So after all the endless discussions on this topic....and the challenge in trying to "coach" in writing I actually found myself helping out a local pro triathlete last week with just this thing.
As is the case on this forum and other times I've attempted to explain; catch, rotation, lengthening of stroke, maintaining stroke while accelerating, etc. I found again that some folks have a "natural" sense of feel for this stuff....its VERY hard to coach feel.
So.....I spent yesterday breaking down my stroke wit assistance from Jane Scott (Boulder Coach) and trying to better explain what it is I do unconsciously that others have to think about...some observations:
- In a series of 25's (all from a push) I tasked myself with keeping 11 strokes per lap and to descend each 25 till I added a stroke.....my goal to see what changed.
- First observation....I can literally slip my hand/forearm/arm thru the water without feeling any sense of "pressure" and take 11 strokes as slow as 25 seconds.....I can accelerate and descend down to 12+ keeping the same 11 strokes....faster than that my kick "kicks in" and I add another stroke and get to the low 11 range.
- What was different? First thing I noticed is that although it seems my hand track stayed the same on each 25 there was an ever increasing sense of "pressure" I could feel as I got faster. I would equate the sensation change as dramatic as moving my hand thru air on the easiest 25 to literally feeling the sensation I would feel pushing on the wall to climb out of the pool.
- So what happened? First I was able to discern a "tensioning" of my arm...but further examining this with Janes help it became apparent that this "coiling like a spring" as she described it was coming from my core....very interesting to really focus on this and realize how much that changed everything.....from there it extended to my catch....and ultimately the entire stroke movement thru the water.
- What next? We asked a few other swimmers to work on this as well and t change their focus to their core and it was amazing that all of them said the same thing....they could not feel anything in that area...when we asked to try and tense it resulted in other parts of the stroke falling apart...
- Thoughts for now; I really do think that to change these things takes an incredible amount of breaking down the stroke via drill work as has been discussed over and over here...the difference is really taking the time to think specifically how these drills translate to actually swimming...so many people I see do drills without a real sense of their purpose.
I think the key drills for me at this stage continue to be variations of sculling, the "arrow" drill shown on a link in an earlier thread that U of A uses and head of swimming (tarzan).
So....my coffee has run out and I have bloviated enough for now....very interesting for me however!
The most pithy description I can come up with is that the expression of power feels "concentrated" and the water feels "thick" to my hands and forearms.
This is a great description of power in the water. When things are truly 'on' for me, the water does feel thick... like I can grab on to it and zoom forward (well, putter perhaps...)
When I am out of shape or just out of whack, the water feels slippery and I can't get any grip on it. I also feel like I'm about 2 ft tall.
Terry.....this attempt at stepping outside myself and really trying to figure out and put into words what comes naturally has been a very cool experience....and at the same time frustrating in my attempts to communicate what I'm doing.....for me and a few people I've been working with....
It brings back for me the discussions in the past about wether some things cannot ever be taught/learned....?
Fartlek training is great for working on getting a feel for finding the best turnover/kick rate balance while increasing your speed! I did a set of 4 x 400's today. I negative split number 1 and 3 and on number 2 and 4 I did a 75 easy then a 25 fast. (Fartlek) I counted my strokes and really paid attention to my stroke rate - trying to maintain close to the same turnover by increasing my kick and lengthening my catch/pull. It was a good workout! It really makes you concentrate on using your core muscles.
I just got back from vacation and I’m catching up on some of the threads.
Paul, I think your initial post is great. In the past I’ve never been much of a drill advocate as I shared your view that they often weren’t connected enough with improving racing speed. You mentioned the U of A drills. Have you seen the new video series from Frank Busch and staff? I saw the freestyle one and was totally blown away. The next day I order one of those snorkels (which hasn’t come yet, darn). I love the way they progress through each drill and always end with 4 X 25 swim descending the time in order to never forget that speed in the water is the goal. I also can relate to keeping the drills to 25 yards at a time so you maintain your concentration. Their drills are also very “kickcentric” which I can relate to.
I also liked what you said about the varying gears in your swimming. I used to only have two gears, easy and all out. When I started learning how to integrate my kick better with my stroke my gears became more like the old Buick Dynaflow transmission (now that’s dating myself). I feel I can adjust the effort on my kick more like a valve rather than an off and on switch. As I open the valve my speed increases but my stroke count either stays the same or goes down. Today, on a set of 50’s SCM on the 3:00 with a push start I was able to average 31’s with 27 strokes (13 down / 14 back) but it required that kick valve to be wide open.
See you Friday at Swim Labs
Rich
First of all welcome back Terry! I have always tried to focus on every kind of feeling associated to swimming that I can think of (or sense in any way)...If my streamlining is not optimal for example, then I can usually feel it if my mind is open enough to the sensations.....A lot of the comments Terry made about body balance and anchor points on a different thread somewhere were things I also felt I percieved from general concentration on the physical sensation we can pick up when we let our minds open up more to the sensual side of swimming.....unfortunately my experiences don't count for much because I am no expert thats for sure....I just identify with a lot of what both you and Paul post based on similar experiences....Now if I could only turn those experiences into massive improvements and time drops....I have a lot of secret nemesis' to deal with now...and it looks like most of them (well all of them except Rich....LOL!!) are faster than me right now....LOL!!
Newmastersswimmer
....I have a lot of secret nemesis' to deal with now...and it looks like most of them (well all of them except Rich....LOL!!) are faster than me right now....LOL!!
Newmastersswimmer
I've got radar when it comes to your hidden digs Borky...:thhbbb:
I'm being very good about examining my swimming of late, as I work on my endurance for distance on Front Crawl. Still feel a little clumsy when I rotate to breathe on left but it's coming along...tonight I have IM and Fly focus...if I can just get the SDK down...
During the faster repeats, the most significant changes are that I drive from my opposite foot to my spearing-forward hand with all the muscle and mass between them and feel my bodyline knife forward with significant momentum as a result.
I too find the diagonal connection most prevalent (opposite hand and foot) when trying to add speed without increasing spl.The kick that falls in sync with my hand entry is clearly more powerful than the others. (4 beat, 6 beat)
I'm just a ham 'n egger, but I too notice that I drop down a stroke when the kick is full on. When I swimming a bit easier and relaxed I end up adding a stroke.
I too find the diagonal connection most prevalent (opposite hand and foot) when trying to add speed without increasing spl.The kick that falls in sync with my hand entry is clearly more powerful than the others. (4 beat, 6 beat) posted by David Barra in response to Terry's observations
Its interesting that I have never noticed this sensation before...but now that both you and Terry have mentioned it I will try and keep my mind open to that sensation as well and see if I can sense something similar. Thanks for posting about it.
Newmastersswimmer
BTW Zappa rules!!....Well he's not Jerry Garcia...but he can play that guitar!....just thought I would slip that in if thats o.k.....its an afterthought only.
