I am trying to improve my freestyle. I have been working on balance,timing,counting strokes.
When watching videos of world classs swimmers, I noticed that on swimmers like Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, that their arm in the water is fully extended(straight) and angled below the corresponding shoulder. It looks as though the arm that is about to catch the water is angled to where it points towards where the pool wall and pool bottom meet. Not pointed directly down but not pointed directly straight out from the shoulder to the wall.
It seems like most of the best freestylers have their extended arms pointed below their bottom shoulder at an angle before the pull. This also appears to only happen once they have finished the rotation to that side.
Has anyone else noticed this or am I way off?
Thanks,
David
Then you should consider the possibility that you haven't yet swum your BEST 100 Free.
I've mentioned before that I coached the sprint group at West Point from Sept 96 to March 99 and that we devoted most of our time to learning and practicing movement economy - longer strokes, less reliance on stroke rate, better blending of pull and kick into a harmonious whole.
A moment when it was strikingly clear how much their swimming was being transformed was during the prelim session of the Patriot League championship in Feb 97. Joe Novak anchored the 400 Medley Relay in qualifying. He had done 49.1 the previous year as a plebe in the same meet and did not make any Army relays. He split 43.9. When I calculated his split and read it to the split-taker, the other cadets sitting within earshot exclaimed "No way! That looked too slow!" The next season he split 43.1 to make up a body-length deficit anchoring the free relay against Navy. The Navy swimmer looked like he was going much harder. He also looked like he was standing still.
When you get it right, you might swim a time that will surprise -- maybe even shock -- you, and wonder how you managed to do it without hurting.
I sure hope I haven't swam my fastest 100 free. But as for a not-painful 100? Hmmm... maybe, maybe not. I think a 6-beat kick creates pain and I think a 6-beat kick is essential to a fast 100. My last breakthrough on the 100 free was when I decided to take it out fast, with my 6-beat sprint kick, and trust that I would survive the 2nd 50. I had been stuck at 1:03-high since the age of 13 and that approach took me to a 1:01-high (at the age of 26 or 27). And that hurt.
In addition to trying to train more consistently, I am working on stroke efficiency, turns, etc to get my time lower, but I think there might still be some pain involved in that faster time. And that's just peachy... provided the time improves!! :)
The slower you were when you were younger, the easier it is to go faster now! :D
I am not a former Olympian (unlike some very computer-savvy 73 year olds on this site) so I hope to go faster!! George, I can only dream of times like you swam! (Even if I adjust the times to account for the fact that I'm a girl!) :)
What a peculiar way to characterize a post in which I urged someone to believe in the possibility of dramatic improvement...transformation even.
I said "sometimes" but you left that out. I was also referring to your body of work, not a single post in particular. Do you acknowledge other views, or no views at all, or just fun views, on swimming? Or, is your approach the only view you will consider? What if you just love to swim and occasionally will tinker with a thing here or there?
I am not suggesting that Spitz was swimming in this fashion but illustrating that the analysis is flawed by failing to take into account the contribution of the opposite arm and the kick.
Thanks for pointing this out because this always bugged me, too.
There's one thing I'm absolutely positive about in swimming: the only way to accelerate forward is to apply a force against the water. The only way to swim faster is to either increase this force, decrease the resistance to this force or both.
There's one thing I'm absolutely positive about in swimming: the only way to accelerate forward is to apply a force against the water.
You can push off the wall: no force against the water. :thhbbb:
I sure hope I haven't swam my fastest 100 free. But as for a not-painful 100? Hmmm... maybe, maybe not. I think a 6-beat kick creates pain and I think a 6-beat kick is essential to a fast 100. My last breakthrough on the 100 free was when I decided to take it out fast, with my 6-beat sprint kick, and trust that I would survive the 2nd 50. I had been stuck at 1:03-high since the age of 13 and that approach took me to a 1:01-high (at the age of 26 or 27). And that hurt.
In addition to trying to train more consistently, I am working on stroke efficiency, turns, etc to get my time lower, but I think there might still be some pain involved in that faster time. And that's just peachy... provided the time improves!! :) I am sure I have swam my fastest and do not intend to try to swim any faster.
On the issue of power from hip rotation, it is interesting to consider butterfly True that.
Butterfly is also much more energy consumming, hence the limited distances that people are typically able to swim. Breaststroke (no rotation)? It's a much slower stroke, and one where kicking contribution is huge.
Really, I donno.
If that much power was generated from body rotation, could we expect backstroke to be faster than it is? Well... food for thoughts.
I think it was in Swimming Fastest that the author cited a study that showed that the "kinetic chain" may be a viable "feel" but that it isn't feasible in terms of physics. Not sure if science can really rule in or out the potential contribution of body rotation.
It's funny you should mention Swimming Fastest. Because one of the main highlight of this edition, as far as freestyle is concern, was that the author admitted having been wrong in with his "anchor theory". You certainly remember its two previous editions (Swimming Faster, Swimming Even Faster). He was the biggest defender of the "Lift theory" in accordance to which the hand does't travel backward at all. Not even one inche. The underlying theory was that swimmers actually move their hands from side to side, in some sweeping motions, using them as propelor blades creating solid lifts. Maglischo, the same way that Terry does at the moment, did promote the "anchor" theory for roughly 2 decades. His main opponent was Rushall if I'm not mistaken. Well Maglischo only recently (2003) retracted in the very first pages of Swimming Fastest.
And to tell you the truth Lyndsay, I expect him to retract on the body rotation power statement as well (page 80). He got distracted by the "hip" thing (power generated by the hips). And that's unfortunate I find. Because while I have difficulty to see how power can be generated from the hips, I definitely see or feel that the back muscles (latissimus dorsi) benefit from this body rotation. Again I'll refer to my relunctant fuel "Lawn mower". When we need to start it for the first time of year, with the huge cloud of blue smoke, we naturally give it a huge body twist. I see a analogy with swimming the free style, though I might be wrong.
I am of the theory don't believe anything you read and half of what you see. Most of the swim books I have read almost fall into the first category and can't believe everthing I see when I watch swimmers like Thorpe and Hackett wow what swimmers they are.
The books by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi are really good. I like Finding Flow - about getting into the zone during everyday life and would highly recommend it.
I am not anywhere remotely near an elite swimmer, but I too have had a race where everything just seemed to click. It was the 100 *** (sorry, I know this is a freestyle thread!), which is usually the most painful of the breaststroke races for me. I dropped nearly 2 seconds from my best time (1:20 mid down to 1:18.8). I hardly remember anything about the race except that I felt smooth, in control, and like I could have kept going.
