I have a question about gliding in freestyle. My way of swimming is that after each stroke I stretch my leading arm, glide and then I go over to the next stroke if you know what I mean.
Now someone is telling me that it''s more efficient to immediately go over to the next stroke without the gliding phase while your arm is stretched.
What do you think is more efficient.
I think the answer depends upon what events you are training for, your body type and fitness. Remember that your speed is a function of both your stroke rate and your stroke length and that your energy consumption is also related to the two. You will need to play around with the mix of rate and length to figure out what is best for you and the races you are training for. Here are some of my thoughts:
If you are training to race the 50, 100 and 200, I'd agree with Cokie that a glide is probably not going to convey the kind of speed you are looking for.
However, above that distance and, particularly for open water, incorporating an active streamline into your stroke (which might feel like a glide) should allow you to increase your stroke length and reduce your energy consumption.
I'd suggest your check out videos of either Sun Yang (for his 400, 800 and 1500 LCM swims) or Ian Thorpe (for his 200 to 400 LCM swims) and you'll see that they both incorporate a 'glide' into their stroke (but, I don't think of this as a glide; I think of it as active streamlining).
If you read the first bit of my blog post, you'll see how I played around with the two (rate and length) this past weekend in a 1000 race as I am trying to figure out the best combination of stroke rate and stroke length - forums.usms.org/entry.php.
As a counter-point to Sheila's emphasis on a arm-driven/stroke-rate driven freestyle, I'd suggest you check out Total Immersion on these topics (www.totalimmersion.net)
I think the answer depends upon what events you are training for, your body type and fitness. Remember that your speed is a function of both your stroke rate and your stroke length and that your energy consumption is also related to the two. You will need to play around with the mix of rate and length to figure out what is best for you and the races you are training for. Here are some of my thoughts:
If you are training to race the 50, 100 and 200, I'd agree with Cokie that a glide is probably not going to convey the kind of speed you are looking for.
However, above that distance and, particularly for open water, incorporating an active streamline into your stroke (which might feel like a glide) should allow you to increase your stroke length and reduce your energy consumption.
I'd suggest your check out videos of either Sun Yang (for his 400, 800 and 1500 LCM swims) or Ian Thorpe (for his 200 to 400 LCM swims) and you'll see that they both incorporate a 'glide' into their stroke (but, I don't think of this as a glide; I think of it as active streamlining).
If you read the first bit of my blog post, you'll see how I played around with the two (rate and length) this past weekend in a 1000 race as I am trying to figure out the best combination of stroke rate and stroke length - forums.usms.org/entry.php.
As a counter-point to Sheila's emphasis on a arm-driven/stroke-rate driven freestyle, I'd suggest you check out Total Immersion on these topics (www.totalimmersion.net)
