Gennadi Turetski, whose two most successful swimmers are Popov and Klim, made recently a presentation for Russian swimming coaches with a video demonstration. Below are a few points from the freestyle part of this presentation that I found insightful but practical in the same time.
Swimming movements originates from the mass center – the lower back.
Having entered the water from a dive you must transfer the motion into a horizontal vector as soon as possible. Popov’s first movement underwater is his legs’ moving up to throw away the water that is trailing his body
A javelin thrown from the deck enters the water through a hole and glides in a horizontal direction without any unnecessary force it is rigid. In the pool Gennadi showed a start drill that I found very good for the development body as a rigid part and learning to forward your energy to the other end of the pool. You put one foot on the edge of the pool and the other leg kneels on the deck and push off. You should be able to do a long horizontal glide.
During your swim you focus on forward movement, not on forward force.
During pull you position your thumb outward for a more efficient catch.
One hand’s catch and the other’s exit occur simultaneously
In freestyle you don’t pull. Instead you move yourself forward over the pulling hand.
While finishing you don’t shorten you stroke to increase the rate. Instead you lengthen the stroke and turn on an intense kick
In a 50m sprint the most important indicator is the swimmer’s speed at the 15m mark
Rhythm is very important during a turn because the right rhythm helps you to push off the wall with the rebound wave thus gaining a 0.5m advantage. You count like: One (first hand entry), Two (second hand entry) and Three (rebound. Not push off, but rebound). Popov seems to do that amazingly well at both low and high speed.
Gennadi believes that fast kick has low amplitude and high rate.
And I like this statement of his:
“In the race you don’t go to the wall, you go through the wall” Probably like in life.
Dmitri
Former Member
As the most beautiful language #3 I would place the Ukranian ahead of the Russian.
Just like the Ukrainian women. (My wife, of Ukrainian extraction, made me write that.)
-LBJ
During your swim you focus on forward movement, not on forward force.
Dmitri,
What was he driving at with this point? I can make out everything else beside this one.
Just like the Ukrainian women. (My wife, of Ukrainian extraction, made me write that.)
-LBJ
You are right.
One more reason to take part in the Ukranian masters championships 3 - 4 times per year. Turetski didn't say that in his lecture.
"One hand’s catch and the other’s exit occur simultaneously."
I'm not sure I agree with this one. It depends on the distance swam, how strong one's kick is and how long your strokes are. That isn't how I swim free....am I doing it wrong?:dunno:
Swim4life are you commenting on her beautiful stroke? I love it as I have said before everyone is an individual and no one swims the same. She is very graceful.
Oh no...her stroke is gorgeous. I was commenting on the first post listing Turetski's opinions. The one statement he made that I don't agree with was "One hand’s catch and the other’s exit occur simultaneously." I agree...That depends on the individual. Its not how I swim and I watched Popov on one of the links. It looks like he doesn't do it either so...I feel better!:)
Swim4life are you commenting on her beautiful stroke? I love it as I have said before everyone is an individual and no one swims the same. She is very graceful.
Popov and Klim were sprinters, but they're history now. Look at Cullen Jones' clean hand entry:
www.youtube.com/watch
Perhaps that's where the legacy of the Russian maverick coach can be traced today. Mail slot precision, minimal waste of energy, focus on forward motion.
swimr4life;86957,
"One hand’s catch and the other’s exit occur simultaneously."
I'm not sure I agree with this one.
I agree with you but only because I, personally, believe in Front Quadrant Swimming. Turetski's description is Middle Quadrant swimming
It depends on the distance swam, how strong one's kick is and how long your strokes are. That isn't how I swim free....am I doing it wrong?:dunno:
Not necessarily wrong.
Alex Popov swims this way, but Ian Thorpe (for one) is a Front Quadrant Swimmer.
Originally Posted by khodko forums.usms.org/.../viewpost.gif
During your swim you focus on forward movement, not on forward force.
Dmitri,
What was he driving at with this point? I can make out everything else beside this one.
Kevin,
This is my interpretation. Not concentrating on a raw force in swimming seems to be his swimming phylosophy.
It likes asking the question "How my body should move through a high resistance environment further and faster with less amount of effort?" He talks about drag reduction, change in a body balance, muscles elasticity ... and then suggests specific changes. I need to listen his lecture again (2 hour DVD) to extract these specific things.
This topic confirms how complex is a swimming motion. Good. Always to learn smth new.
Dmitri
According to the drill video I've been studying from the Arizona program, the catch is primarily coordinated with the hips and should be initiated instananeously after the hip drives down and forward. They have several drills to enforce this timing.
