Fqs

Thorpe's is facing forward throughout his racing & always had. Also, his coach does not crediot fqs with the "greatness" of his technique. They stress high elbows. I'm a true believer that fqs is is something that happens because of other things. It might set-up the stroke but to rely on it is not as important as good stroking under the water. In Swimming Fastest, Maglischo(sp) demonstrated & explains how there is deceleration & exceleration. Swimming in fqs does help cut down on some decelration but too many peole wait way to long to start their stroke so they really do decelerate some before the catch. Another thing that I think is intersing & you can see it in the videos that the thorpe picture is taken from is how Thorpe lifts his head when he is breathing. What role does rolling play in his stroke?

People who don't kick amaze me. It is like being a jockey without a horse. You might get through the race but why would you not put everything into it. I have found that peole with weak kicks can really improve if they work on ankle fleibilty, do lots of kick sets & examine where their kick is in their stroke. I once had a friend who said his kick was weak & he was kicking opposite of how to do it.

Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com Most distance swimmers don't kick off of the wall. It is very rare to see, at least to my observations, anyone do any sort of dolphin kick off of the wall if they are swimming distances. I disagree. I think most distance swimmers kick off the wall. I do agree most don't do dolphin kicks, but most still do flutter kick.

Thanks to all of you for the feedback and great site information. I'll keep trying to get the timing right. I appreciate all of your help.:)

Everything I've ever read, sorry no article off of the top of my head says speed can be increased by some swimmer up to 35%. Not all swimmer. Most people I've talk with about it believe that in free kicking is responsible for about 10% of your speed. In *** it is much more. Maglischo I think says about 65% in ***. Also, in the Americas Cup, boat length & weight are both resistricted. I used to swim with a guy who designed small sailboats. If the boat gets too narrow, its manueverablity is dimished. Most distance swimmers don't kick off of the wall. It is very rare to see, at least to my observations, anyone do any sort of dolphin kick off of the wall if they are swimming distances. But once, I was watching some girls swim at Indiana and was amazed at the power they were able to generate with a two beat kick once they began to swim.

I meant or I assumed to mean dolphin kick. I should have read the shole sentence before I sent it.

I recently picked up a copy of the TI book and have found it most interesting. I was particularly interested in the concept of how the hips seem to provide the power in the arm stroke. The examples used were of golfers and baseball players and how by rotating their hips, they can hit the ball a "mile". I then looked back at the Counsilman book, the New Science of Swimming, for a discussion of hip rotation and found the following: "It has been suggested that body roll can be used to enhance force output in the arm pull. This line of reasoning goes so fas as to suggest that hip rotation is the "power source" of arm movement in the crawl stroke. This idea has been extrapolated from the use of hip rotation in swinging a baseball bat or golf club. Aside from the unique biomechanics of these activities, the use of hip rotation as the primary means of generating movement in the baseball and golf swing is possible because the lower extremities are in contact with the ground. Such activities constitute what is known as a closed kinematic chain. Swimming is considered to be an open kinematic chain because water is not a solid enough medium against which feet can plant themselves. This makes it unlikely that hip rotation can contribute to the generation of significant force in the arm pull of the crawl stroke. It is even less likely to occur in the strokes in which no body roll occurs, such as breaststroke and butterfly." Given that rebuttal, can anyone explain the TI concept of hip rotation and force output in the arm pull?

When you throw a powerful punch you are transmitting force from the ground-foot interface to your hand. Picture a martial artist floating in zero-gravity environment. Stand up and simulate a front crawl pull. Now sit down so that your hips are immobilized and try to repeat the same movement. Note the much reduced range of motion, just as if you simulate a golf swing, baseball swing, punch while keeping your hips immobile. Those of us with a tendency for shoulder problems will probably also immediately experience shoulder pain as we try to go through the crawl arm action without moving our hips.

How much of it also has to do with changing the angle of your body as you move through the water? Doesn't hip rotation help reduce your surface area? I honestly don't know. This is a hypothesis that's open for anyone to support or reject. ar

I'm inclined to agree with Doc. I don't think your hips are responsible for power in the pull. One thing hip roatation does do, though, is allow you to reach further out front, thus giving a longer "power zone" for the pull.