Starting the Freestyle pull??

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Former Member — Thu, 24 Mar 2005 16:41:00 GMT

I do 3-4 dolphin kicks. I did notice that somehow my left arm is on top & I'm sort of on my right side. I don't know how this has happened. I usually breathe on my second left stroke. Yesterday, I tried to do my flip & kicks then get on my left side before I stroked. Somehow, I've really screwed this up. I did notice that a guy swimmign next tome had a more fluid push off of the wall but that I ended up further ahead fo him when I was swimming. I think some of this haoppened because I have asthma and worry about gettingthat breath. IWISH THERE WAS A COACH OT WATCH. SWIMMIGN IN SMALL TOWNS IS TERRIBLE.

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Former Member — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 17:49:24 GMT

A problem I've recently noticed is that after my turn my first stroke is very weak. It is my left arm. I breathe to my left. The stroke hardly creates any energy. also, I am on my right side. somehow, I think that I'm turning my body coming off of the wall the wrong way? I don't know if this is true or what!

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Former Member — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 12:57:00 GMT

A coupla thoughts nobody has mentioned in a while. At least in practice, try to touch your knee with each stroke (of course, you can't, but try). With the recovery of each hand, think of pulling your hand out of your pocket, having reached for a lurking dime. (Dig the resulting high elbows) And, oh yeah, why not a balistic recovery? How long do you want your idle hand to glide/ gliding hand to idle?

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Kevin in MD — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 09:58:26 GMT

Originally posted by jswim Hello all, I have a tendancy to pause a moment on the front hand, and glide a bit before pulling my arm through. Jeanette. It actually depends on what your other arm is doing as your frotn hand is pausing. If your other arm is pausing at the end of your pull and staying by your side. That is freeze frame swimming and is withut a doubt a bad thing. If on the other hand, your other arm is pulling through and immediately starting yoru recovery, then you are pretty technically sound but opinions differ on the extent to which your front arm shoudl be extending. As a general rule you'll exhibit more catch up at slower speeds. But them MAIN thing to avoid is the freeze fram swimming.

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Former Member — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 08:46:57 GMT

Originally posted by 330man On a typical turn with two dolphin kicks I surface about 5 feet beyond the flags. What do the rules say about freestyle pushoffs and distance to first stroke? You have 15m to surface after a turn for free, back and fly. In free some part of your body must break the surface at all times from the 15m mark to the far wall.

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Former Member — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 08:39:29 GMT

On a typical turn with two dolphin kicks I surface about 5 feet beyond the flags. What do the rules say about freestyle pushoffs and distance to first stroke?

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Former Member — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 07:21:25 GMT

Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com A problem I've recently noticed is that after my turn my first stroke is very weak. It is my left arm. I breathe to my left. The stroke hardly creates any energy. also, I am on my right side. somehow, I think that I'm turning my body coming off of the wall the wrong way? I don't know if this is true or what! I am not sure what the experts say I am supposed to be doing, but this is what works quite effectively for me. I breathe to my right side. When I push off the wall, I am initially on my back, and as I glide on the push I do a quarter-turn to the right (to the side I will breathe on). Thus I am facing the side wall of the pool (or facing the lane line.) When start to slow down on the glide, I take a strong pull with my right arm (the one on top) while I am still under water. This gets me past the backstroke flags when I break the surface. I am still on my side, head turned slightly up so I can grab a quick breath as I break the surface after that first stroke. Continue rotating, pull with left arm and I'm off and running (so to speak) in my natural stroke.

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Former Member — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 07:18:29 GMT

Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com A problem I've recently noticed is that after my turn my first stroke is very weak. It is my left arm. I breathe to my left. The stroke hardly creates any energy. also, I am on my right side. In normal stroking you would be on your left side when you start a pull with your left arm. Most people will advise taking at least one stroke before breathing, I do feel stronger when I do, but it is hard to resist breathing right away... Originally posted by 330man I combat this by using a few dolphin kicks off the wall which builds speed and reduces the need for my first stroke to regain lost mementum. Theory says that if you have to build speed by kicking then you have glided too long, you should be kicking to decrease your deceleration and take your first stroke soon enough that you are maintaining speed rather than regaining it.

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Former Member — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 06:49:28 GMT

My first stroke after a turn is also weak in relation to my mid-lap strokes. I combat this by using a few dolphin kicks off the wall which builds speed and reduces the need for my first stroke to regain lost mementum.

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Former Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 16:52:38 GMT

Originally posted by jswim I have a tendancy to pause a moment on the front hand, and glide a bit before pulling my arm through. If you are swimming with a typical front quadrant stroke your leading arm will reach full extension in front of you before your pulling arm completes the pull so it will stay extended in front of you for a period of time before starting to pull. This is a good thing. If you leave it too long you will be swimming closer to catch up than proper stroke timing. If you feel yourself accelerate on each pull (indicating a deacceleration between pulls) instead of a steady speed then you are likely gliding too long.

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Former Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 16:26:19 GMT

swim.ee has videos and no transfer limitations: swim.ee/.../index_example.html

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Former Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:51:06 GMT

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.

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

Former Member — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:19:09 GMT

I think a lot depends on where you are at with your training. It is important to learn to feel the water. At 16 strokes per length, you can countinue to lower that to about 12-13. It is always good to experiment and see the difference between the feel of the water at different paces. Hook'em Blue

RE: Starting the Freestyle pull??

jswim — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 06:30:24 GMT

thank you, I'll keep focusing on my stroke count then, the feel of the water, and pay attention to times a bit more. I tried the swimfastes.net site, but I got a message saying they had exceeded their bandwidth.. I'll try again another time. thanks again! J.