Finally Youtubed Zones videos

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:01:43 GMT

Hi Gull, My wife and I just bought a piece of property in New Bern. I noticed that you had posted a message stating that swim for the New Bern master's team. We are going to start building a house in the next few months with the goal of moving there in a year and we are both Master's swimmers. I received a packet from the YMCA that says there is a Master's Team but I was hoping to get some additional info from the coach or a team member about your workouts, the team, etc. Hopefully, as our house is being built, we would go ahead and join the Y and make some team workouts in order to meet everyone and get to know the New Bern area better. Could you point me in the right direction? Thanks, Karl Koch kkoch@indy.rr.com

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 05:55:27 GMT

LOVED watching every video (multiple times!) Thanks for posting Swim Stud. Okay, I've got some time on my hands here. But really, all the races got me pumped for my meet this upcoming weekend. So, THANK YOU for posting. I'm very impressed by all of you. :applaud: I'm tempted to hightail out of Dixie into Colonies and join in all the fun!

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 12:31:53 GMT

Ah, nuts. Now I'll have to go into the witness protection program again. I'm going to ask for a cooler name and smaller nose this time.

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 08:22:18 GMT

Wow, very cool pictures, look how happy everyone is! Boo-hoo, wish I could have been there but thanks so much Fort for the pictures. I first quickly looked them over and saw Jim T with something in his hand and I immediately thought it was the "pole" and then saw differently... donna

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Swimmy — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 01:00:32 GMT

Great pics! What a fun night! We all must do it again sometime. Chaos is much better looking without the flashlight under his face! Love the pic of Fortress and Stufmuffin! Swimmy :)

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 15:08:30 GMT

At popular demand, I uploaded some photos from the colonies zones dinner to a public photo sharing site on the web. So have fun commenting, but note that we all look happy. So do not disrupt this state of affairs! You will quickly realize that Dave "Chaos" Barra looks better without a flashlight stuck under his face. flickr.com/.../ Thanks for the great advice Peter and Donna! Unforunately, I don't get to practice starts very often. There's often an annoying cone there. But I'll try to be Mindful. And I can obviously always work on my breakouts on turns. What fun! Geat Photos Les! Thanks for posting them.

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 11:57:19 GMT

You are working your SDK's very hard, Leslie, of course you're anxious to breathe; it also is possible that your brain was sending panicky little messages that you might be too deep, surface please! (you weren't too deep). I think that will be the hardest thing to work on further with the SDK's: extending your effective range so you break the water into a very assertive stroke pattern (also knowing for sure before a race how many SDK's you can normally take comfortably). In a way, it is like the breastroke breakout, you can bail too early and sacrifice easy distance and milk it too long and kill your momentum. You are well along the road already.

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 11:19:34 GMT

Flattery will get you everywhere. ;) You guys all made my day with your kind posts! Peter: My team was sitting in the bleachers on deck near lane 8 right by the starting blocks, so they were in a good position to see the finish. Coach and others said close call, but I probably should have taken another stroke. I lunged and felt like there was nothing there and in my brain went "oh sh*t." But no matter. I will swim it again in ... in October. LOL. I watched it again. I think the biggest weakness was my breakouts. I looked like I was in a hurry to breathe. How can I fix that, Donna? There are actually two reasons for your backstroke breakout to be as it is. The first is either over-excitement to surface, breathe, and start racing/swimming, and the second one is your hands/arms angle too much directly upward or skyward when you decide to surface, thus causing you to pop more straight up than forward. The way to avoid this is to work on how it feels to gradually angle upwards, not all of a sudden. And to make sure that your hands do not angle upwards for that will cause you to surface the same way. I think we all get used to some "digging" with our hands and arms while doing SDKs, but at the moment we want to surface, we must think about our hand/arm position and feel the feel when we get closer to the surface. When ready to surface, hands/arms angle somewhat upward but not too much. You can start this before the lane line turns red because it is a gradual upward movement. I was pretty good at this one because the only thing I swam for 30 years was backstroke. I might suggest that when you do kick sets with your monofin, slow it down so you have the breath control for longer underwater turns and practice this. It really comes about pretty quickly with "mindful" :eek: practice. Gosh, like anything else, it is much practice, experimentation and "feel."

