I am currently quite a slow freestyle swimmer (I have a bit of a breaststroke background.) Onlookers criticise the fact that my hands go in too deep and that I look towards the bottom of the pool. As hard as I try, my hand always seems to be about 5/6 inches from the surface.
Any ideas on how I can get them to remain near the surface to get that catch at an early stage? In addition; as soon as I try and bring my head up slightly it feels so unnatural. How do I raise my head slightly without causing it to feel awkward?
If flexibility is not the issue, per Debugger's comment, you could try doing catch-up drill with a kickboard. Holding the bottom of a kickboard on the surface with one hand stretched out in front of you, take a full freestyle pull with the other arm and grab the board with that hand at the end of the recovery; let go of the first board with your first hand and repeat the process. This will force you to keep your hands high on the entry and should give you an idea of how your hands normally enter the water in comparison.
If flexibility is not the issue, per Debugger's comment, you could try doing catch-up drill with a kickboard. Holding the bottom of a kickboard on the surface with one hand stretched out in front of you, take a full freestyle pull with the other arm and grab the board with that hand at the end of the recovery; let go of the first board with your first hand and repeat the process. This will force you to keep your hands high on the entry and should give you an idea of how your hands normally enter the water in comparison.
