Assuming an excellent technique in the 50 free,
where can 1 second be gained? The start, the turn,
the equipment?
All of the above. Having worked on improving 50s for awhile (and just dropped .8 in the 50 free), you need:
great starts
great turns
SDKs on the starts and turns, even for free
great breakouts
a technical suit drops time
a fast pool for a meet drops time
don't breathe too much
read ande's blog (although he's doing LC now)
strength. Are you lifting weights?
Work on:
quality sprints in practice. lots of 50s, 25s and 12.5s with plenty of rest.
do texas 25s with 2 turns to work on turns.
work on DPS and build 25s.
develop a huge kick. How's your kick?
practice kicking fast too.
use fins and small paddles (if you want, I don't, but I've been told it's good) to work on explosive speed before meets.
practice finishes and swimming through the wall.
be aggressive.
Good luck!
Matt: Now when I see your ISP mirror, it reminds me that I'm typing on my new mac. Yay!
Hey Fortress... What's "DPS" mean.
I'd try practicing 25's with flippers, paddles, and a snorkel all out. Using a snorkel can stimulate high altitude training.
Hey Fortress... What's "DPS" mean.
I'd try practicing 25's with flippers, paddles, and a snorkel all out. Using a snorkel can stimulate high altitude training.
DPS = distance per stroke. Even though you're swimming a 50, it's still important. I do a lot of 25s working on this, thanks to Paul Smith. I mix up the 25s, doing sprint, DPS, build, easy, kick, etc. I'm not saying I'm great at it. I still have a high stroke rate in a 50, but I do it faithfully. I'm sure others, such as Rich Abrahams, can give better advice. Plus, there is the "Ask Ande" thread.
Warren:
I am living proof that you do not need good "conditioning" for a goodly drop in the 50 free. I am in good shape for my age, but I have not done any engine building in the pool for awhile and I just swam my fastest 50 since college after being sick. This is masters and sprinting is not utterly defined by conditioning in the pool. Or I'd be sunk. Better to spend some time practicing sprinting, lifting weights, SDK-ing, and napping before meets.
Assuming an excellent technique in the 50 free,
where can 1 second be gained? The start, the turn,
the equipment?
better condtioning can get you 1 second.
Da second! da unfathomable second! Sounds something like this:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
--Rudyard Kipling
I have been working on taking TWO seconds off my 50 meter free time, long or short course. I have already taken one second off. This has been going on for about two years. Funny, on some days when you feel you did horribly, you did okay, other days, you feel you were fast, you weren't so fast. I need to do everything Leslie mentioned above, plus do a faster SDK, make a better turn (mine is old fashioned, I turn and come out on my front), plus have confidence and enough air to do a SDK on the way back. On May 12th I'll have a chance at swimming a LCM 50, and I am gonna go underwater all the way to the magical place Phelps goes to. I might even try and do a 50 fly, which almost caused my demise a year ago, when I thought I would drown and die at the 45 meter line. Take care, billy fanstone
so fort what kind of stuff have you been doing in the pool? yardage? i saw you went a 25 in the 50 free, that's smoking fast
Thanks Jesse.
Yardage? :confused: No, I'm not familiar with that concept. :rofl: I haven't done any real enginge building since last summer/fall because of my shoulders and time constraints. Plus, you don't need tons of yardage for sprinting.
I've just been doing what I listed above really. When I swim on my own, 3-4 times a week max, I warm up, do drills, a little pacework and then loads of 25s and underwater SDK-ing with and without my monofin and warm down. 2500. 3000 if I'm really ambitious, but not lately. When I swim with my team, at most 1-2 times a week during the school year, I do around 4000. So I usually only go 4000 1x per week with a more organized workout. I usually go on the day(s) when the team focuses on strokes and sprint work. 2 days of 4000 is a big week for me. I avoid distance free day if possible and I adapt distance free sets. (I'm not really a freestyler, just a good free sprinter. Or at least that's what I've always thought.)
When I'm being uber-disciplined and not consumed with work or kid stuff, I run 2x a week for 30-40 minutes and I lift moderate weights 2x per week. (But did not do that the last 2 weeks when I was doing my sickness taper.) I stretch too. I'm pretty flexible; I think that helps. Well, the loosey goosey shoulder tendons don't help.
Because I don't have the time or shoulders for engine building (although I'm hoping to do more next year after prolo), I'm a big believer in quality over quantity and intensity over yardage. Just for fast sprints, not for other stuff like the 200s or the 400 IM. I've just basically been following Ande and Paul Smith's sprinting advice and training mostly but not entirely on my own. I feel like I should wear a sign saying "I am an Ande's blog addict. Sprint. Do it often."
I have a teammate who used to be a sprinter and is now hooked on engine building and is in amazing condition. He said, however, that his sprints were a bit off at zones and his distance events were fabulous. I think it's hard to train for both.
Are you still focusing on the shorter distances?
you went 27.9 now
tell us more about you
age
sex
your current training
previous training
when is your focus meet
strength
height
weight
put a video on youtube
splits (what was the time for your first 25?)
BTW fort, those were some excellent answers
ande
Assuming an excellent technique in the 50 free,
where can 1 second be gained? The start, the turn,
the equipment?
