cuff) pain. It wasn't until I learned how to rotate from side to side that the pain resolved.
I was going to lap swim last night which happened to fall directly after the high school girls practice got done. They are in their final two weeks leading into the State meet. Well, the coach was trying to tell the girls that after their flip turn the need to get as quickly as they can to their stomachs to begin dolphining off the walls because it's much faster. The few girls he was talking to were all confused and a few were telling him that isn't really correct, that she comes off the wall and as she's coming off the wall "on her side" she is dolphining until she is almost ready to break out, then comes horizontal. He said no..., they said yes..., etc. etc. After overhearing this I said that I do the same thing (that the girls were saying) as coming off the turn start dolphining while on my side and then rotating toward my stomach to break out.
He wasn't convinced and I had to get in to show him. So I did, afterward the girls said "See, he does it too!!"
The coach didn't know what to say, and I just started swimming. Funny though. :)
A lot of high school (and even some college) coaches are converted (pick any sport) coaches and have little formal swimming training.
My high school coach was a good example of that. At the final meet of my senior year, we beat our rivals; something we had not been able to do the previous two years. So, we threw our coach into the pool during the celebration- and found out our coach didn't know how to swim! :worms: She panicked and burst into tears as she clawed her way to the edge of the pool. We had no idea she was a gym teacher who got stuck with the swim team when nobody else wanted it. (No wonder I never learned strokes from her; I learned by watching the other breaststroker in my lane!)
I was swimming laps yesterday and I overheard the swim coach tell the high school swim team that they should be swimming flat with no rotation of the hips. He told them that at no point they should not be kicking on their sides and that swimming flat decreases drag.
I've had one other person tell me the same thing when I first started swimming and I ended up with severe shoulder (rotator cuff) pain. It wasn't until I learned how to rotate from side to side that the pain resolved.
unless he was talking about fly/*** or idk....you should ALWAYS be rotating your hips/body during the freestyle and backstroke stroke cycle.
unless he was talking about fly/*** or idk....you should ALWAYS be rotating your hips/body during the freestyle and backstroke stroke cycle.
No, this was a freestyle practice they'd just completed. That's why was wondering why he said that.:confused:
I'm sorry, Elaine, but that's hilarious.
No "sorry" needed! The more time that passes, the funnier it gets! :D (Apologies to Coach Carol who just may be in a mental institution, due to the trauma of it all... :afraid:)
Not necessarily. Many sprinters tend to keep a flatter position on the water in order to generate a higher stroke rate.
Bernard 50m free underwater 0.25 speed - YouTube
Alexander Popov Freestyle Stroke Technique - YouTube
Interesting you say that. That would make sense to me, as I have a difficult time getting a high stroke rate when rotating a lot. But a recent article I read on Thorpe's new style being coached by Touretski for 50 and 100M sprints was saying that Touretski wanted Thorpe to rotate more. I guess there is more power (or less drag?).
Speaking of Thorpe, a less than stellar comeback today, but he didn't really swim a freestyle race to the best of my knowledge, just an IM. He will do the fly interestingly enough also.
Keep in mind that Thorpe hasn't raced since 2006. He only officially started his comeback 9 months ago. 9 months of training won't erase 4 1/2 years of not training.
I think too many people are being too hard on him for a 100 im preformance that was his first race in a meet in years.
Didn't see the race, but I'd bet that his "lackluster" performance still beats the snot out of my best effort…life's not fair :cry:boo hoo hoo…
