please bear with me while I brag!
Let me remind you .... 2 months ago, in a LCM meet (and my first meet ever) I was doing 1:58 in 100 free!!!! I just started swimming, just over 3 months ago, first time ever, at the age of 34.
This afternoon at the workout the coach had us doing 4x100, on 4 minutes, no holding back race sets. (SCM pool)
I did 1:27, 1:30, 1:33 and 1:31 :)
The coach was very very pleasantly surprised... I was so surprised I thought he was reading off someone else's time!
Earlier in the workout he commented how my stroke is looking really good. Couple other teammates commented on my stroke looking good in last couple of weeks as well...
I'm vevy vevy excited... I think I feel a touchdown dance coming on... ;)
Former Member
Mike Bottom describes a drill using kayak paddles standing on the pool deck to reinforce proper arm movement in freestyle.
Craig,
It's interesting that you point this out, because he's not the only advocate of using this coaching method. I find as a backstroker that the hands will always work in opposition to each other. As one hand is entering the other hand is exiting. The torso is relied upon for keeping a long line in the water. Very much like paddling a kayak.
This thinking is in contrast to the TI method of freestyling where the lead hand stays out for as long as possible while it waits for the recovery hand to "catch up". I've played around with this about a year ago, and found it somewhat awkward especially in wanting to get a fast turnover going. Hands in opposition seems to work just fine for me. And perhaps this works well for the taller swimmers. (I've read the thread on height being an advantage, and although it may be debated, the answer in my mind is that height definetly helps especially when swimming with hands in opposition to each other.) My sixteen foot kayak will cruise almost effortlessly over the eleven footer.
