2013 USMS Nationals SCY & LCM

Kirk, you should have asked after my event...I had nothing else to do.

The forumite gathering was GREAT, and we owe a big round of applause to Bobinator for organizing it. The restaurant was very nice and we were seated at one long table in the very back. We had a good group. What was really funny was when we were introducing ourselves to each other, at least three people all said, "I'm a lurker." Apparently there are a lot of people who read all of our posts but don't ever post themselves. Non-lurking attendees included me, matysekj, ekw, SwimStud, Jimbosback, jamesaadams1, The Fortress, Bobinator, and probably a couple more that I've forgotten. I enjoyed try to inspire a new or re-birthing of an old favourite thread to keep Jim busy--I'm not sure anyone will do it...and I'm way to sensible to do that nowadays :)

This meet was a good learning experience for me. I learned how not to taper, lol. Missed taper was apparent at about the 75yd mark of my 200 free when my legs went numb and I split +8sec on the 2nd 100. OUCH. That one hurt mentally and physically. I'm the reverse lurker. I'll flap my jaw on here, and then just kinda hang in the shadows in person. :)

L - did you see the video of that race? Seems to me your turnover and kick are just fine. This is the only race of yours that I've seen in which you did NOT come up from the dive AHEAD of the others. I think you would have had Kim if your dive/UW were your "normal". what made you switch to a wider pull, btw?? This year, I tried to make my pull narrower!

L - did you see the video of that race? Seems to me your turnover and kick are just fine. This is the only race of yours that I've seen in which you did NOT come up from the dive AHEAD of the others. I think you would have had Kim if your dive/UW were your "normal". what made you switch to a wider pull, btw?? This year, I tried to make my pull narrower! This was kind of a botched race for me. That's what happens when you rarely swim something. I dove in and streamlined for what seemed like forever, almost forgetting to take a dolphin kick. Brain fart. When I did, it was just a quick one. So, yeah, definitely, lost the race on the start. Though I managed to short stroke both walls as well. Completely different race than the technically perfect one I had at NE SCM Champs when I somehow set the record. Win some, lose some. I didn't fret over it, and Kim is very very fast. I widened my pull because Teen Fort told me I was spinning when I swam the 50 evil at the Sprint Classic last fall. I've also heard widening the pull was how Eric Shanteau improved his breaststroke times. My kick looked pretty wide to me in the video. I think I need some coaching help to fix my breaststroke, somewhat hard when I train solo. And honestly, I think I'd rather work more on free, which I started doing more of this year with my shoulder better. But I will continue to fake the evil. Hey, I even did the 100 this year!

So this thread is becoming the Breaststroke Lane.If you have a good fly or good undulation/core strength then the hip thrust can be very helpful.I think getting your navel facing forward is a bit far,you really don't want to have a lot of up and down movement,just enough to get your torso high enough to breath without raising your head.I fell like the power doesn't come from the hip thrust,but from the opposite motion as your shoot forward in the arm recovery and undulate in the other direction.

Bah! Almost didn't sign up for the evil sprint. But while you're commenting, can you suggest ways to increase my turnover? I switched to a wider pull and now my turnover is too slow. I also have a ghastly wide kick, but I'm not sure I'm really willing to spend time working on it. I only do *** dolphin in practice. :-) Not much I can add to the already good advice you've been given. I can just say that my favorite kicking drill is on the back, concentrating on keeping the knees together. How did the forumite gathering go? I hope we can have one in MD next summer. I tentatively plan to go, even though I'll be at the very top of my age group.

I think you need to focus on throwing your hips forward. My coach said the one who wins is the one who gets their hips moving forward the fastest. I've heard this advice several times and I must admit I don't get it. Perhaps that's why I suck at breaststroke!

I've heard this advice several times and I must admit I don't get it. Perhaps that's why I suck at breaststroke! Glad I'm not the only one (and I appear to be in excellent company, though the reverse can't be said for knelson). Can someone explain what the concept is, how to develop it, and what it should feel like?

This was kind of a botched race for me. That's what happens when you rarely swim something. I dove in and streamlined for what seemed like forever, almost forgetting to take a dolphin kick. Brain fart. When I did, it was just a quick one. So, yeah, definitely, lost the race on the start. Though I managed to short stroke both walls as well. Completely different race than the technically perfect one I had at NE SCM Champs when I somehow set the record. Win some, lose some. I didn't fret over it, and Kim is very very fast. I widened my pull because Teen Fort told me I was spinning when I swam the 50 evil at the Sprint Classic last fall. I've also heard widening the pull was how Eric Shanteau improved his breaststroke times. My kick looked pretty wide to me in the video. I think I need some coaching help to fix my breaststroke, somewhat hard when I train solo. And honestly, I think I'd rather work more on free, which I started doing more of this year with my shoulder better. But I will continue to fake the evil. Hey, I even did the 100 this year! FWIW. I have always had a narrow kick. I try to imagine a tennis ball between my knees, so that the propulsion is back, rather than out/wide. I also do a lot of eggbeater kicking to work on foot speed. I have been trying to narrow my pull, based on feedback from Dr. G in Indy in 2009, figuring that the time it takes to sweep in/forward from a wider pull slows down my tempo. I want to get back into a streamlined position (ears between arms as the kick drives you forward - Ande's "ride the glide") as quickly as possible. YMMV.