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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rtodd;87553
I have developed a lope. I think it comes from the slight pause during breathing and the the increased velocity for the entering arm to "catch up" to the leg cycle. This arm velocity causes an increase in momentum and it is taken advantage of with a bit longer and stronger glide.
I'm no Phelps (way too far from it) but when I "lope", even though it looks a bit like a limp (one arm, the left for me, pushes back stronger to allow
my body and right arm, to kind of lunge forward stronger/faster with my right arm entering further afield), the whole loping undulation produces a dolphin-like general body (well the best word is) "undulation". It is almost as if I'm trying to propel my body to dolphin its way out of the water (in free style) and dive in with my right-arm. I've noticed it works best (i.e., I feel faster) whenever I'm accelerating.
I guess it is OK to a point. Thorpe had none of this and I think his stroke was the most pleasing to watch.
However I did notice Thorpe loping somewhat, specially in relays when he's trying to catch up to competitors, as he's accelerating and increasing his tempo. He doesn't so much increase his turnovers as he seems to be increasing his distance per stroke (much as a Cheetah speeding up for the last burst of speed) reaching forward further ahead (but still with a bent elbow recovery). His freestyle 100m, 200m or 400m are a pleasure to watch.
rtodd;87553
I have developed a lope. I think it comes from the slight pause during breathing and the the increased velocity for the entering arm to "catch up" to the leg cycle. This arm velocity causes an increase in momentum and it is taken advantage of with a bit longer and stronger glide.
I'm no Phelps (way too far from it) but when I "lope", even though it looks a bit like a limp (one arm, the left for me, pushes back stronger to allow
my body and right arm, to kind of lunge forward stronger/faster with my right arm entering further afield), the whole loping undulation produces a dolphin-like general body (well the best word is) "undulation". It is almost as if I'm trying to propel my body to dolphin its way out of the water (in free style) and dive in with my right-arm. I've noticed it works best (i.e., I feel faster) whenever I'm accelerating.
I guess it is OK to a point. Thorpe had none of this and I think his stroke was the most pleasing to watch.
However I did notice Thorpe loping somewhat, specially in relays when he's trying to catch up to competitors, as he's accelerating and increasing his tempo. He doesn't so much increase his turnovers as he seems to be increasing his distance per stroke (much as a Cheetah speeding up for the last burst of speed) reaching forward further ahead (but still with a bent elbow recovery). His freestyle 100m, 200m or 400m are a pleasure to watch.
