My 50 BR video --Working Link

Adorable daughter! From what I could see you were looking forward when you were breathing. You want to be always looking down at the line. Have you head at about a 45 degree angle. I remember reading a book that talked about Kurt Grote and how when he was on form he looked like "a master jewler hunched over his work." Also try to get your body a little higher out of the water. Like...mid-bicep to elbowish region. You don't want to go too high because that will slow you down, but the higher you go the more push you can when you throw your body and hands forward. Definately go deeper then you won't run into your wake. My coach was just getting on me to do this too. She said about a foot and half was the ideal depth and that's where you start to hit fresh water. 3 feet to me seems a little deep. I end up popping up when I start that deep rather than surfacing and going...if that makes sense. GOOD LUCK!!! :woot: p.s. Wanna race? ;)

Nice job. Before having read the other comments...I would have said the same thing about your turn. Your breakout was sooner than it could have been. When you push off the wall...really streamline and hold it. Your ears should be literally squeezed by your biceps. (Kirk and Fort are right about the depth. Ideally 18" below the surface will get you in the zone to prevent the effects of water drag. Any push offs near the waterline will put the brakes on quickly.) Once the initial burst of speed is fading...go for a big strong pull out...and one downward dolphin kick as both of your hands are pushing past the waistline. I teach the kids to do the kick and the hand motion at the same time. My daughter is a breastroker (uhhgg)...but she kicks butt. Right now she's about 38 for the 50...which is pretty good for an 11 year old. Her times dropped after she mastered the pull out. Yours will too.

I like your video and your daughter!!! Your glide should be a little longer on each stroke and you should be going much further underwater on your pullout. It does not look like your head goes under water enough on your strokes and it looks like the ones that were closer to the wall were not complete strokes - looked like you were cutting them short to make them fast. I really admire how well you are doing and definitely your time and to think you don't have a coach!:woot: :woot:

Finally saw it. It was hard to see much with the shakiness. Hey don't criticise my little Frank Capra!! LOL I can't post the 100 and 200 for her swhizzing the camera around. Well I could post it for cute factor I guess. It's like watching a 70's music show on TV. I saw the head bob (acceptable at eh end of a 200 not in a 50) and yeah my breakout was way too soon. I shortened the breakouts for that race...trying to keep maximum speed off of the dive...it worked to a point but then left me with extra strokes to make. Perhaps I hurried everything up too much. I think my normal breakout that I do on the 100 and 200 is probably fine and I should focus on making the breakouts longer for those longer races. It's good to see yourself on tape regardless. Interesting points about the knees will have to look at that...I definitely was not trying to wave in that race. I was told 50 should be flatter, mine was almost old school breaststroke. The guy on the right has a good technique though--so that flies in the face of that theory! Maybe with the right break out I'd have gone faster. With so much wrong it's amazing I did a faster time but at least it means I can fix a few things and go faster :D In addition, Kyra, I tend to not get up much in the water...which leads to head bobbing to breathe. I think I wil have to do some work on the insweep part. If I get out of the water a little further I'll have room to breathe. Well hopefully I'll be nodding less for NEM and then Zones.

The link brings me to a page saying the requested video is not available.

Wow, I think the swim looked pretty terrific except your pull stroke seemed wide and you don't streamline enough nor long enough. But hey, you just recently got back to swimming. I say, Good Job!!! Videos are superb in being able to critique ourselves, wish I had access to one. I must say my heart sank a bit when I saw the pool; I was always a pool competitor and I miss it so very much; I miss the chlorine smell, the lane lines, everything about it. What kind of swimsuit were you wearing? It sure looked like bermuda shorts from my perspective!!! Donna

Wow, I think the swim looked pretty terrific except your pull stroke seemed wide and you don't streamline enough nor long enough. But hey, you just recently got back to swimming. I say, Good Job!!! Videos are superb in being able to critique ourselves, wish I had access to one. I must say my heart sank a bit when I saw the pool; I was always a pool competitor and I miss it so very much; I miss the chlorine smell, the lane lines, everything about it. What kind of swimsuit were you wearing? It sure looked like bermuda shorts from my perspective!!! Donna Donna I love how you always make me feel good about my swimming. I was disappointed to see myself and how much head movement etc. At least it's a ref point to work from though. They were Speedo jammers btw :) I know you were expecting to see Great Britain across the butt...I just couldn't find those.

A few comments, most of which echo other posts: 1. WAAY too short on your underwater pullouts, both on the start and at the turn. Consider learning the "one-hole" entry from the blocks, which provides better streamlining off the start and gives better leg propulsion on water entry. Be very careful on your arm recovery on the pullout - keep your hands and elbows close to your body on the recovery. A dolphin kick is now legal on the pullout recovery, but you are a wimp if you succumb to this godforsaken Kitajima-apologist component - it's breaststroke not butterfly. :frustrated: 2. (George Park - where are you?) It appears that you are "swimming uphil", such that your legs and chest present a large drag area, whic slows you down. 3. You are starting your pull before you've finished your kick (probably to speed your turnover). While others may debate that this is acceptable (look at Mark Warneke's 50 breaststroke style, for example - he uses this technique to good advantage - he was world 50 champion at age 35 years, and I don't mean that he was the 35 - 39 age group champion - he was WORLD CHAMPION). Having said that, it seems to me that if you were to streamline your arm recovery you might be faster, even if your turnover was slightly slower. :blah: 4. TURN technique: :bow: Buy Dave Denniston's breaststroke turns and pullouts video. :bow: You can buy it from Glenn Mills (1980 US 200 breaststroke Olympian) at http://www.goswim.tv. Dave offers a six-step technique that is far and away the sleekest and fastest open turn I've ever seen. Watch the video. Commit the six steps to memory. Practice them every time you do an open turn in practice, warmup, or event. And don't forget to thank Dave when you swim faster - you will swim faster if you learn to turn even remotely like Davo. And please, everyone, donate money to help him walk again at http://www.davedenniston.com

I should have my posting privileges revoked ... I apologize that Rich swam a 35, not a 36 ... I apologize for my error and will now go sit and the corner and think about it for the next hour ... LOL I just wasn't sure..thought maybe it was some sort of Fly *** vendetta thing.... ;) Seriously thanks for all the tips.

Nice swim! I certainly helps to see video of yourself. First time I saw myself swimming fly on video, I almost quit swimming. I swim a different style of breaststroke, more like the guy on the right. I would suggest spending a little more time in streamline. You should be in the optimum streamline position when the kick is fired to maximize your propulsion. There should be a point in your stroke where you are completely streamlined, at the end of the kick, even if it's only for a brief second. There's some good videos of Hansen, Kitajima and Oleg Lisogor on YouTube, check them out.