Having been a lazy streamliner it's high time I work on the closest thing to a free lunch at our disposal. No excuses any more! I never fully appreciated what a huge disparity there can be b/t a lazy age grouper streamline and a great streamline. To the tune of a good 8 seconds per 100 on some very non-scientific field experiments side by side. Wow! Just the initial push off and streamline my poor form costs me nearly a full body length vs his amazing streamline by the time we both take our first stroke. This is a guy I have routinely beaten by a considerable margin in open water events over many years. Great learning experience getting whipped in the pool by a superior technician in my pal. W A N T to get better.
What is more important for an old fart who has less than stellar flexibility? I can certainly get my hands overlapping with elbows quite close to narrow my frontal profile within the margin of my shoulders, but overall the hands will be down below my head. As in looking from the side my arms would be pointing a good 20 degrees down if my torso/legs are level with the surface of the water.
Or....
Would I want to have my body line flat from head to toe, but sacrifice the narrow profile having to separate my hands and utilize a wider position? I'm thinking this wider Superman position would be the higher drag position and needs to go in the garbage bin?
Just don't want to be practicing the wrong things as I'm committed to making the best streamline I can somewhere down the road.
Any particular stretches I might focus on? Thanks.
...I can certainly get my hands overlapping with elbows quite close to narrow my frontal profile within the margin of my shoulders, but overall the hands will be down below my head. As in looking from the side my arms would be pointing a good 20 degrees down if my torso/legs are level with the surface of the water.
...
Any particular stretches I might focus on? ...
Hear hear! I suspect that this is one of my major limitations. Here are some frames that I think show it well.7543
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How does one stretch to get a better streamline?
Former Member
It's an interesting component of the overall picture to tackle for sure. Swimming hard b/t the flags has been my one and only focus b/c anything else seemed silly given my triathlon pursuits of the time. Having been out of the pool focused scene for over 20 years it kind of went over my head. I embrace the new challenge. The slow, steady improvement in swimming is something I relish. Nothing comes easy, takes work, which is why when I see someone do all the little things so well....RESPECT!
You and I look much alike in our un-streamlined streamline. Fun though b/c there isn't anywhere to go but faster with am positions like that! Mine is actually much, much worse. I just know someone on this forum has a good resource for stretches specific to the muscle groups we need to loosen up.
Very limited on time, so this'll be a short post. Off the top of my head, without researching it, here's a stretch that will come in handy. Stand facing a wall, about 1.5 feet away, and reach one hand up as high as you can on the wall. Bending forward at the waist, lean in towards the wall and tuck your chin in--you'll feel the stretch in your lats and shoulder muscles. Hold it for 20-30 seconds or as long as you can, then switch to the other arm.
While I don't have any flexibility problems, I do tighten up a lot after lifting/dryland before I get in the pool, and this stretch is the only thing that lets me achieve a full streamline when I'm that tight.
vo2 - If you can't lock you hands, don't leave them out wide in a superman position. Get them side by side if you can. I get lazy off my walls when I'm tired, but I still make sure I grab my left thumb with my right hand. It might not be the best method, but anything is better than nothing. (I know, I know, I shouldn't do that, but I get the same distance with them side by side as I do with them locked up.) And when my coach tells me to lock up my hands, I just tell her I'm practicing my "Ian Thorpe". :D He never locked his hands, even on starts. But he had his arms next to his ears and his elbows in. Hope that helps.
always push off hard, lock your streamline, & glide fast and farMy suggestion is to reverse the first 2 steps. Make sure your arms are locked into your stream line as or before you push off. I see a lot of folks who get locked in after they leave the wall and by that time you have wasted a lot of speed.
And a simple stretch: 1) Standing up, facing a kitchen counter place one hand over the other, 2) With arms and shoulders relaxed slide backwards bending at the waist, keeping your back and neck straight (streamlined), until your ears are below your arms, 3) squeeze your elbows together into a full upper body streamline, 4) hold the streamline while visualizing a perfect turn and push off, 5) relax and repeat.
Former Member
2) With arms and shoulders relaxed slide backwards bending at the waist, keeping your back and neck straight (streamlined), until your ears are below your arms, 3) squeeze your elbows together into a full upper body streamline,
I can stand with my back against the wall and raise my arms right at shoulder width until the front of my tricep is in line with my ears. BUT the problem is when I attempt to join my hands and get narrow. THAT is where I fail. Does that tell you anything about where my tightness might be? As in scapula, cuff muscles, lats? It's locking the hands together that forces me to lower the arms back down to my chin rather than behind head.
Thanks again for input all great stuff.
If you can't do hand over hand, try hooking your thumbs. That's almost as good and might be easier. Focus on being as long and tight as you can (I heard one colorful coach say you shouldn't be able to fit a greased watermelon seed up your butt). If that hand position becomes natural maybe you can progress to hand over hand.
Be sure to keep your head facing down, don't lift it to look in the direction you are traveling, even after you break streamline to take your first stroke.
Former Member
Ok I can do a thumb hook will give that a shot. I'm going to pass on the watermelon seed test though;)
The classic hand lock streamline places my trick shoulder in a vulnerable position. I experimented with various streamline hand positions discovering if I lock my right thumb over the base of my left index finger, my left (bad) arm recesses 1" shorter in to the shoulder joint, keeping it stable. With practice and stretching, I manage a decent streamline for starts, turns, and underwaters like this.
For limitations, just find a way to either eliminate or overcome them.
