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?
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Former Member
The biggest "loper" is not Phelps but Lezak. And he's always been that way.
I don't have a link to it - but if you watch the 4x100 free relay from the Pan Pacifics (the standing world record swim) I think you'll see Phelps with the lope (but still not as much as Lezak). Another interesting part of this race is that the Walker, Jones, Phelps, and Lezak all breathe on just about every stroke the last 50M of their legs.
Other interesting things about these guys:
Lezak does not dolphin kick off the walls. He flutter kicks. So does Vanderkaay.
Phelps has exceptional reach on his pull - watch the underwater youtube video of the recent duel in the pool.
The biggest "loper" is not Phelps but Lezak. And he's always been that way.
I don't have a link to it - but if you watch the 4x100 free relay from the Pan Pacifics (the standing world record swim) I think you'll see Phelps with the lope (but still not as much as Lezak). Another interesting part of this race is that the Walker, Jones, Phelps, and Lezak all breathe on just about every stroke the last 50M of their legs.
Other interesting things about these guys:
Lezak does not dolphin kick off the walls. He flutter kicks. So does Vanderkaay.
Phelps has exceptional reach on his pull - watch the underwater youtube video of the recent duel in the pool.