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

The Fortress — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 10:28:00 GMT

At popular demand, I uploaded some photos from the colonies zones dinner to a public photo sharing site on the web. So have fun commenting, but note that we all look happy. So do not disrupt this state of affairs! You will quickly realize that Dave "Chaos" Barra looks better without a flashlight stuck under his face. flickr.com/.../ Thanks for the great advice Peter and Donna! Unfortunately, I don't get to practice starts very often. There's often an annoying cone there. But I'll try to be Mindful. And I can obviously always work on my breakouts on turns. What fun! The number of SDKs on the start seems to vary somewhat depending on how well I get off the wall and how deep.

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 09:39:06 GMT

I posted this on the other zone video thread, so thought I would put it here with everyone else's. I just got to watch Swimstud's videos from Zones. First, I want to say this: for a person who has only been swimming for several months, I don't think I could perform that well. Sure, starts, turns, and stroke need more work, but everyone's does. And it is apparant that our friend here is taking people's advice and working on everything. Having said that, I think Rich's backstroke start had more comedy than the turn. The turn is just slow right now because you haven't done a ka-zillion of them yet and truly figured out the stroke count from the flags to the wall. And you probably already know that when the buzzer goes off, you should let go of the backstroke bar :rofl:. And don't just push off the wall, but thrust yourself backward and upward. This, too, will come. When your back start becomes more correct, you will then have a problem all of us backstrokers do: preventing our feet/legs from slipping down the wall.:rofl: I will add this now after reading and forgetting you have a back problem; no wonder you aren't entertaining a more correct backstroke start; I had forgotten about your awful back. sorry about that. On your backstroke technique, the thing that struck me the most was your knees are breaking the surface of the water but not all the time. They need to be kept underwater at all times. By breaking the surface, it causes a "bicycling" effect which you don't want and it prevents the kick from coming from the hips. I was looking for something in particular in your backstroke armstroke; I think I saw (sometimes only) the back of your hand entering the water instead of the pinkie-finger entering first. Not sure about this, but I thought I saw that. And if the back of the hand enters first, your catch will be very delayed, most probably when your arm gets parallel to the shoulder instead of in the beginning of the hand/arm entering sooner via pinkie-finger. I'd say you are a good candidate for the back; you need a bit more technical help and backstroke laps. Improving back will only make your 100IM faster. My last comment: I was more wowed than I thought I would be. Great job!! And Muppet's breaststroke is very smooth; wish mine was. I'll go look at the 200 fly now that Muppet did. donna

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

The Fortress — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 06:41:53 GMT

Very impressive, Leslie. I also don't think the finish was bad, but is better evaluated by somebody seeing it in person. Flattery will get you everywhere. ;) You guys all made my day with your kind posts! Peter: My team was sitting in the bleachers on deck near lane 8 right by the starting blocks, so they were in a good position to see the finish. Coach and others said close call, but I probably should have taken another stroke. I lunged and felt like there was nothing there and in my brain went "oh sh*t." But no matter. I will swim it again in ... in October. LOL. I watched it again. I think the biggest weakness was my breakouts. I looked like I was in a hurry to breathe. How can I fix that, Donna?

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 05:27:02 GMT

Great job Rich! You seem to be improving at a very fast rate. Keep up the good work. Once you get off the blocks faster, you'll really crank out a good 50. Nice smooth fly Muppet. It looked good on the video. Fortress, great swim.

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:25:49 GMT

Rich - I commented in your swims on the other site. but after someone (was it Jim) commented on your backstroke, just thought I'd add this about the 50 back. The start was different. Watch Fortress' start, it is very good, almost flawless. Same for the turn. Your kicking is way too big and splashy. Read Donna's comments about the kick on Fort's swim. The kick should be very tight and rapid with the toes just barely breaking the surface. My backstroke start was dunk and push off...that's why it looks odd--I was not risking a back strain at Zones lol. I thought I did great to catch up with the other guys on the SDK and breakout around the same point LOL. The turn cracks me up though. It's like...roll....flip...ask for directions to the other end...push off etc lol

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:47:53 GMT

Great swims posted here. I suspect it was a very fun meet for you all. Yeah it was Matt we'll see you in Austin unless you get out east before then...

