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.
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Former Member
Please excuse the external links and no photos as I'm an inTerneTs idiOts. I googled lat stretch and scoured for pics since I don't know the names. If I can throw 2 cents of unsolicited advice. Don't give up until you can get your arms completely locked behind your head. I have worked with a couple of different guys on the team who harped on this point and it wasn't until I could 'lock in' with the arms that I could truly feel my thoracic spine undulate. It went from feeling like a see saw to a whip in very short order. If I unlock them and don't have a rigid platform from shoulders forward I instantly lose that undulation that really makes it cook. This is where I'm struggling face down, but it's coming. Lower and mid trap conditioning is helping me sustain it a bit better as well in the dry land routines.
crossfunctionalrehab.com/.../shoulder_lat_stretch_1.jpgnealhallinan.com/.../hiplat-side.jpgnwstrengthlab.com/.../exercisestretches064.jpg
50.87.144.28/.../lat-stretch-1.jpg
Please excuse the external links and no photos as I'm an inTerneTs idiOts. I googled lat stretch and scoured for pics since I don't know the names. If I can throw 2 cents of unsolicited advice. Don't give up until you can get your arms completely locked behind your head. I have worked with a couple of different guys on the team who harped on this point and it wasn't until I could 'lock in' with the arms that I could truly feel my thoracic spine undulate. It went from feeling like a see saw to a whip in very short order. If I unlock them and don't have a rigid platform from shoulders forward I instantly lose that undulation that really makes it cook. This is where I'm struggling face down, but it's coming. Lower and mid trap conditioning is helping me sustain it a bit better as well in the dry land routines.
crossfunctionalrehab.com/.../shoulder_lat_stretch_1.jpgnealhallinan.com/.../hiplat-side.jpgnwstrengthlab.com/.../exercisestretches064.jpg
50.87.144.28/.../lat-stretch-1.jpg