Shoulder to cheek in freestyle

RE: Shoulder to cheek in freestyle

taruky — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:21:32 GMT

I let my shoulder touch my ear on every stroke. Not my cheek you can get shoulder rash from your beard. Funny you should say that. For this very reason I now try to shave before I go swimming in the morning. I had these symmetric dark spots in both anterior deltoid areas and for the longest time I couldn't figure out why. I considered my backpack and stopped wearing it on my back when shirtless, but that didn't help. That never used to happen because my technique was different.

RE: Shoulder to cheek in freestyle

Former Member — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:13:33 GMT

I used to put vaseline on any part of the body that touched another part of the body. Put vaseline on rubspots from my swim suit also when swimming in the marathon races. The back of the neck creases as they would rub raw if I did not cover with vaseline.

RE: Shoulder to cheek in freestyle

Former Member — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:17:41 GMT

Getting the shoulder to the cheek seems a little too far but the shoulder should definitely get to the chin (or under the ear). It is important that you are not lifting the shoulder in a shrugging motion or moving your head to the shoulder. The rotation needs to come from the hips and the upper body will follow. This rotation allows you to get into a powerful position for the catch. All the best Mitchell

RE: Shoulder to cheek in freestyle

Former Member — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:07:21 GMT

I let my shoulder touch my ear on every stroke. Not my cheek you can get shoulder rash from your beard.

RE: Shoulder to cheek in freestyle

gdanner — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:52:14 GMT

I thought that this was what Thorpe and Hackett were doing and that there is a noticeable shoulder shrug. Err. Yeh, now that I think about it, I should clarify on that...when I say shrugged I mean the effort of bringing your shoulders up (like the weight lifting exercise). The shoulder is close to the cheek as a result of reaching/extending while rotated on the side of the body, not the effort of using your deltoids to bring them up. And in that situation, it's only one shoulder that is close to the cheek/ear, not both. Swimming with both shoulders shrugged simultaneously throughout a race does not seem like the right body position to me.

RE: Shoulder to cheek in freestyle

Former Member — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 07:25:01 GMT

My initial thought is this: my shoulders come close to or graze my cheek on every cycle, when I am fully extended (rotated on my side). This is more common for distance events or long sets in practice. However, I would say that it breaks shortly thereafter and not well into the downsweep (by which point in time I am completely flat, as opposed to on my side). But it's all a matter of inches, so I guess it depends on how you define "close." The shoulders should not be shrugged at all. I'll think about this more when I've had a chance to get in the pool. Ok thanks that makes more sense to not shrug the shoulders. I have the wing span on an adult condor;) Gotcha on 'close' and my assessment on the when his shoulder/cheek breaks was really just eyeball from the side. FWIW my pal swam @ Auburn in the late 80's and dude can make wakes! I don't follow any advice blindly, but I tend to listen to guys who get scholarships for their swimming skills. To the other poster who says 'wrong' please feel free to expound...love to learn new things, but I can't glean much from 'he's wrong'. Are you saying that narrowing up the frontal profile.....makes one slower?

RE: Shoulder to cheek in freestyle

__steve__ — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:55:34 GMT

Check go-swim Fr drills "The Shoulder Catch" and "The Shoulder Breath". Both emphasize cheek to shoulder contact as drills. I also heard a clinic instructor mention something about having a grapefruit sized space there instead, which contradicts this if I am interpreting what she said correctly.

RE: Shoulder to cheek in freestyle

Former Member — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:48:27 GMT

Your friend is very wrong!

RE: Shoulder to cheek in freestyle

orca1946 — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 05:06:44 GMT

I think that this might be more common in someone that only breathes on that side.

RE: Shoulder to cheek in freestyle

Allen Stark — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 03:35:49 GMT

I thought that this was what Thorpe and Hackett were doing and that there is a noticeable shoulder shrug.

RE: Shoulder to cheek in freestyle

gdanner — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 03:19:28 GMT