I learned freestyle a year ago and recently hit a major personal milestone of sub 1:30 for an all out 100m sprint (SCM). Very happy about this :-D. Here is my stroke video.
www.dropbox.com/.../Oct-8-2018-free-all-angles.mp4
Three months ago, my all out times were 1:39.6 (100m) and 0:21 (25m). Now they're 1:29.8(100m) and 0:20.2 (25m). So clearly I'm making more progress aerobically than stroke technique-wise. I'm guessing/assuming 25m all-out speed depends on technique.
All-out 100m: 1:29.8 (spl: 24)
All-out 25m: 0:20.2 (spl: 20)
css-pace: 1:40 (I can do 10x100 with 20 second gap). My spl ranges from 21-22 for these 100s.
I do mostly 50s and 100s (trying to pay attention to stroke count). The only drill I currenty do is single-arm free style (8x25 on each side). Since I started this drill a month ago, it has improved my DPS a lot. I swim 6 days a week (12km).
My next target is 1:20 for 100m :)
I would love to hear your feedback on what I should focus on next.
Hi there, compared to the last video you posted, I would say your stroke technique has improved quite a lot! Especially in terms of the strength and also the technique of the pull (early vertical forearm), high elbow recovery, and the technique of the kick (it isn't as wide). You can keep working on maintaining a consistent kick during the entire stroke cycle which will help your head to remain stable. Keep working on the single arm drill that you are doing and try to include a greater variety of kicking drills in order to improve the lower body. Great job and good luck!
@swimspire, thanks for the feedback.
Do you have any suggestions for kicking drills? I had originally learned freestyle using the Total immersion technique. Although I'm not religious about the TI technique, I think my kick mostly comes from that style. I had also tried the rapid flutter kick drill. But that gives me foot cramps.
Also, were you suggesting my head's unstable position is caused due to my legs' position? I try to look downwards after breathing and I thought this caused the head bobbing.
You have made tremendous improvements. Your stroke is more fluid and streamlined.
When your hands enter the water they are crossing the imaginary center line (especially the right) What happens is the body follows and you’re not swimming in straight line. It also may be excessive on the shoulders. Try entering hands outside the center line in more of a “Y” fashion.
Kicking: try very tight 6 beat kicks to maintain momentum that is being lost between stroke propulsion
Once again, your form has a very solid foundation which will allow continued improvements.
At this point, I think the best thing for you would be to continue what you are familiar with - ie practicing the single arm drill - which has, as you have seen, already helped you improve quite a bit. You can put a twist on the single arm by slowing down the recovery and emphasizing more of the kicking part of the drill. This way, you will get a lot more out of the drill and work your kick more. You can also combine this with kicking on your side (on both sides, similar to single arm).
Another aspect I noticed that you can think about is making sure that your right hand doesn't cross over during the extension of the arm Be sure to place your hand in front of the shoulder. You also have the tendency to catch some air on the right arm, as well.
Once again, you're doing a great job so far by improving your swimming on your own. Keep up the great work!
@swimspire, I didn't understand what you meant by "catch some air on the right arm". Also, I tried focusing on legs while doing the single arm drills. But I just wasnt sure what I should focus on. Moreover, I find it hard to visualize my leg's position since I cant see it. Often times I think my leg is in place X while swimming but after looking at the video I realize it was wider or farther than where I had imagined it was. One of the reasons I started doing single-arm drills is to pay more attention to my hand position. And that did help to fix my hand position.
Also, thanks for the feedback on the right hand cross-over. I'm paying more attention to it now and it got better in the last 2 weeks. Previously I moved towards my left when I did single-arm right hand drill rapidly but now I'm going straighter.
@Steve, I had tried 6-beat kick but feel completely uncoordinated and go slower than my 2-beat kick pace. May be I need to try it slower?
I'm glad the feedback on crossing over was helpful for you!
When we talk about catching air, we mean that you are driving a certain amount of air into the water (you can see this in your video on the right arm as compared to the left arm). The angle of the hand entry is key to avoid catching air. You'll want to keep watching videos of your swim and adjust the angle of your right arm/hand entry such that you are no longer seeing those air bubbles.
In the previous video that you posted, you had a wide kick that came mainly from the knees. In the latest video, you have a very small, inconsistent kick - so you have developed a good upper body, but it is not tied to a strong, efficient kick. If you work on side kicking, kicking on your back, or streamline kick and incorporate kicking into your daily swimming routine along with single arm drills, you will develop a better, more consistent kick overall. Using these kicking drills (side and back for example) will allow you to isolate your kick and develop it better than simply trying to focus on the kick during the fullstroke.
Hope this helps - good luck!
After the feedback from @Swimspire, I really wanted to improve my kick and started doing kicking drills. Thankfully, I found out that I can avoid cramps during kick drills if I have a banana and an electrolyte drink before swimming.
My 25m all-out speed with absolutely no kick is only 1 second slower thanthe one with my current "2-beat" kick. I'm really curious to know how this matches with others.
So I'm on a mission to find out what a good kick can do to my 25m all-out speed. I am finding kick sets (8 x 25m) to be quite tiring and I need atleast 1 min rest after each 25m. My typical times are around 35s per 25m and my fastest so far was 31s. I read that good swimmers are only 2-3s slower with kick only compared to full-stroke. I'm a full 11+ seconds slower now.
I would really like to know what I'm doing wrong and how I can improve.
My kick video and the same video at 0.25x speed.
Looks to me your feet and ankles are very stiff. They are like brakes
When you say my ankles are stiff, do you mean I'm not bending them enough? Also, what does it mean that my feet are stiff?
Lastly, are the amplitudes of my up and down kick ok?
