Left Arm and Freestyle Stroke

RE: Left Arm and Freestyle Stroke

Former Member — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 17:13:42 GMT

1. Swim with a swimmer's snorkel for some of your workout to help balance your stroke. Something like this: www.finisinc.com/swimmers-snorkel.html 2. Try breathing to the other side or bilaterally. Thanks. The swimmer snorkel is a good idea although I kind of like the feeling of turning to breathe and we have an outdoor pool so there is some aesthetics. I guess it would be a little odd on the back strokes but I may give it a try if I can't figure anything else out.

RE: Left Arm and Freestyle Stroke

Redbird Alum — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 11:28:01 GMT

You might get some better technique advice by either having a coach look at your stroke, or else posting a video that shows your stroke both from the side and head on. Many times, lack of power and/or soreness are a result of poor technique.

RE: Left Arm and Freestyle Stroke

knelson — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 09:57:16 GMT

1. Swim with a swimmer's snorkel for some of your workout to help balance your stroke. Something like this: www.finisinc.com/swimmers-snorkel.html 2. Try breathing to the other side or bilaterally.

RE: Left Arm and Freestyle Stroke

Mark Usher — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 01:49:29 GMT

My situation was similar to yours with frequent left shoulder pain. My new masters coach noticed that I tended to swing my left arm forward rather than using a nice high recovery like did with my right arm. She had me work on one-arm drills (using a kick board for the opposite arm), along with some finger-drag and zipper drills to promote more of a high arm, elbow-leading recovery. I didn't have a snorkel at the time, so she just had me swim 25's and 50's breathing every 5th or 7th stroke rather than every 3rd stroke. That immediately helped to straighten out the front end of my stroke. It took a couple of weeks to get the new pattern ingrained in my muscle memory, but since I did my shoulder pain has gone away. Hope this helps. Mark