Everyone who watched coverage of the World Championships this year no doubt noticed Michael Phelps new distinct lope in his freestyle. I know a lot of other swimmers do this too, and their freaking fast, so this morning I asked my coach about it. She looked at me quizzically and said it's a very bad habit to have and if you don't do it naturally just forget about it.
But, Phelps didn't have this very obvious lope up to now, and he just broke 5 world records with it. So it doesn't seem like it can be that bad. I'm not to prove my coach wrong, I'm just curious.
So if anybody knows anything, please share. Why does it make some fast and for others it could be considered a bad habit? What's the trick to learning it? If it is a bad habit, why did Phelps bother to pronounce it?
Everyone who watched coverage of the World Championships this year no doubt noticed Michael Phelps new distinct lope in his freestyle. I know a lot of other swimmers do this too, and their freaking fast, so this morning I asked my coach about it. She looked at me quizzically and said it's a very bad habit to have and if you don't do it naturally just forget about it.
But, Phelps didn't have this very obvious lope up to now, and he just broke 5 world records with it. So it doesn't seem like it can be that bad. I'm not to prove my coach wrong, I'm just curious.
So if anybody knows anything, please share. Why does it make some fast and for others it could be considered a bad habit? What's the trick to learning it? If it is a bad habit, why did Phelps bother to pronounce it?
Kyra, I could be wrong but ...
It is a bad habit, it obviously works for Phelps as does breathing every stroke on fly. Neither of which I would advocate. Loping can lead to a severe stroke imbalance and make you far more inefficient in the water. As soon as I see it (unless it's on a REALLY strong swimmer) I start having them alternate breathe ... It can make the non breathing side arm slip ... it can mess with your tempo ... Phelps' is a result of his underwater kicks and he has enough power to do it well (obviously)
Everyone who watched coverage of the World Championships this year no doubt noticed Michael Phelps new distinct lope in his freestyle. I know a lot of other swimmers do this too, and their freaking fast, so this morning I asked my coach about it. She looked at me quizzically and said it's a very bad habit to have and if you don't do it naturally just forget about it.
But, Phelps didn't have this very obvious lope up to now, and he just broke 5 world records with it. So it doesn't seem like it can be that bad. I'm not to prove my coach wrong, I'm just curious.
So if anybody knows anything, please share. Why does it make some fast and for others it could be considered a bad habit? What's the trick to learning it? If it is a bad habit, why did Phelps bother to pronounce it?
Kyra, I could be wrong but ...
It is a bad habit, it obviously works for Phelps as does breathing every stroke on fly. Neither of which I would advocate. Loping can lead to a severe stroke imbalance and make you far more inefficient in the water. As soon as I see it (unless it's on a REALLY strong swimmer) I start having them alternate breathe ... It can make the non breathing side arm slip ... it can mess with your tempo ... Phelps' is a result of his underwater kicks and he has enough power to do it well (obviously)
