I just read the article "Windmill Revolution" by Bill Volckening and was wondering what you all thought about the possibility of using the straight-arm recovery. What I found interesting was the discussion of the stroke's similarities to the undulation, recovery and pull of butterfly. I also found it interesting that some of the coaches and swimmers felt that the straight-arm recovery added hip snap at the end of the stroke, which I have been lead to believe is the least propulsive portion of the stroke.
Does anyone know where I could read more on the subject and the specifics of technique or any drills?
Hook'em
Blue
Parents
Former Member
Blue Horn: I think we're having a communication meltdown. I'll try to be as clear as possible here. All the information I collected was from interviews I conducted with the coaches and swimmers. I used no no written resources and referred to no articles because I didn't find any in existence. There may be some, but I am not aware of them. Therefore, I cannot guide you to articles. Sorry if this point wasn't clear in my previous messages. All of the information I have is presented in the article.
Sandie: Hi, how's it going? Good to hear from you. I think Coach Bergen's application of the technique and Janet Evans' use of the technique may be different from how you do it. I was curious, so during the interviews I asked Janet Evans if she ever had collisions with swimmers in practice, and she said that never happened. Her coach, Bud McAllister said the same thing. Personally, I don't recall seeing collisions with the senior swimmers when I worked alongside Coach Bergen a few years ago, the year he mandated the use of windmill freestyle for his whole program. There were people who complained about it, but not because of arm collisions.
These swimmers appear to windmill their arms up more toward the ceiling rather than to the side, so it doesn't appear as though it makes the stroke wider, but rather, narrower on the horizontal plane / pool surface. I believe it works this way for these swimmers because the coaches are using the technique to develop hip rotation. I haven't analyzed your stroke closely, but my guess would be that you may need to focus more on how the straight arm recovery facilitates more effectively timed (and complete) hip rotation. Ask your coach.
Hope that helps,
Bill
Blue Horn: I think we're having a communication meltdown. I'll try to be as clear as possible here. All the information I collected was from interviews I conducted with the coaches and swimmers. I used no no written resources and referred to no articles because I didn't find any in existence. There may be some, but I am not aware of them. Therefore, I cannot guide you to articles. Sorry if this point wasn't clear in my previous messages. All of the information I have is presented in the article.
Sandie: Hi, how's it going? Good to hear from you. I think Coach Bergen's application of the technique and Janet Evans' use of the technique may be different from how you do it. I was curious, so during the interviews I asked Janet Evans if she ever had collisions with swimmers in practice, and she said that never happened. Her coach, Bud McAllister said the same thing. Personally, I don't recall seeing collisions with the senior swimmers when I worked alongside Coach Bergen a few years ago, the year he mandated the use of windmill freestyle for his whole program. There were people who complained about it, but not because of arm collisions.
These swimmers appear to windmill their arms up more toward the ceiling rather than to the side, so it doesn't appear as though it makes the stroke wider, but rather, narrower on the horizontal plane / pool surface. I believe it works this way for these swimmers because the coaches are using the technique to develop hip rotation. I haven't analyzed your stroke closely, but my guess would be that you may need to focus more on how the straight arm recovery facilitates more effectively timed (and complete) hip rotation. Ask your coach.
Hope that helps,
Bill
