Hello all,
I have a question about starting the freestyle pull. one of the other threads spurred this question, talking about stroke count.
I can usually make it at about 16 strokes per 25 yards, though I've been told by an observer that I wait too long to start pulling, which may be why my count is so low (I'm 5'4").
I have a tendancy to pause a moment on the front hand, and glide a bit before pulling my arm through.
Is this wrong? I imagine I would go faster if I just immediately started pulling as soon as my hand entered the water.. I don't know at which point the efficiency stops and I start using more energy than I need. I don't pause very long, perhaps 1 second or so.
any thoughts on this?
Jeanette.
Parents
Former Member
Increasing speed via increased turnover does not a swimmer make. You are on the right track by concentrating more on your stroke than on speed. Think of reaching over a barrel when you start your pull. This will put your hand and arm in a position to propel you forward. Your hand and forearm should be as close to perpendicular to the bottom of the pool as possible. This is commonly referred to as a high elbow catch or pull. If you have high speed internet I suggest that you take a trip to swimfastest.net and look up some freestyle videos of Hoogenband. He has an especially pronounced catch that might help you to understand what I am talking about. The website has a limited amount of total bandwidth so it is best to make your downloads towards the first of the month. If you prefer, I can email a few to you as I have most if not all of them on one of my PC's. Shoot me an email at mbtp1@aol.com if you are interested.
Increasing speed via increased turnover does not a swimmer make. You are on the right track by concentrating more on your stroke than on speed. Think of reaching over a barrel when you start your pull. This will put your hand and arm in a position to propel you forward. Your hand and forearm should be as close to perpendicular to the bottom of the pool as possible. This is commonly referred to as a high elbow catch or pull. If you have high speed internet I suggest that you take a trip to swimfastest.net and look up some freestyle videos of Hoogenband. He has an especially pronounced catch that might help you to understand what I am talking about. The website has a limited amount of total bandwidth so it is best to make your downloads towards the first of the month. If you prefer, I can email a few to you as I have most if not all of them on one of my PC's. Shoot me an email at mbtp1@aol.com if you are interested.