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:44:30 GMT

It was so inspiring I almost feel compelled to go write a poem, a tribute if you will. While it was a great swim, I can't help but feel as if the last great bastion of reason has now fallen. What could be next? Lindsay making thinly veiled personal attacks? My, I hope not. Back to reality now.... Great swims posted here. I suspect it was a very fun meet for you all.

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:34:35 GMT

My compliments on your race as well. Really smooth and strong. The finish can be tricky when you're sprinting backstroke. Either you go for the one last stroke and hope the glide is minimal...or do a half stroke with the other arm...hoping your hand doesn't break on impact. Great job though. Maybe only a few tenths were lost at the end.

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:33:48 GMT

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 14:43:23 GMT

I didn't notice major issues on your finish. But, your turn was awesome, flawless even. It was so inspiring I almost feel compelled to go write a poem, a tribute if you will. Well I am sure it wouldn't compare to the Nordic style saga we could write about you and Gull in the 500. Something like Beowolf meets Ethelred the unready?? ...but post your races and I'll see what I can pen...

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

poolraat — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 12:20:46 GMT

Rich - I commented in your swims on the other site, but after someone (was it Jim?) commented on your backstroke, just thought I'd add this about the 50 back. The start was different. Watch Fortress' start, and try to do it like that. I wish I could, mine is just a huge backflop. Her start is very good, almost flawless. Same for the turn. Your kicking is way too big and splashy. Read Donna's comments about the kick on Fort's swim. The kick should be very tight and rapid with the toes just barely breaking the surface.

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

The Fortress — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:38:38 GMT

Fort...nice swim! You had awesome walls...like a lochte or coughlin. When will you venture up into the 100 or 200? You could do really well there. By the way, what was your time in that race? It looked like you were smoking it. Thanks John! I went a :30.1, but should have been a high :29 if I had stuck my finish (or so I've been told). I do swim the 100 back once in awhile. I swam it about 3-4 weeks ago in fact. :thhbbb: My coach just suggested I swim the 100 free instead of the 100 back this meet. The 100 back was right before the 50 free, and I was trying to get a good 50 free time. No 200 back. No thank you. I'll just be content to watch you do it someday. (See how TI I am? ;) ) Thanks Quicksilver. I kinda had the same problem on the finish in my 50 fly. LOL. I need to work on my finishes. I think I am going to have to break down and actually count SDKs and strokes on fly to hit the walls right.

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

The Fortress — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:51:22 GMT

I didn't notice major issues on your finish. But, your turn was awesome, flawless even. Oddly, my coach says that my use of fins, which some here despise and denigrate, have made my turns faster.

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

aquageek — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:37:47 GMT

I didn't notice major issues on your finish. But, your turn was awesome, flawless even. It was so inspiring I almost feel compelled to go write a poem, a tribute if you will.

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

The Fortress — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:18:00 GMT

Thanks Stud. Now even HWMNBN saw my blown finish. But he was very gracious about it and I thank him. I just watched Muppet's 2-Fly. I would like to point out that blue muppet/SwimmieAvsFan was there in the vid cheering regular Muppet on. It wasn't that bad, Jeff. I only saw one turn where you really took a coffee break! Plus, you have that nice shiney medal with the BLUE ribbon attached. I'm not sure I can download the videos Mr. Fort took. We have a dvd recorder, not a digital one. It was suggested to rip the dvd into the computer, but I think the dvd is a different size and doesn't fit in the drive in the computer. Will explore further. Thanks Barb for the videos!

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

aquageek — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:09:41 GMT

Nice videos. I have a new level of respect for Fort, very impressive swim.

RE: Finally Youtubed Zones videos

Former Member — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 09:09:09 GMT

Gull, how do you like Austin compared to Charlotte? We move in June. Actually, Geek is in Charlotte, I'm in New Bern (birthplace of Pepsi, home to Nicholas Sparks).