Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I've been watching the videos of the Montreal World Championships from swim.ee, a great web site. At the start of the second semi-final of the men's 50 freestyle, I saw something quite shocking. In the first underwater shot, right after the dive, Salim Iles is very clearly doing a two-beat crossover kick. It's an eye-catching technique at sprint speed, because he appears to be "squirming" through the water. Look at it yourself. Slow motion will help you see it better. Also watch the segment at 1:16 in, where Iles is in the background, still on the shoulder of Roland Schoeman, still using a classic non-overt kicking style. His time for the race was 22.14, a personal best.
What do we make of this? Could Iles go faster with a six-beat kick? Should we slower swimmers, especially those with inflexible ankles and/or small feet, consider this style of sprinting?
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I also love to watch the videos on Swim.ee. It is a great site. Which of the vidoes are you talking about. I was just watching the first Phelps. I think that the entire thing about hip rotation is very over blown. I think that it looks like he is using his shoulders far more than his hips. When I was taught to swim. I was taught to keep my hips flat & use my shoulders. This creates a tension in the body that seems to help propel my body past my hand which is planted after the catch. I would like very much any comments. It seems to me that Phelps does this also, although mush better & with more action and speed produced.
I also love to watch the videos on Swim.ee. It is a great site. Which of the vidoes are you talking about. I was just watching the first Phelps. I think that the entire thing about hip rotation is very over blown. I think that it looks like he is using his shoulders far more than his hips. When I was taught to swim. I was taught to keep my hips flat & use my shoulders. This creates a tension in the body that seems to help propel my body past my hand which is planted after the catch. I would like very much any comments. It seems to me that Phelps does this also, although mush better & with more action and speed produced.
