I'm sure many of you are already aware of this article on about.com It reviews a couple of studies that try to explain why swimmers tend to have more body fat than other athletes.
Thought if you weren't aware of the article you might find it interesting.
swimming.about.com/.../offsite.htm
Lainey
Former Member
Questions:
How much time is 1lb of fat worth on a 50Y FR SCY?
Since fat is less dense than muscle. How much muscle do I gain per conversion of said 1lb of fat into muscle?
What is the return of this muscle gain in terms of actual speed over a 50Y?
Is this at all releveant unless you're truly at the very top percentile of your age group and have flawless technique?
...and finally:
In the picture posted above, is it a Bird? Is it a plane?
George:
When you hand enters flat at full extension as my does, I see how it can cause a lift. How do you get your hand in a position to catch without pushing down on the water?
When extended keep the elbow pointed at the side of the pool. As your hand goes to the catch let the hand drift out side ways about 8 inches then rotate the hand as it drops to the catch. Apply very little pressure as it drops to the catch. Then apply whichever force you want once you get to the catch. If you swim this way you can get to a 26 sec 50 meters.
Once we get there (26 seconds) we have to apply pressure from the time the hands enter, this actually lifts everthing and you swim higher in the water.
What you see in that video of me swimming is a very relaxed easy swim. Stroke changes slightly as I start to go to speed.
That lift you are talking about sometimes comes from dropping the elbow.
Buoyancy is irrelevant at speeds about 30 sec/50 yd as at about that speed you are going faster than your bow wave(that is you are exceeding your "hull speed" which is a function of the square root of your height) and so your body naturally rises. At speeds slower than this,buoyancy may be of some help,if the amount it raises you out of the water more than ofsets the expansion of your circumference.
The right hand is extended completely before it enters the water, thus the weight of the arm out front acts like a fulcrum and lifts the legs.
George, which hand entry is better? I notice that I have a slight sinking of the hips with each stroke when swimming with slow, deliberate strokes, particularly when breathing to the right. I don't notice this when sprinting, but the faster kick is probably keeping the hips up. My hands enter about midway between my head and full extension. And if I don't pay attention, my right elbow drops slightly before I reach full extension.
George Thanx. It appears you have two different hand entries. Left hand (breathing side) enters finger tips first and drives forward at a slight down angle. The right (non-breathing side) the recovery is in the air and the hand drops down into the water.
I have been working on lengthening my stroke and do more of the righthand style. Its when I tire or try to sprint my hand entry is more like your left and creeps back toward my head.
This morning, purely by chance, decided to add so extra drills to my workout and added fin swim (cause Fort said it was better for the shoulder joint) and I really worked on a long slow stroke and felt exactly what your video showed.
On a side note: some of the other comments about core strength had me concentrating on my abs. I could tell I wasn't wrestling the water as much and during my sprints actually felt like I was in a good body position. It took about 10y to get in position so on a SCY pool I didn't hold it long, but I kinda know what I'm looking for.:groovy:
The right hand is front loading the left hand is not. The pace is a little slow about 1:45 per 100m as the pool was set low the other film of me swimming faster did not turn out.
