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 have an update for you Karl since we seemed to be in a bit of the same boat. After talking with one of the kids from a local university team whom I saw doing all manner of lat stretches I found that indeed was my flexibility limiter, NOT my shoulder/cuff muscles. I thought I had flexibility in my lats, but in point of fact they were basically like a couple of pieces of cinder block! I have also joined a group for dry land training learned a few new stretches for the lats and pecs that have helped as well.
I update this post today b/c it was my breakthrough day. Underwater dolphin to the 15m mark on my back is now my 2nd fastest stroke. No question when turning from fly to back in the 100 IM I will dolphin to the 15m mark. Face down for fly I need to break out at about 11m b/c I begin to slow down, but am working hard on it!
Being able to get the hands locked and tight behind my head allow me to really get the full effect of the thoracic section of my spine as the starting point for the 'whip'. Tiny bit of movement with the hands/arms, but the real undulation now starts just under my pecs. Anyway, just wanted to relay the update b/c it's so darn exciting! My *** stroke still stinks, but today I led my buddy all the way to ~ the 15m mark of the *** leg which has never ever happened. Now to work on the dolphin for face down and on side! Way fun. For *me* anyway it was and is lat flexibility, my shoulders were already flexible enough. YMMV.
This is very cool! Congrats on the progress! Can you share your lat stretches with us?
I have an update for you Karl since we seemed to be in a bit of the same boat. After talking with one of the kids from a local university team whom I saw doing all manner of lat stretches I found that indeed was my flexibility limiter, NOT my shoulder/cuff muscles. I thought I had flexibility in my lats, but in point of fact they were basically like a couple of pieces of cinder block! I have also joined a group for dry land training learned a few new stretches for the lats and pecs that have helped as well.
I update this post today b/c it was my breakthrough day. Underwater dolphin to the 15m mark on my back is now my 2nd fastest stroke. No question when turning from fly to back in the 100 IM I will dolphin to the 15m mark. Face down for fly I need to break out at about 11m b/c I begin to slow down, but am working hard on it!
Being able to get the hands locked and tight behind my head allow me to really get the full effect of the thoracic section of my spine as the starting point for the 'whip'. Tiny bit of movement with the hands/arms, but the real undulation now starts just under my pecs. Anyway, just wanted to relay the update b/c it's so darn exciting! My *** stroke still stinks, but today I led my buddy all the way to ~ the 15m mark of the *** leg which has never ever happened. Now to work on the dolphin for face down and on side! Way fun. For *me* anyway it was and is lat flexibility, my shoulders were already flexible enough. YMMV.
This is very cool! Congrats on the progress! Can you share your lat stretches with us?
