I finally made it to one of the local coached workouts and all in all it was a pretty positive experience. One of the comments about my stroke was that my hand entered the water in-line with the crown of my head. I was told that it should enter more in line with my shoulder. I've been practicing with this for the past 2 1/2 weeks and it seems to have negatively affected my roll and my stroke count. I can't seem to get a good glide at the end of my stroke, and when I roll, my arm is out away from my head and seems to be creating more drag. Am I missing something here? Was I told partial info? incorrect info? or am I not looking at the problem correctly?
Thanks John
John,
Without seeing your stroke it is impossible to determine what the correction is doing. However, assuming your coach understands stroke mechanics, the coach is in a much better position to work on your stroke.
The information given by your coach is correct; you will be more efficient by entering and catching in-line with your shoulders. It will take time for this to feel comfortable and with any change in technique it takes constant vigilance to make the correction stick.
As for negatively affected my roll and my stroke count, often if you focus too much on one aspect (hand entry) you forget to work on others roll, reach, catch, press, etc. And I’m not sure what you mean by a good glide at the end of your stroke. Typically, freestyle does not have a glide.
John,
Without seeing your stroke it is impossible to determine what the correction is doing. However, assuming your coach understands stroke mechanics, the coach is in a much better position to work on your stroke.
The information given by your coach is correct; you will be more efficient by entering and catching in-line with your shoulders. It will take time for this to feel comfortable and with any change in technique it takes constant vigilance to make the correction stick.
As for negatively affected my roll and my stroke count, often if you focus too much on one aspect (hand entry) you forget to work on others roll, reach, catch, press, etc. And I’m not sure what you mean by a good glide at the end of your stroke. Typically, freestyle does not have a glide.
