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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Interesting thread. Thanks for the video links. I agree that Phelps had a "lope" in Athens, but it was less obvious. Notice how symmetric Thorpe's stroke was.
Six months ago I switched to bilateral breathing which eliminated my lope, (and helped my shoulders, distributing the load more evenly). On the other hand, I think I do have more of a tendency to swim flat, and of course I get less air.
Interesting thread. Thanks for the video links. I agree that Phelps had a "lope" in Athens, but it was less obvious. Notice how symmetric Thorpe's stroke was.
Six months ago I switched to bilateral breathing which eliminated my lope, (and helped my shoulders, distributing the load more evenly). On the other hand, I think I do have more of a tendency to swim flat, and of course I get less air.
