Ok, when I was a kid on the swim team back in the early 1980s, we were taught that for freestyle, the pull arm begins the pull as the recovery arm lifts out of the water to begin the recovery. This is how I always swam freestyle. But then the other day, I was told by a coach that the timing has been modified. Now, apparently, the pull arm begins the pull towards the end of the recovery instead of the beginning. I should have known something was up months ago with all those catch up drills we were doing and when I heard my other teammates talking about their "glides" and not knowing what the hell they were talking about (as a sprinter, I never glided).
Then, I found out that now, when swimming breaststroke, the head is kept low into the water instead of forward with the top of the cap always peaking through the surface. When I learned breaststroke, letting the top of the cap (i.e., your whole head) under the water was grounds for disqualification. Is that no longer true?
And last but I'm sure not least, I found out that back flip turns are no longer practiced. Why not?
And what else has changed since the 1980s that I need to know about?
How is turning forward from a backstroke better than a back flip turn? The only advantage I see is that it may help backstrokers who have trouble gauging their distance from the wall while they reach for it while on their back.
Sorry, I didn't note that with the rule change you no longer have to touch with your hand at the turn in BK.This is why you need to notify the refs before you swim if you want official splits in a backstroke event,since the rules for backstroke require a hand touch at the finish.Therefore,if you swim a 100 BK and want an official 50 split(like for TT),you have to do a hand touch at the 50,
How is turning forward from a backstroke better than a back flip turn? The only advantage I see is that it may help backstrokers who have trouble gauging their distance from the wall while they reach for it while on their back.
Sorry, I didn't note that with the rule change you no longer have to touch with your hand at the turn in BK.This is why you need to notify the refs before you swim if you want official splits in a backstroke event,since the rules for backstroke require a hand touch at the finish.Therefore,if you swim a 100 BK and want an official 50 split(like for TT),you have to do a hand touch at the 50,
